onhifi.com's 2002 Music
Gift-Giving Guide
Music is always such a subjective
passion that I think the only safe thing to do is give a gift certificate to the
best-stocked local emporium. But that's sooo boring! Music can truly be the gift
that keeps on giving -- unless it’s the gift that invokes nausea on the cellular
level. We seem to have returned to that subjective thing, again.
If I had to choose a single release that gave me the most
musical pleasure this year, it would almost certainly be ECM's :rarum series, which
is an awfully innovative way to mine the label's back catalog. I don't say that as a
criticism -- ECM is the rare label that has put out a staggering amount of new material
year after year, so after 30 years of that, the label has certainly earned a glance
backwards (to be accurate, the label did "celebrate" the birth of CD with some
compilations).
Typically for ECM, which has always been very
artist-oriented, :rarum isn't your typical collection of greatest-hits packages.
The label asked its musicians to compile albums from recordings they had participated in
over the decades, either as leaders or sidemen. The selection process was completely left
to the musician; the discs could collect "greatest hits" or overlooked works or
virtuosic soloing or the quiet songs. The :rarum compilations could zero in on a
single aspect of the subjects’ art or paint a picture of artistic diversity.
As a result, the :rarum discs are quirkily
individual. All feature ECM's trademark crystalline clarity; the original tapes have been
remastered as 192kHz/24-bit files. Each title is packaged in deluxe digipack gatefolds
with liner notes penned by the subjects and compilers, sometimes adding personal photos
from over the years. These 10 compact discs (Keith Jarrett's and Jan Garbarek's releases
are both two-disc sets) have given me weeks of listening pleasure as I remade the
acquaintance of some works and encountered others for the first time.
Jarrett's set is perhaps the least typical of his work,
focusing as it does on recordings "that either have been heard less than I feel is
their due or have escaped recent awareness." This means the discs are shy of the
side-long solo piano improvisations that many listeners identify as his métier
and heavy on his quirkier (and far less popular) experiments, including his solo pipe
organ and clavichord performances, and excerpts from Spirits, an experiment in
polyphonal overdubbing. It also includes performances by the superb "standards"
trio, featuring Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette, as well as his European quartet from the
'70s, featuring saxophonist Jan Garbarek, whose own two-disc set is startling in its
consistency and depth. Jarrett's choice of material for this set seems to address what he
perceives as past wrongs at the hands of the critical establishment -- and it makes a
strong argument for his case. If you think you know what Keith Jarrett is all about, his :rarum
set might very well startle you; if you've always wondered about him, it begins to
describe the sheer scope of his talent.
Corea's set contains less Return to Forever material
than I expected, focusing more on his trio with Miroslav Vitous and Roy Haynes, but
there's enough of his collaboration with Gary Burton to make for an extremely satisfying
disc. Burton's own disc is possibly my favorite of the lot, featuring beautiful sounds and
fantastic playing -- Burton was graced with two phenomenal bass players: Steve Swallow and
Eberhard Weber. (I can't wait for his compilation.)
Bill Frisell's disc will be a revelation for those who know
him only from his recent, moody American-flavored recordings. It's a fascinating
collection, if only for his predilection for choosing songs where he was not the featured
artist. It's great stuff -- made even more welcome for its unexpectedness. The Art
Ensemble of Chicago did not record its best material for the label, but ECM was the first
label to take the time to make their recordings sound good -- and even second-tier AEC is
better than almost anyone else on their best day. Malachi Favors' 20-minute-plus bass solo
("Magg Zelma") has to be heard to be believed.
If you've never heard Terje Rypdal -- and the chances are
you haven't -- :rarum VII is a great place to make his acquaintance. As a composer
and electric guitarist, he's an original. Like John McLaughlin, he has the unlikely
ability to bring a blazing intensity to songs that would otherwise seem almost meditative.
And he's got chops for days! Pianist Bobo Stinson has also escaped popular notoriety, but
his disc is second only to Burton's in its breadth and beauty. Supremely satisfying, it's
the perfect late-night companion for banishing those bouts of contemplative melancholia.
Give one and you'll be loved -- give the lot and you'll be
worshipped.
...Wes Phillips
wes@onhifi.com
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