ALBUM REVIEW : * * * KEITH JARRETT, “Live at the Blue Note” <i> ECM Records</i>

Very simply, this is jazz at its finest. The Jarrett trio--with Gary Peacock on bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums--has been one of the stellar examples of contemporary improvisation since the early ‘80s, producing a series of superb recordings filled with a repertoire of standards.

But this unusual package reaches beyond past efforts both in scope and accomplishment. This six-CD boxed set documents an entire, sold-out engagement by the trio at New York City’s Blue Note, June 3-5 of last year--the first time the group had played a nightclub since 1983.

These CDs provide the opportunity to hear world-class musicians working together in an intimate setting, over a compacted period of time. This is especially significant for the Jarrett group, which has performed for the last decade in far larger venues.

There is a splendid array of source material: Gershwin, Carmichael, Kern, Rodgers & Hart, Berlin, Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins and Jarrett originals. There is sweepingly rhapsodic Jarrett on tunes such as “How Long Has This Been Going On,” one of many gorgeous ballads; there are his long, extended, precipice-walking lines on the up-tempos, enriched by the driving swing that energizes everything he plays. And there is the utterly intuitive interaction with Peacock’s roving, contrapuntal bass and DeJohnette’s always precisely right percussion.

Most of all, for the listener, there is the sheer pleasure of hearing and experiencing the wide, rich range of emotions that can be present when the improvisational process takes wing.

For budget-conscious fans, ECM is also releasing a single CD of the first set from June 4, featuring the trio performing, among other numbers, “Autumn Leaves,” “Days of Wine and Roses” and “When I Fall In Love.”

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good, recommended), four stars (excellent).