These two albums are part of the first batch of ECM's The Story Of Our Listening compact disc reissue series comprising seven albums on CD (four for the first time, one previously only available for a limited time in Japan) described by ECM as, ‘Great music and full-dimensional sound at download price, in cardboard covers with original artwork.’ Arbour Zena might be described as the successor to Luminessence, which was conceived by Jarrett as a feature for Jan Garbarek in an orchestral setting (Jarrett did not play but composed and arranged the music). Although Jarrett was well versed in European classical music, he referred to one of his earlier string pieces as “universal folk music,” a description that seems appropriate for both Luminessence and Arbour Zena that followed. The latter again features Garbarek in a string setting, but this time he is joined by Jarrett on piano and Charlie Haden on bass. There was little rehearsal – Jarrett sent Garbarek a tape of the compositions played by piano yet all are perfectly formed first or second takes. It is a suite of three movements and is a work of great beauty that has more rhythmic interest than its predecessor and again, Garbarek's magnificent saxophone tone is framed to eloquent effect against the strings. Ritual is something of an oddity in the Jarrett discography: a 32-minute composition in two parts written by Jarrett and performed by the classical pianist Dennis Russell Davies and recorded in 1977 (but not released on LP until 1982). Romantically inclined contrasted by ostinato passages that include no harmonic movement, it misses the magical ingredient of Jarrett himself at the keyboard.