‘New Vienna’ Documents Fourth Solo Piano Concert From Keith Jarretts’s 2016 European Tour (ALBUM REVIEW)

New Vienna is the fourth concert released from Keith Jarrett’s 2016 European tour, following Munich 2016, Budapest Concert, and Bordeaux Concert, the latter two of which we covered here. It is named such because Vienna Concert was issued in 1992. While that was recorded at the Vienna State Opera, New Vienna takes place in another hall with beautiful acoustics, the Golden Hall of the Musikverein, famous for having premiered works by Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg, and Anton von Webern at the start of the 20th century. Jarrett honors that heritage as we’ll detail later. The hall is also home to the Vienna Philharmonic and the Vienna Mozart Orchestra.

The adoring and massively responsive European audiences for these solo Jarrett performances never cease to amaze me. Part of this might be due to ECM label head Manfred Eichner’s production techniques. While some live recordings make the mistake of muting or cutting out the audience altogether, Eichner has made them a vital part of these live Jarrett performances. 

Unlike Jarrett’s solo piano works of the ‘70s, which favored lengthy pieces, during this period, he opted for shorter, distinctly composed pieces that resulted in a suite-like quality. Here we have nine of those, ranging from as short as three minutes to eleven minutes. The ‘Suite,” itemized as Part I through Part IX, is followed by a succinct version, likely an encore, of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” All those Jarrett characteristics are present here: the melody, the uncanny use of space, the tremendous command of dynamics, the wit, and his penchant for the blues, which sometimes surfaces at unexpected times.

Jarrett unleashes his incomparable improvisation in “Part I,” seemingly designed to engage the audience from the outset. It’s a rambunctious ride, tornado-like at times, full of dense chords, a few witty passages, evoking the sense of a child at play wearing a sly grin. “Part II” is much shorter, but somehow Jarrett gracefully pays tribute to the aforementioned trio of musicians that made the hall famous, using silence and rather dreamy chords to form a melody, in direct contrast to the heaviness of the preceding piece. “Part III” is centered on rhythm, showcasing his ability to develop different, overlapping patterns with each hand. His left hand, in particular, is a marvel. “Part IV” is more hymn-like, infused with elements of gospel and bluesy tinges with steel-strength chords.  “Part V,” the second longest, stretching over ten minutes, is the airy, pensive balladry of Jarrett that can send the mind wandering to all kinds of far-off places. Melodies form and dissolve continuously. While pieces like “Part I” exhibit an aggressive attack, the beauty here is in Jarrett’s nimble touch and unhurried approach. Still, he does construct intense, declarative passages in the latter half that also quickly waft into the ether.

“Part VI” flirts with lyricism but ultimately becomes the most abstract part of the suite, filled with scalar motifs that don’t resolve. On the other hand, we find the kind of melodicism where we can envision a song with a vocalist in “Part VII.” It’s also evocative of his Belonging quartet. (similar to the music on Branford Marsalis’ recent Belonging, by the way). In “Part VIII,” we find a tasty three minutes of Jarrett’s signature blues, while in the final movement, “Part IX,” the pianist embraces a potpourri of roots music with hints of gospel, blues, and the kind of piano accompaniment one finds on Americana records.  No genre is ever out of reach for Jarrett.  Jarrett aficionados have heard “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” on three of his other solo albums, but the phrasing is quite different here; the tempo is slowed exquisitely to accentuate single notes. The audience roars a hefty round of approval, as well they should.

Who knows how many of these Jarrett solo performances Eichner has in the vaults? Nonetheless, each offers something different and as long as demand stays high, as it has been, we can expect to hear more.