In 1974, the iconic album
Belonging by
Keith Jarretts European quartet was released by the
ECM label. It is considered a high point in Jarrett's oeuvre and jazz in general. By requiring his band, whose ranks include Norwegian saxophonist
Jan Garbarek, to record all the pieces in one take, Jarrett got the musicians on the cutting edge. Saxophonist Branford Marsalis - scion of the Marsalis family of
… jazz musicians and former young lion - also admired and studied the album during his high school days in New Orleans. With his regular quartet, he recorded a new version of the complete album more than 50 years later. What Marsalis adds to the original (classified as European jazz) is a solid New Orleans sauce. His Belonging has more swing and jazzy smoothness, while Jarrett's strong compositions do their job unabated. Even Jarrett himself can look with pride at this inspired and loving interpretation. (MR)more
