The Cure

All Keith Jarrett's trio releases with drummer Jack DeJohnette and bassist Gary Peacock contain passages of luminous brilliance, and there are many here. The leader's predilection for emotional intensity predictably takes precedence over his vehicles on this occasion--all of them standards, or near-standards. At a live recording at New York's Town Hall in 1990, Jarrett first backs into Monk's "Bemsha Swing," then does exquisite service to the tune. Similar personal inflections appear in a rollicking interpretation of Dizzy Gillespie's "Woody 'n You" and a fine "Golden Earrings" and "Body and Soul." Throughout, Jarrett does things that no other pianist would. With a striking mixture of sympathy and independence, DeJohnette trundles, lags, and lurches, yet projects great solidity and dependability. Gary Peacock provides the more essential timekeeping, while providing much lift. Before ending with "Things Ain't What They Used to Be," the trio performs the only Jarrett original, the title track, and there's a great sense of liberation and flight. --Peter Monaghan