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Sun Bear Concerts: Piano Solo/Kyoto/Osaka/Tokyo/Sapporo November 1976 | 
| Artist: Keith Jarrett
Label: Ecm
Category: Music
List Price: £92.99
Buy New: £76.29
You Save: £16.70 (18%)
New (11) Used (2) from £60.74
Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 85772
Format: Box Set, Live
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 6
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.5
Dimensions (in): 5.8 x 5 x 2.6
MPN: 843028
UPC: 042284302821
EAN: 0042284302821
ASIN: B00000DTEK
Release Date: October 15, 1990
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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| Tracks:
| • | Kyoto/November 5th 1976 | | • | Osaka/November 8th 1976 | | • | Tokyo/November 14th November | | • | Sapporo/November 18th 1976 |
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| Customer Reviews:
 Beauty and the Beast February 26, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I first heard this 10 LP set of his Japanese tour way back in 1984 (still many years after it was released), whilst staying with a friend in Germany. I hunted and hunted but not until 1990 did I manage to find the 6 CDs, which are excellent quality despite being over 30 years old, now, and I indulged myself the 60 at the time without any hesitation.
I was initially blown away by the first dozen melodic minutes or so of part 1 of Kyoto and this remains one of my most played tracks.
However, of all the pieces, there is one (mere) 5 minute 'movement' on Sapporo pt1 (and a similar bit on pt 2) that I would have to class as THE most unbelievably beautiful (harmonic and melodic) piano piece I have heard by any performer from any period in history.
As ever, the piece has no repeating 'hook line', but traverses in a perpetually linear fashion, as if made entirely of a series of memorable, key-changing, hook lines undulating between sad refrains and majestic crescendos of almost orchestral intensity, that lift it and the listener (i.e. me) into another realm. The man was truly inspired that day.
Because they are unique and follow no fashion, they do not sound dated at all to my ears. The only thing I have to compare them against are Jarrett's other solo recordings.
Nothing else he has done comes close to this all-too-brief bit of Sapporo, but there are also many other brilliant moments on various tracks throughout the collection.
Be warned though. It is not all beauty. There is anger and also some of the most cacophonous discord from someone who seemingly cannot play a single note in tune. How these pianists reside within the same body I cannot say but they will take you on an extremely emotional journey...if this is what you desire.
So, here are many hours of often hauntingly beautiful and sometimes hellishly tortured solo piano, which are all the more remarkable because they are not rehearsed but improvised on the spot.
Spend the money if you dare.
Six months on and still enjoying it! May 7, 2003
15 out of 16 found this review helpful
Maybe like me this expensive box set poses something of a dilemma to you. I'd been quietly and slowly building up my Keith Jarrett collection over several years, going further back to catch up belatedly on the earlier solo concerts and trios. But how can anyone justify spending so much in one go on the Sun Bear Concerts way back in 1976!? Bit risky as well as self-indulgent!I finally took the plunge - and six months on I'm still playing at least one if not more of the concerts almost daily. The format is like the brilliant Bremen and Lausanne concerts (still my favourite) - each of five concerts is made up of two 35 minutes or so journeys through different styles, tempos and moods, seamlessly moving into and beyond improvised tunes or themes. Some of the music that comes out of these journeys is breathtakingly beautiful, as in Kyoto and Nagoya. Others, like Osaka and Sapporo, have periods of wonderful infectious rythmn. But each tune or mood is only developed for a time and then somehow passes into something else. In this way it feels lighter and more captivating than some of his later solo concerts which feel like the man is digging deeper and deeper into a repetitive theme to get somewhere or other and, brilliant though they are, leaves me behind. As a box set its pretty minimalist - a few cryptic grey photos and something to say each concert is in parts 1 and 2 with a list of where the encores (on a shorter 6th CD) come from. But then you'd never buy a Keith Jarrett CD for the cover, would you? So if you like Bremen & Lausanne you probably will like this too - hope you enjoy it as much as I still am.
 Large volume of generally good-quality stuff March 13, 2001
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
Seeing as it's over 6 hours of improvised music, the five concerts represented here show a lot of variety and originality. My personal favourite at the moment is the first part of Kyoto, lasting about 40 mins or so, but each concert has something different. A must for any serious jarrett fan, or even for a serious fan of real improvised jazz.
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