They say that the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and Steely Dan discovered just how true that was.

An exploration of the more notable hidden surprises in jazz.

Here’s the way it usually works. The end of the year draws closer, and all of the music publications and websites release their “best of” lists. This is almost always followed by various rants about how the lists are “too safe,” “predictable,” or “pretentious.” You May Also Like: Of AllRead More

The time will come when architects and engineers will be summoned to my house to shore up the floor beneath my Keith Jarrett collection. Not yet though. A favorite items is my sealed copy of Bop-Be, a session covering the music of Jarrett, Charlie Haden, Dewey Redman and Alec Wilder.Read More

by Tom Johnson I think there’s an annual requirement that Keith Jarrett must issue some kind of musical good. Going into this release, there had only been a handful of years in his career that have not resulted in some kind of album under his name — 1969, 1970, 1978,Read More

by Mark Saleski Some musicians have the ability to transcend their physical talents to put on display their thought processes, a sort of direct conduit between the hands and that mysterious inner pool of music. Or … in Keith Jarrett’s case, the lack of thought You May Also Like: KeithRead More

by Mark Saleski Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock, Jack DeJohnette. Piano, bass, drums. A rational person might ask, “Do we really need another live record from these people?” You May Also Like: Noah Haidu – ‘Slowly: Song For Keith Jarrett’ (2021) Keith Jarrett Returned to His Strengths on ‘Testament Paris/London’

by Something Else Reviews Over the last few weeks, this merry band of music lovers has offered its varied take on the Year That Was. Now, we winnow it all down. First to go were the personal obsessions (Mark: Mary Halvorson; Pico: Greg Ward’s Fitted Shards), and other worthy entriesRead More

What kind of a year was it for music? It was so good that very often, I had a tough time figuring out what to listen to next. The proper cliché to be applied is “an embarrassment of riches.” Not only was it a great year for music, it wasRead More

Keith Jarrett and Charlie Haden hadn’t played together in over 30 years before getting together in Jarrett’s studio to work on these duets. The two men went their respective ways in the late 1970s. In the interim, there has been a lot of music-making. What’s particularly amazing about the just-releasedRead More