The Lost Quartet

Until July 27, BBC 3 is featuring a long, illuminative interview of Keith Jarrett by fellow pianist Ethan Iverson. As noted by my colleague Peter Hum, the interview is most revealing on the topic of Jarrett's so-called "American Quartet," which lasted roughly from 1973 to 1977 with Paul Motian, Dewey Redman and Charlie Haden. Jarrett is quite open about the challenges the band presented to him (Redman was perpetually late and a notoriously poor music reader, and Haden was still in the throes of his injection-drug abuse) and his frustration that the quartet was only belatedly recognized for its achievements.

One thing Iverson doesn't touch on is just how hard it is to find much of the music the group recorded on eight albums. I've written about this before, but it deserves repeating that this vital music should be re-released in the best form possible. As Iverson notes, at one time—when he was a teenager—those Impulse! recordings were easy to come by in second-hand stores because, he speculates, so many people bought them on the basis of Jarrett's popular solo recording, The Köln Concert. My vinyl copies remain among the most-prized LPs of those I grew up listening to. I'd love to see them properly re-mastered and annotated by insightful listeners like Iverson and drummer George Schuller.