HARRISON: PIANO CONCERTO; SUITE FOR VIOLIN, PIANO AND SMALL ORCHESTRA. Keith Jarrett, piano; Lucy Stoltzman, violin; Naoto Otomo conducting the New Japan Philharmonic (Concerto); Robert Hughes conducting (Suite). New World Records NW 366-2 (compact disc).

The sonically and emotionally big 1985 Concerto, mixing the maniacally thumping with the ethereally intricate, deserves a wide audience, and playing as tireless, committed and idiosyncratic as Jarrett’s, recorded in performance in 1986. Popularist in the best sense--immediately engaging, yet repaying repeated listening--it is a gratifying, overwhelming fingerbuster of the first order. The 1951 Suite presents many of the same ideas in embryo, and is sweetly played here.