Elm

Excellent !!

that I had to replace when I went from vinyl to CD. I couldn't find it for the longest time, but here it is as an expensive Japanese import. I paid the price. 'Sea Priesters' is actually 'Sea Priestess' of course. That is an amazing piece, with a long, subtle, quiet drum solo by DeJohnette which is unforgettable. Beirach's playing is accessible here, unlike some of his more recent and abstract stuff. Where is Richie now? He's a living national treasure. Elm is a nice tune, but there are other pieces on this album that are as fine. I cannot recommend this more highly.

The best trio session by Richie Beirach, no question for me. The chemistry among these three is totally magic, Jack's at his best, Mraz is a true giant of the bass who plays with incredible power and taste, R.B. is a piano master and, in this case, a very inspired composer. What else do we need?

I'll say it straight up: this is one of the best jazz trio albums of all time. I place it right up there in the pantheon of the greats, next to Corea's Now He Sings Now He Sobs and even the revered Evan's Live at the Village Vanguard. What we're talking about is simpatico playing, a kind of telepathic connection amongst the players, great (in this case all original) tunes and perfect sequencing.Audio quality matters of course, but when you're talking about the perfect alignment of the stars, the magic of three playing as one, that chemistry that can't be forced or faked, I can forgive the audio deficits of the aforementioned Corea and Evans recordings. Even remastered, they're ok, but it's the music that matters. Of course, this being an ECM production, the audio is quite good here. This is early ECM work, and I do think Manfred Eicher got much better at recording piano trio music - here the piano sounds a bit tinny, while the drums sound less fully present and powerful than on later ECM recordings. DeJohnette's cymbals in particular suffer from a thin, two dimensional sound, not at all like the silvery and transparent sound Eicher became known for in later recordings. Of course, all that can be easily overlooked, as this is a classic. This is simply as close to a perfect jazz trio album as you're going to find. I have most of Beirach's output (many are imports and difficult to find,) and be it solo, trio or some of his classical crossover recordings, I feel comfortable in saying this is hands down one of the best efforts of his long and varied career. I've listened to it for some 30 years and it always comes across as fresh, majestic and timeless, almost orchestral in scope. Like all great work, this music will never sound dated. This is one for the ages.

You're lucky you stumbled onto this page in the Amazon sea: Richard Beirach is one of the most brilliant -- and overlooked -- jazz pianists of our era, and this is probably his best album. Melodies like "Elm" are suffused with a particular kind of melancholy and mature reflection that's hard to come by, even in jazz. If you like the classic Evans trios, you may like this, but there's nothing derivative or retro about it. Beirach plays with none of the Tyner-Evans-Jarrett cliches that infect lesser players (though, granted, he has a couple of his own.) This is thoroughly modern piano trio music, both intellectually elegant and passionate, swinging like mad (DeJohnette!), and highly melodic and lyrical. The level of communication in this trio is sublime -- though Beirach played brilliantly with John Abercrombie in the (sadly out-of-print!) Abercrombie Quartet, he found the perfect collaborators in (equally underappreciated) George Mraz and Jack DeJohnette.I used to think "Eon" was Beirach's best album, but it hasn't worn as well as "Elm." This session was tightly focused, with motifs appearing and reappearing throughout; the whole album is nearly a suite. Beirach has recorded "Elm" on several occasions, but this is the best: diamond-sharp, sad, and triumphant at once. His compositions are strong here, and the recording quality is, of course, peerless.An absolutely wonderful -- and now nearly forgotten -- album.

I have been listening to this recording since it was released round the early eighties. Besides being a flat out masterpiece it is easily one of the best recordings in the vast ECM catalogue (which encompasses decades worth of great contemporary jazz). Though on the expensive side as goes CDs, it is worth every penny and then some.Beirach manages to bring a focused intensity to his balladry while infusing his aggressive no nonsense post-bob modality with a lyricism and beauty, all built on razor sharp chops. While his harmonic sense borrows from the best of Scriabin, Schoenberg and like minded modern classical composers, he is a modern voice unto himself; Beirach has defined an approach to the keyboard which is singularly unique. The compositions, all original, are modern jazz standards in their own right and I believe at least a few of these songs comprise modern Jazz chart compilations, and not without good reason.The support from Dejohnette and Mraz is wholly satisfying, never intruding, always shifing to accommodate Beirach's ever shifting palatte.A wonder, a must have- I feel blessed to have seen the man play live once here locally in a small, cellar jazz room- he had issues with someone talking at a nearby table. Some musicians are entitled to ask for your rapt attention and Richie Beirach is one such player.