Staircase (album)

Staircase is the fourth solo piano album released on ECM by jazz pianist Keith Jarrett. It features Jarrett performing four solo piano "suites" recorded in the studio in May 1976.[1]

Staircase
Studio album by
Keith Jarrett
ReleasedMay 1977[1]
RecordedMay 1976
StudioDavout Studios, Paris (France)
Length74:27
LabelECM Records
[ECM 1090/91]
ProducerManfred Eicher
Keith Jarrett chronology
The Survivors' Suite
(1977)		 Staircase
(1977)		 Byablue
(1977)
Keith Jarrett solo piano chronology
The Köln Concert
(1975)		 Staircase
(1977)		 Sun Bear Concerts
(1978)

Jarrett and producer Manfred Eicher had arrived at Studio Davout in Paris to record a soundtrack to Michèle Rosier's film Mon cœur est rouge (Paint My Heart Red).[2] Finishing early with several hours of studio time left and impressed by the quality of the studio's piano, they spontaneously decided to record this album.[3]

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[4]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz[5]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide[6]

The Allmusic review by Richard S. Ginell awarded the album 4 stars, stating, "One can always admire Jarrett's lovely tone and flexible touch, yet when he gets stuck for ideas, the repetitions finally begin to grate. Maybe he really needs the stimulus of a live audience in order to get the creative and rhythmic juices flowing when flying solo.".[4]

Jarrett biographer Wolfgang Sandner called the album "an impressive study in sound," and an "unbelievable synthesis of sonic art," and commented: "There is no other Keith Jarrett recording that comes so close to achieving the pianistic ideal of lyricism as does this astounding album."[7]

Track listing
All compositions by Keith Jarrett

Staircase:

  1. "Part 1" - 6:57
  2. "Part 2" - 7:58
  3. "Part 3" - 1:25

Hourglass:

  1. "Part 1" - 4:42
  2. "Part 2" - 14:03

Sundial:

  1. "Part 1" - 8:57
  2. "Part 2" - 4:55
  3. "Part 3" - 6:27

Sand:

  1. "Part 1" - 6:54
  2. "Part 2" - 8:48
  3. "Part 3" - 3:21

Personnel

Production

  • Manfred Eicher - producer
  • Roger Roche - engineer (recording)
  • Barbara Wojirsch - cover design and layout
  • Franco Fontana/IKS s.p.a., Modena - photography

References
  1. ECM Records Keith Jarrett: Staircase accessed May 2020
  2. Mon cœur est rouge at Internet Movie Database accessed March 28, 2016
  3. Ian Carr, Keith Jarrett: The Man and His Music page 93
  4. Ginell, R. Allmusic Review accessed September 16, 2011
  5. Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 768. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
  6. Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. pp. 112. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
  7. Sandner, Wolfgang (2020). Keith Jarrett: A Biography. Translated by Jarrett, Chris. Equinox. p. 97.
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