As well-installed as he is in the pantheon of jazz piano, Keith Jarrett has made several forays into other areas of music on various keyboards for many years. His 1976 pipe organ work Hymns/Spheres showed that versatility, and this 1986 offering, a spaced oddity if ever there was one, is perhaps more daring in terms of the sound palette created by Jarrett's well weighted touch as well as astute close miking techniques of three clavichords in the studio. Two were set at angles so that they could be played simultaneously; while the third was placed within striking distance to enable Jarrett to broaden the range of timbres. In any case the result is material that is reined in and focused rather than overflowing.

There is a very controlled density on adagios that often have a discreetly haunting character, which at times becomes a seductive strangeness, mostly because there is such a vivid evocation of a mandolin, lute or Japanese koto in chords that ripple out with a wiry lightness. But if there is a sonic appeal to this work then it is well enhanced by the effective economy of Jarrett's performance, in which pert motifs and dramatically stern single notes are the order of the day. The enduring ‘Standards’ champion also has an ear for the non-standard.