Latest CDs reviewed

KEITH JARRETT
Tokyo Solo ECM *****

ECM's first-ever DVD offers Jarrett's full October 30th, 2002 solo concert, part of which appeared on Radiance. It's magnificent. Over nearly two hours, mostly completely improvised, he displayed an astonishing array of mood, invention and technique. For the pianist, "free" is not licence; sometimes motifs are developed and refracted through the prism of his imagination, as in Part 1a, providing the basis of structure, and taken through different moods to become a grooving rocker (Part 2e). Other times he creates song-like pieces, as in the achingly beautiful Part 1b, replete with baroque hints, and the lyrical nostalgia of the lovely Part 2d. He finished with 15 minutes of encores and three standards. The camerawork is, for the most part, sensitive, measured and slow, rarely drawing attention to itself and allowing the compelling nature of the music and performer to hold centre stage. www.musicconection.org.uk Ray Comiskey

RORY GALLAGHER
Live at Montreaux Eagle Vision ***

It isn't just a matter of national pride that Irish people continue to rate Rory Gallagher as one of the guitar greats, or to continue to include him in the pantheon that also features Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck et al. It also isn't some misplaced sense of nostalgia - in anyone's time Gallagher was a great guitarist, a man with pin-point precision technique that many aspired to but very few could attain. It's a given that his true forte was on stage, which is why this is an excellent reminder of just how good he was. The two-DVD set gathers excerpts from his five appearances (over a 20-year period) at the Montreux Jazz Festival, one of the most prestigious annual music events in the world (although by today's standards it surely won't raise a flicker of interest from anyone under the age of 30). Beads of sweat spattering the stage, hair flicking from left to right to front, guitar in hand and songs of the calibre of Pistol Slapper Blues, Bad Penny, Messin' With the Kid, Out On the Western Plain and Going to My Hometown; no contest, no doubt - the man had singular, often spectacular guitar skills. www.eagle-rock.com  Tony Clayton-Lea