Anyone that has been following my accounts of recordings of performances by Keith Jarrett released on ECM Records probably knows by now that he is not afraid of adventurous undertakings. In the spirit of George Orwell, however, one can probably say that all of Jarrett’s recording sessions are adventurous; but some are more adventurous than others. Where my own tastes are concerned, however, I would say that his most adventurous undertaking was the two-CD album entitled Book of Ways. A little over a week ago, ECM reissued this album with new packaging. While Amazon.com does not seem to appreciate any difference between the two releases, Discogs has created a new Web page that is specific for the reissue.
The album consists of nineteen tracks, each of which involves what I would take to be a spontaneous improvisation. The shortest track is a little under three minutes in duration, and the longest is slightly over nine minutes. (Unless I am mistaken, any Jarrett improvisation session begins with the longest piece; this recording suggests that this remains the case even when all of the tracks are relatively short when compared with other Jarrett albums.)
What makes Book of Ways unique, however, is that all of the improvisations are performed on a clavichord. For those unfamiliar with it, the clavichord is one of the earliest keyboard instruments in which the strings are struck, rather than plucked (as they are on a harpsichord). However, it is also the softest instrument in the keyboard family; so soft that it would not stand out in performance with other instruments. Indeed, I have a friend that had a clavichord in his bedroom, knowing full well that he would not awaken anyone while playing it!
When Jarrett recorded Book of Ways, he had three of these instruments brought into the studio. At this point I feel it would be better for me to allow Jarrett to speak for himself:
We had three clavichords in the studio, two of which were angled together so that I could play them both simultaneously, and the third off to the side. Also we miked the instruments very closely so that the full range of dynamics could be used (clavichords are very quiet and cannot be heard more than a few feet away). The two CDs were made on an off day between concerts with my Trio, and no material was organized beforehand. Everything was spontaneous. The recording was done in four hours.
It goes without saying that the contents of this album is a far cry from any of Jarrett’s other recordings. However, what is important is how his improvisations are closely linked to the sonorities that distinguish the clavichord from any other keyboard instrument. This is not just a matter of a narrow dynamic range, which can be compensated with judicious approaches to volume control of the microphones. Equally important is how the decay of any note tends to be much shorter, requiring Jarrett to be more attentive to note-by-note sequencing than he might be when he is behind the keyboard of a modern grand piano.
Cover design for Book of Ways (courtesy of DL Media)
My personal reaction is that I find the whole listening experience fascinating (with absolutely no reference to Spock’s eyebrow intended)! One might almost compare any one of the tracks to a Zen koan. For that matter, as I get to know this album better, I suspect that I shall want to interject pauses of my own between the tracks. As a result, I may well adopt this album for providing an excellent training ground for the practice of attentive listening. Indeed, even the vast amount of empty space on the album cover (shown above) contributes to that training ground.
Book of Ways is a far cry from what one usually expects of Jarrett. However, the uniqueness of the setting and his innovative approaches to that setting make for an unforgettable listening experience. For that matter, it almost seems to invite the listener to return, allowing each listening experience to build on a foundation laid by the previous one.
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