Spirits

Recorded between May and July 1985, Spirits represents a radical pivot in Keith Jarrett's discography. Following a period of creative exhaustion and a retreat from his legendary solo piano concerts, Jarrett retreated to his home studio in a converted New Jersey barn. Using only two cassette recorders and a variety of instruments including recorders, tablas, soprano saxophone, and glockenspiel, he created a 26-track double album through a process of primitive overdubbing. The album is notable for its almost total lack of piano, Jarrett's primary instrument, favoring instead a 'primitivism' that he described as an intuitive reaction to the technological saturation of the era. Critically, the album remains one of his most divisive works; while some critics like Tom Moon viewed it as a transfixing vision quest, others like Ron Wynn dismissed it as a technical curiosity. It stands as a singular, lo-fi document of artistic healing and spiritual searching.