Life Between the Exit Signs

Life Between the Exit Signs
Studio album by
ReleasedApril 1968 [1]
RecordedMay 4, 1967
StudioAtlantic, New York City, US
GenreAvant-garde jazz
Length43:18
LabelVortex Records
ProducerGeorge Avakian
Keith Jarrett chronology
Life Between the Exit Signs
(1968)
Restoration Ruin
(1968)
Keith Jarrett American Group (first trio) chronology
Life Between the Exit Signs
(1967)
Somewhere Before
(1968)

Life Between the Exit Signs is the first jazz album by pianist Keith Jarrett as a leader. It was recorded on May 4, 1967 at Atlantic Recording Studios, in New York City and released on April 1, 1968,[1] under the record label Vortex, a subsidiary label of Atlantic Records. It is the first session featuring Jarrett, bassist Charlie Haden and drummer Paul Motian together. In 1999, Collectables Records reissued the album paired with Jarrett's El Juicio (The Judgement),[2] and in 2004 Atlantic Records reissued it along with extensive liner notes by Professor Bill Dobbins.

The tracks are quite influenced by the music of Ornette Coleman and Bill Evans, Jarrett having long been an admirer of both, Haden having played with Coleman (1959–60) and Motian having played with Evans (1959–64). "Margot" is an homage to Jarrett's wife.[3]

  1. ^ a b Discogs Keith Jarrett: Life Between the Exit Signs accessed September 2020
  2. ^ Todd, Jim. "Keith Jarrett: El Juicio (The Judgement)/Life Between the Exit Signs". AllMusic. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  3. ^ Sandner, Wolfgang (2020). Keith Jarrett: A Biography. Translated by Jarrett, Chris. Equinox. p. 62.