In contemporary jazz it is sometimes difficult, at least for novices, to recognise the difference between a technically proficient musician and a truly great one. The Melody At Night, With You, a collection of rich piano solos released on CD late last year by jazz pianist Keith Jarrett, is an unambiguous demonstration of great jazz musicianship and further proof that he is one of the more significant jazz pianists to emerge since the 1960s.
Recorded in Jarrett's own studio, the album consists of improvisations on standards written by Duke Ellington, George and Ira Gershwin, Oscar Hammerstein and Jerome Kern—some of the 20th century's greatest composers of American popular music—and one Jarrett original. It includes “I Loves You Porgy”, “I Got It Bad And That Ain't Good”, “Don't Ever Leave Me”, “Someone To Watch Over Me”, “Blame It On My Youth/Meditation”, “Something To Remember You By”, “Be My Love”, “Shenandoah” and “I'm Through With Love”.
The album, which was recorded in 1997 when Jarrett was fighting a protracted battle with the debilitating Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), has none of the extraordinary technical wizardry characteristic of his early career. And while the effects of CFS may explain the occasional melancholic tone on some tracks, the CD demonstrates Jarrett's complete mastery of the instrument, reaching emotional depths rarely achieved by most contemporary jazz pianists.
The most memorable tracks for me are Jarrett's version of the traditional sea shanty “Shenandoah” and George and Ira Gershwin's standard “I Loves You Porgy”. Despite the obvious emotional richness of these songs—I must admit that when I heard a few bars of “I Loves You Porgy” it almost reduced me to tears—Jarrett's playing never lapses into sentimentality.
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