Death and the Flower

{{Music ratings

|rev1 = Allmusic

|rev1Score = {{rating|3|5}}

|rev2 = Encyclopedia of Popular Music

|rev2score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite book |last1=Larkin |first1=Colin |title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |date=2011 |publisher=Omnibus Press |isbn=9780857125958 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_NNmFiUnSmUC&q=cowboy&pg=RA3-PA2005-IA45 |access-date=1 May 2019 |language=en}}

|rev3 = The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide

|rev3Score = {{rating|4|5}}{{Cite book

|editor-last=Swenson

|editor-first=J.

| year = 1985

| title = The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide

| publisher = Random House/Rolling Stone

| location = USA

| isbn = 0-394-72643-X

| pages = 112

}}

|rev4 = The Village Voice

|rev4Score = B{{cite news|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|date=June 16, 1975|url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgv6-75.php|title=Christgau's Consumer Guide|newspaper=The Village Voice|location=New York|access-date=May 27, 2013}}

}}

The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album 3 stars stating, "The main selection, the 21-minute "Death and the Flower," develops logically from atmospheric sounds to intense group improvising and back again; it is the main reason to acquire this [recording].".Yanow, S. [http://allmusic.com/album/death-and-the-flower-r141466/review Allmusic Review] accessed September 15, 2011

Writing for the now defunct jazz magazine Jazz.com, in 2008 Ted Gioia gave the title track "Death and the Flower" a 97/100 rating and praised it:Gioia, Ted (June 2008) [https://web.archive.org/web/20120922130249/http://www.jazz.com/dozens/the-dozens-essential-keith-jarrett The Dozens: Essential Keith Jarrett by Ted Gioia at Jazz.com] accessed September 2020

{{blockquote |

Keith Jarrett delighted in subverting the familiar conventions of the piano-led jazz band with his early 1970s combo work. He relied on Redman and Haden, fire tested in the school of Ornette, who didn't really need chords from the keyboard to guide their musical journeys. And sometimes Jarrett would step away from the piano himself. The instrument does not even appear until some six minutes into this track. Instead we have a delicate web of percussion underpinning wood flute, and eventually Haden's bass enters throbbing like a slow heartbeat. But Jarrett's solo, when it arrives, is worth the wait. His touch and melodic inventiveness are shown off to good effect. Tone control, always one of his strengths, is especially evident here, with Motian and Haden giving him space and dynamic room to make best use of his ethereal pianissimo. Redman imposes a more macho attitude when his tenor enters the fray, and one can hear the whole group adjusting. In fact, the give-and-take throughout this entire performance is noteworthy. Jarrett doesn't so much lead this band as immerse himself into its suchness. Yet his composition serves as the fluid structure that makes it all possible. This extended work (some 22 minutes) is essential listening for anyone who wants to come to grips with the artistry of pre-Standards Jarrett.

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Pianist Bruce Hornsby recorded "Death and the Flower" with bassist Christian McBride and drummer Jack DeJohnette on Camp Meeting (Legacy Recordings, 2007).

Bassist Eric Revis, who has played with Betty Carter, Branford Marsalis, Orrin Evans, Steve Coleman, J. D. Allen and Avishai Cohen, recorded "Prayer" with pianist Kris Davis and drummer Andrew Cyrille on City of Asylum (Clean Feed, 2013).

:All compositions by Keith Jarrett

1. "Death and the Flower" - 22:49
2. "Prayer" - 10:12
3. "Great Bird" - 8:45

On the album's inner sleeves Keith Jarrett signed this poem dated on December 5, 1974:

{{blockquote |

Death And The Flower

We live between birth and death

Or so we convince ourselves conveniently

When in truth we are being born and

We are dying simultaneously

Every eternal instant

Of our lives

We should try to be more

Like a flower

Which every day experiences its birth

And death

And who therefore is much more prepared

To live

The life of a flower

So think of Death as a friend and advisor

Who allows us to be born

And to bloom more radiantly

Because of our limits

On Earth

Think of this until you realise

Eternity

And cease to need

The illusion of Death

But do not do this

Before you lose the first great illusion:

The Illusion of Life

Because

To do this

You must die

Many times

And live to

Know it

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• Keith Jarrett - piano, wooden flute, soprano saxophone
• Dewey Redman - tenor saxophone, musette, percussion
• Charlie Haden - bass
• Paul Motian - drums, percussion
• Guilherme Franco - percussion

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Category:Keith Jarrett albums

Category:Impulse! Records albums

Category:1975 albums