Rarum 1: Selected Recordings

Open-minded listeners should rise to the challenge posed by this characteristically idiosyncratic collection, which includes solo pipe organ and clavichord performances and tracks from Spirits, Jarrett’s love-it-or-hate-it experiment in multi-instrumental overdubbing, recorded in 1985. Jazz travellers may find this an uneven journey, particularly those who prize him most for his solo piano epics. Time limitations prevent the inclusion of sides from landmark efforts such as the 1975 Koln Concert (the set’s shorter solo sides include an 11-minute excerpt from his 1981 Munich Concerts, presented on CD for the first time, and tracks from 1987’s so-so Dark Intervals, recorded in Tokyo).

The good news: performances by Jarrett’s brilliant longstanding "standards" trio with Gary Peacock and Jack De Johnette and his 70s’ European quartet with Norwegian saxophonist and label-mate Jan Garbarek--an unlikely but winning setting for his gospel chops. As inconsistent and elusive as Jarrett’s :rarum may be, it provides a fresh setting in which to sample his daring, intensely lyrical approach. ECM’s first foray into 24-bit/96Khz remasterings adds to the eventfulness of this release. --Lloyd Sachs