Last Dance
Keith Jarrett & Charlie Haden
ECM/Fuse
Rating: Four and a half stars
This album is both appropriately titled and saddeningly timely, since pianist Keith Jarrett’s long-term partner, bassist Charlie Haden died in July this year aged 76. After regular performances in Jarrett’s quartet from 1967 to 1976 the two didn’t play together again until 2007 when they recorded two albums over four days at Jarrett’s home studio: Jasmine released in 2010 and now the release of Last Dance. Each is a collection of nine deeply-felt standards with two songs Where Can I Go Without You, and Goodbye, included on both albums. It’s hard to imagine any other duo playing these numbers with greater warmth and intimate understanding than these two old friends.
Ornette Coleman said of Haden: ‘He plays the music, not the background.’ And that ability is notable here as Haden’s perfectly selected notes swell beneath the melody in beautiful tones while Jarrett’s judicious interpretations drift easily into relaxed solos. Ballads such as Every Time We Say Goodbye, ‘Round Midnight, and Everything Happens to Me at medium-slow tempos are stocked with unpredictable melodic embellishments while Bud Powell’s Dance of The Infidels scampers along with ultra high-speed improvisation passages.
Other deeply expressive slower renditions occur on It Might As Well be Spring – with a superbly engaging bass solo – and Where Can I Go Without You featuring graceful improvisations in chorus after chorus from both piano and bass. Haden had the last word on this partnership: “Keith really listens, and I listen. That’s the secret. It’s about listening.” And for an audience Jarrett and Haden make listening a memorable proposition.
CD review by John McBeath
