The Survivors' Suite

In the original ECM 1085 vinyl and CD issues this quote can be found (no author stated, possibly by Keith Jarrett):

"And those that create out of the holocaust of their own inheritance anything more than a convenient self-made tomb shall be known as 'Survivors'."

Regarding sound, venues, composition and orchestration, in a February 2009 interview conducted by Stuart Nicholson, Keith Jarrett stated that:

(..) the whole music of The Survivors' Suite was written – and this is something that’s perhaps not known widely at all – ... that suite of pieces was written specifically for Avery Fisher Hall in New York, because I knew we were going to play there, I think it was opposite Monk as part of the festival. I knew from playing in Avery Fisher Hall many times the sound was not precise enough onstage to play fast tempos, [the sound] got blurred – so I decided to write the music for that evening. I felt it was important as an evening of music and that’s the first place we played it and it was written for that hall and then it became something we did at other places. So there was a rationale to that, but I think very few people would ever say, "Would you conceive, Mr. Jarrett, of writing for a specific hall?" I probably would say, "No." But the answer lies in the fact that I knew the hall to be very poor for certain kinds of things and if you listen to The Survivor’s Suite you’ll notice there are no fast tempos."[2]

According to some sources, it was voted Jazz Album of the Year 1978 by the extinct Melody Maker. In their review, it was noted that "The Survivors' Suite is a brilliantly organized and full-blooded work which provides the perfect setting for all four talents. This is a very complete record. It creates its own universe and explores it thoroughly, leaving the listener awed and satisfied... An unashamedly ardent album, Jarrett’s very finest."[1]

The Allmusic review by Stacia Proefrock awarded the album 5 stars, stating, "Like other albums of its time, this was beginning to show the brightness, lightness, and soft edges of contemporary jazz, but the solidness of Haden's bass helps the music rooted and earthbound.".[3]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[3]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz	[4]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide	[5]

The Penguin Guide to Jazz by Richard Cook and Brian Morton regards the album as a "masterpiece, with the quartet pulling together on an ambitiously large-scale piece, each member contributing whole-heartedly and passionately."[4]

1. "The Survivors' Suite: Beginning" - 27:21
2. "The Survivors' Suite: Conclusion' - 21:18

All compositions by Keith Jarrett.

• Keith Jarrett - piano, soprano saxophone, bass recorder, celeste, drums
• Dewey Redman - tenor saxophone, percussion
• Charlie Haden - bass
• Paul Motian - drums, percussion