Like Before, Somewhat After

This is Schuller's second recording with his longstanding working band, Circle Wide (formerly known as Chump Change), and the long-awaited follow-up to its 2003 homage to Miles Davis' pre-fusion transitional period, Round 'Bout Now (PSR#J021302). Three decades after the demise of Jarrett's underappreciated ensemble, Circle Wide reinvents six of its favorite tracks from the Jarrett catalog, some of which it has been performing live in New York for years, and documents two Schuller originals inspired by the source material.

"Keith Jarrett's American Quartet, featuring saxophonist Dewey Redman, bassist Charlie Haden and drummer Paul Motian, is generally regarded as one of the more exciting and influential working jazz bands of the 1970s," writes journalist Bill Milkowski in the liner notes. "Together [Schuller and Circle Wide] succeed in capturing the amazing elasticity and rarefied inside/outside aesthetic that Jarrett achieved 30 years ago."