ECM has been going through their attic lately and bringing out older materiel from their halcyon days that was either never released before, or has only been out on its original vinyl format. Sometimes the latter means that there was more material recorded than was actually released, and judging by the last couple of coups, and now this full bodied Jarrett reissue, we are the better for it.
This release stems from a 1976 double album (remember those?) that was later released in cd form in 1985, but here we’ve got everything Jarrett put to tape (remember that?) with this beautiful Karl Joseph Riepp baroque organ of the Abbey of Ottobeuren. The seven movements of “Spheres” are bookended by “Hymn of Release,” and the music represents a side of Jarrett that is rarely explored. No glib ramblings on such a foreboding set of keys; everything here feels well ruminated and delivered. The material ranges from overwhelmingly magnificent opuses like “2nd Movement” to pensive ruminations as on the “5th Movement.” All throughout these 80+ minutes, you’ll feel shadows of sound that range from Saint Saens and Bach and go all the way to Harold Lloyd movies and Phantom of the Opera with Bella Lugosi. Yes, these are all claimed to be improvisations, but there is a definite order and pattern to much of the music; you can almost picture JS Bach trying out one of his church organs just to see what he could do with it. The melody and structure is in Jarrett’s dna, so the music always makes perfect sense here. A thrilling ride!
ECM Records
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