Changeless (album) explained

Changeless
Type:	Live
Artist:	the Keith Jarrett Trio
Cover:	Changeless.jpg
Released:	October 1989^[1]
Recorded:	October 9, 11, 12 & 14, 1987
Genre:	Jazz
Length:	49:04
Label:	ECM ECM 1392
Producer:	Manfred Eicher
Prev Title:	Personal Mountains
Prev Year:	1989
Next Title:	Paris Concert
Next Year:	1990
Chronology:	Keith Jarrett

Changeless is a live album by the Keith Jarrett Trio recorded at various venues over a week in October 1987 and released on ECM two years later. The trio—Jarrett's "Standards Trio"—features rhythm section Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette.

October 1987 tour

Changeless is a compilation of tracks recorded during the "Standards trio" October 1987 North American tour in which, according to www.keithjarrett.org, offered 14 recitals in 28 days:^[2]

• October 3 – Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater, FL, USA
• October 8 – Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
• October 9 – Lexington, KY, USA "Lifeline"
• October 11 – Convention Center, Dallas, TX, USA "Endless"
• October 12 – Wortham Center, Houston, TX, USA "Ecstasy"
• October 14 – Paramount Theater, Denver, CO, USA "Dancing"
• October 16 – Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
• October 19 – Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA
• October 21 – Flynn Theater, Burlington, VT, USA
• October 23 – Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, New York, NY, USA
• October 25 – Roy Thomson Hall, Toronto, OT, Canada
• October 27 – Orchestra Hall, Minneapolis, MN, USA
• October 29 – Eastman Theater, Rochester, NY, USA
• October 31 – Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
• November 1 – Ann Arbor, MI, USA

Reception

The AllMusic review by Richard S. Ginell awarded the album 4 stars and states, "This is a triumph, for Jarrett has successfully brought the organically evolving patterns of his solo concerts into the group format ... a genuine collective musical experience."^[3]

The authors of The Penguin Guide to Jazz wrote that Changeless contains "original material which is deeply subversive (though also respectfully aware) of the whole tradition of jazz as a system of improvisation on 'the changes'... On Changeless, there are no chord progressions at all; the trio improvises each section in a single key, somewhat in the manner of an Indian raga. The results are impressive and thought-provoking, like everything Jarrett has attempted."

Jarrett biographer Wolfgang Sandner comment of Changeless: "Jarrett had, at last, combined his free-playing techniques with his trio style."^[4]

Track listing

All music by Keith Jarrett

1. "Dancing" (Denver) – 9:01
2. "Endless" (Dallas) – 15:32
3. "Lifeline" (Lexington) – 11:32
4. "Ecstacy" (Houston) – 12:59

Personnel

Keith Jarrett Trio

• Keith Jarrett – piano
• Gary Peacock – bass
• Jack DeJohnette – drums

Technical personnel

• Manfred Eicher – producer
• Jan Erik Kongshaug – remixing engineer
• Tom McKenney – recording engineer
• Dieter Rehm – design
• Gyokusei Jikihara – painting

Notes and References

1. ECM Records Jarrett / Peacock / DeJohnette: Changeless accessed May 2020
2. https://www.keithjarrett.org/past-concerts/#1987 Keith Jarrett 1987 live concerts
3. Ginell, R. S. [{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r158116|pure_url=yes}} Allmusic Review] accessed March 23, 2010
4. Book: Sandner, Wolfgang . Keith Jarrett: A Biography . Equinox . 2020 . 140 . Jarrett . Chris.