''Staircase'' is a solo double album by American

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 ...

pianist

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 ...

recorded in May 1976 and released on

ECM ECM may refer to the following: Economics and commerce * Engineering change management * Equity capital markets * Error correction model, an econometric model * European Common Market Mathematics * Lenstra's Elliptic curve method for factor ...

the following year.

Background

Jarrett and producer

Manfred Eicher Manfred Eicher (born 9 July 1943) is a German record producer and the founder of ECM Records. Life and career Eicher was born in Lindau, Germany. He studied music at the Academy of Music in Berlin. He started as a double-bass player of classi ...

had arrived at Studio Davout in Paris to record a soundtrack to

Michèle Rosier Michèle Rosier (; born Michèle Raudnitz, 3 June 1929 – 2 April 2017) was a French fashion journalist and designer who founded the V de V sportswear label. In addition to this, she worked as a film director and screenwriter since 1973. Early ...

's film ''Mon cœur est rouge'' (French: "My Heart Is Red"). Finishing early with several hours of studio time left and impressed by the quality of the studio's piano, they spontaneously decided to record this album.

Reception

The

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 ...

review by Richard S. Ginell states, "One can always admire Jarrett's lovely tone and flexible touch, yet when he gets stuck for ideas, the repetitions finally begin to grate. Maybe he really needs the stimulus of a live audience in order to get the creative and rhythmic juices flowing when flying solo."Ginell, R
Allmusic Review
accessed September 16, 2011 Jarrett biographer Wolfgang Sandner called the album "an impressive study in sound" and an "unbelievable synthesis of sonic art", and commented: "There is no other Keith Jarrett recording that comes so close to achieving the pianistic ideal of lyricism as does this astounding album."

Track listing

Personnel

Musician

– piano

Technical personnel

– producer * Roger Roche – recording engineer * Barbara Wojirsch – layout, cover design * Franco Fontana – photography

References

{{Authority control ECM Records albums 1976 albums Keith Jarrett albums Albums produced by Manfred Eicher 1970s instrumental albums Solo piano jazz albums