music.wikisort.org - Composition

Arbour Zena is an orchestral work composed by American jazz pianist Keith Jarrett featuring saxophonist Jan Garbarek, bassist Charlie Haden and members of the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mladen Gutesha [de] which was recorded in October 1975[2] and released by ECM in 1976.[1]

Arbour Zena
Studio album by Keith Jarrett
Released	May 1976 [1]
Recorded	October 1975 [2]
Studio	Tonstudio Bauer, Ludwigsburg, West Germany
Genre	Contemporary classical music
Length	52:59
Label	ECM Records [ECM 1070]
Producer	Manfred Eicher
Keith Jarrett chronology
Mysteries (1975) Arbour Zena (1976) Shades (1975)
Keith Jarrett orchestral works chronology
Luminessence (1974) Arbour Zena (1975) Ritual (1977)

In the original notes of the compilation album "Keith Jarrett Selected Recordings",[3] with music selected by Jarrett himself, he states that "I consider this one of my most richly lyrical and consistently inspired works. Of course, Jan Garbarek's contribution is irreplaceable and ecstatic. Go out and buy it."

Reception

Reviewing the album for AllMusic, Richard S. Ginell awarded the album 3 stars and said, "although this music can be attractive in small doses, the lack of tempo or texture contrasts over long stretches of time – particularly the nearly 28-minute "Mirrors" – can be annoying if you're not in the right blissful mood".[4]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[4]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[5]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz	[6]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide	[7]
Tom Hull	B−[8]

Reviewing the album for the website All About Jazz, John Kelman said, "Jarrett had already released music more aligned with the classical sphere on 1974's In the Light, which contained works for string quartet and brass quintet, a fughata for harpsichord and more; but it was with Arbour Zena—reuniting the pianist with the string section Stuttgart's Südfunk Symphony Orchestra and conductor Mladen Gutesha (who'd performed In the Light's "Metamorphosis")—that Jarrett found the magic nexus between composition and improvisation, both through his own contributions on piano and with the participation of Haden and saxophonist Jan Garbarek, also making the record an even broader marriage of his European and American concerns."[9]

Track listing

All compositions by Keith Jarrett

1. "Runes" (dedicated to the unknown) – 15:24
2. "Solara March" (dedicated to Pablo Casals and the sun) – 9:48
3. "Mirrors" (dedicated to my teachers) – 27:47

Personnel

• Keith Jarrett – piano
• Jan Garbarek – tenor and soprano saxophones
• Charlie Haden – bass
• Members of Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra – conductor Mladen Gutesha [de]

Technical Personnel

• Martin Wieland – Recording Engineer
• Rolf Liese – Cover Graphic
• Dieter Bonhorst – Layout
• Manfred Eicher – Production

References

---