The albums Mysteries and Shades were drawn from three dates by Jarrett’s ‘American’ quartet on 10, 11 and 12th December 1975 and last appeared on Mysteries: The Impulse Years 1975-1976 (Impulse!) in 1996. Listening again to this music is never the unalloyed joy that perhaps it ought to be. This is maybe because a year before Mysteries, Jarrett recorded the album Belonging with his ‘European’ quartet and this album, and those that followed with Jan Garbarek, Palle Danielsson and Jon Christensen, have an openness and freshness that continue to influence musicians to this day. In contrast, the edgy post-bop of the American quartet is often introspective, dark and turgid. Mysteries and Shades each comprise four compositions that move in and out of free jazz (‘Rotation’), exoticism (the oriental-sounding ‘Flame’), a Coltrane-esque dirge (‘Mysteries’), Ornette Coleman (‘Rose Petals’) and shades of bebop (‘Shades of Jazz’). It’s not music that has stood the test of time well; in fact it’s pretty boring in parts.