Whisper Not (Live in Paris 1999)

For Keith Jarrett, this extremely satisfying concert with the Standards Trio on two CDs is a personal landmark, the first for-the-record sign that he had recovered from the chronic fatigue syndrome that laid him low for three years in the late 1990s. Indeed, by the time this Paris gig took place, he had come all the way back — his technical facilities intact (a handful of smeared notes aside), his inventiveness bubbling over. Old cohorts Gary Peacock (bass) and Jack DeJohnette (drums) are back, too, regenerating their propulsive, swinging, collective E.S.P. at will. Not too much has changed from the pre-illness days, though the focus is very much on classic bebop now — with Bud Powell getting a good deal of attention with an outstanding "Bouncing With Bud" and a terrific "Hallucinations" that has an atypically funny false ending. Jarrett's bebop runs on "Groovin' High" are astonishing, "Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams" is appealingly jaunty and carefree, and ballads like "'Round Midnight" and "Prelude to a Kiss" revert to the melodic simplicity that was cultivated during Jarrett's down time. Even though the Standards Trio has been one of the most prolifically recorded groups of its era, only the final encore, "When I Fall in Love," had been recorded before by this group. So even those who think they have enough material by this group will be rightly tempted to invest in this document of Jarrett's resurrection. ~ Richard S. Ginell, Rovi