''Fort Yawuh'' is a

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

album by American pianist and composer

Keith Jarrett Keith Jarrett (born May 8, 1945) is an American pianist and composer. Jarrett started his career with Art Blakey and later moved on to play with Charles Lloyd (jazz musician), Charles Lloyd and Miles Davis. Since the early 1970s, he has also be ...

. Originally released in 1973 by

Impulse! Records Impulse! Records (occasionally styled as "¡mpulse! Records" and "¡!") is an American jazz record label established by Creed Taylor in 1960. John Coltrane was among Impulse!'s earliest signings. Thanks to consistent sales and positive critiques ...

, it marks the beginning of the label’s relationship with Jarrett. Recorded live at the

Village Vanguard The Village Vanguard is a jazz club at Seventh Avenue South in Greenwich Village, New York City. The club was opened on February 22, 1935, by Max Gordon. Originally, the club presented folk music and beat poetry, but it became primarily a jaz ...

on February 24, 1973 by Jarrett's "American Quartet":

Dewey Redman Walter Dewey Redman (May 17, 1931 – September 2, 2006) was an American saxophonist who performed free jazz as a bandleader with Ornette Coleman and Keith Jarrett. Redman mainly played tenor saxophone, though he occasionally also played alto s ...

on tenor saxophone,

Charlie Haden Charles Edward Haden (August 6, 1937 – July 11, 2014) was an American jazz double bass player, bandleader, composer and educator whose career spanned more than fifty years. Haden helped to revolutionize the harmonic concept of bass playin ...

on acoustic bass,

Paul Motian Stephen Paul Motian (March 25, 1931 – November 22, 2011) was an American jazz drummer, percussionist, and composer of Armenian descent. He played an important role in freeing jazz drummers from strict time-keeping duties. Motian first came t ...

on drums, plus percussionist Danny Johnson. The title of the album is an anagram of "

Fourth Way The Fourth Way is spiritual teacher George Gurdjieff's approach to human spiritual growth, developed and systematised by him over years of travel in the East (c. 1890 – 1912), and taught to followers in subsequent years. Gurdjieff's students ...

," a reference to

George Gurdjieff George Ivanovich Gurdjieff ( – 29 October 1949) was a philosopher, mystic, spiritual teacher, composer, and movements teacher. Born in the Russian Empire, he briefly became a citizen of the First Republic of Armenia after its formation in 1 ...

's fourth path of self-awareness.

Background

At the time the recording was made, Danny Johnson had never worked as a professional musician. In an interview led by

Ethan Iverson Ethan Iverson (born February 11, 1973) is a pianist, composer, and critic best known for his work in the avant-garde jazz trio The Bad Plus with bassist Reid Anderson and drummer Dave King. Biography Iverson was born in Menomonie, Wisconsin. ...

, bassist

said that Johnson was "a great, great painter, and a great friend, and someone who was at EVERY gig, and one day he suddenly asked to sit in with us at the

. Keith asked, “What do you play?” “Triangle!” said Johnson. Keith said yes and Danny came down with a big oriental rug and sat like a sitar player with his triangle. And that was the night we recorded ''Fort Yawuh''." One year later, Johnson joined the group again on percussion (along with

Guilherme Franco Guilherme Franco (November 25, 1946 – November 12, 2016, in São Paulo, Brazil) was a percussionist in the jazz and world fusion music genres. Franco performed on the albums of many notable jazz musicians such as McCoy Tyner, Lonnie Liston Smit ...

) - this time for the studio recording of ''

Treasure Island ''Treasure Island'' (originally titled ''The Sea Cook: A Story for Boys''Hammond, J. R. 1984. "Treasure Island." In ''A Robert Louis Stevenson Companion'', Palgrave Macmillan Literary Companions. London: Palgrave Macmillan. .) is an adventure a ...

''.

Critical reception

Reviewing for ''

Creem ''Creem'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American rock music magazine and entertainment company, founded in Detroit, whose initial print run lasted from 1969 to 1989. It was first published in March 1969 by Barry Kramer and founding editor ...

'' in 1974,

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

said that, while side one sounds like cluttered

free jazz Free jazz, or free form in the early to mid-1970s, is a style of avant-garde jazz or an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s, when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventi ...

at first, it is in fact highlighted by the

Ornette Coleman Randolph Denard Ornette Coleman (March 9, 1930 – June 11, 2015) was an American jazz saxophonist, trumpeter, violinist, and composer. He is best known as a principal founder of the free jazz genre, a term derived from his 1960 album '' Free Ja ...

-like playing of saxophonist

. He found side two more accessible because of drummer

's performance during "De Drums" and the attractive composition of "Still Life Still Life". In a retrospective review,

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

's Qa'id Jacobs wrote, "Fans of Jarrett's avant-garde liberalism will find 'De Drums' to be the track most unlike the other four selections on this album. 'Still Life, Still Life' is more like a ballad in that it's very slow, but it still maintains the structural freedom featured in the 'Fort Yawuh,' '(If the) Misfits (Wear It),' and 'Roads Traveled, Roads Veiled.'"Jacobs, Q
Allmusic Review
accessed September 12, 2011 Writing for the former jazz magazine ''Jazz.com'', in June 2008

Ted Gioia Ted Gioia (born October 21, 1957) is an American jazz critic and music historian. He is author of 12 books, including ''Music: A Subversive History'', '' The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire'', ''The History of Jazz'' and ''Delta Blues'' ...

rated 90/100 the track '' (If The) Misfits (Wear It)'' stating that:Gioia, Ted (June 2008
Keith Jarrett: (If The) Misfits (Wear It) by Ted Gioia at Jazz.com
accessed September 2020

Track listing

:''All compositions by Keith Jarrett'' Side One Side Two

Extended Release

The CD box set '' The Impulse Years: 1973-1974'' expands ''Fort Yawuh'' to two CDs, including unedited versions of the takes chosen for the LP as well as additional tracks. Disc One Disc Two

Personnel

- piano, soprano saxophone, tambourine *

- tenor saxophone, clarinet, musette, maracas *

- bass *

- drums, percussion *Danny Johnson - percussion

References

External links

* {{Authority control Keith Jarrett live albums 1973 live albums Impulse! Records live albums Albums recorded at the Village Vanguard