From the jaw-dropping keyboard pyrotechnics of Artwork Tatum and the percussive minimalism of Thelonious Monk to the melancholy lushness of Invoice Evans, jazz has produced many excellent and distinctive pianists. Probably the most influential piano gamers of the late twentieth and early twenty first centuries is Keith Jarrett, a musical polymath famend for his prolonged, spontaneously composed solo recitals.
A baby piano prodigy gifted with excellent pitch, Jarrett was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania in 1945. He began taking part in piano on the age of three, then appeared on a TV expertise present a 12 months later, and gave his first live performance on the age of seven. In his late teenagers, Jarrett attended Boston’s prestigious Berklee Faculty Of Music earlier than shifting to New York in 1965, the place drummer Artwork Blakey recruited him for the vacant piano chair in his well-known exhausting bop group, The Jazz Messengers. A 12 months later, in 1966 – the 12 months Jarrett made his first solo report – the pianist joined saxophonist Charles Lloyd’s groundbreaking quartet, and in 1970, performed electrical organ with Miles Davis‘ boundary-breaking avant-jazz-rock band.
In 1971, Jarrett started a career-long affiliation with ECM, producer Manfred Eicher’s Munich-based label. 4 years later, Jarrett grew to become a jazz celebrity with the discharge of The Köln Live performance, essentially the most profitable solo jazz album ever by way of gross sales. Whereas Jarrett continued to play solo concert events, he additionally concurrently led two completely different however equally outstanding quartets in the course of the 70s; the avant-garde “American Quartet” and a much less outré group comprising Scandinavian musicians dubbed the “European Quartet.”
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Given the huge scope of his expertise and musical pursuits, Jarrett additionally ventured away from jazz into the world of classical music, wrote orchestral works, and carried out in a wide range of completely different settings. In 1983, the pianist put collectively the Requirements Trio, dedicated to reinterpreting the repertoire of the Nice American Songbook. The group was prolific and long-lasting, producing a few of Jarrett’s most satisfying works throughout its 26-year lifetime.
For an artist like Jarrett, choosing 20 of his greatest items isn’t any simple process. Though he’s an achieved multi-instrumentalist, his signature instrument is the pianoforte. For the introduction that follows, we’ve determined to focus solely on his distinctive keyboard work.
The Solo Concert events
Probably the most acceptable place to start our journey is along with his famed solo recitals, starting with a variety from 1975’s The Köln Live performance, considered one of Keith Jarrett’s greatest items. The 66-minute efficiency was a conquer adversity. Jarrett, fatigued by journey and sleep deprivation, hated the sound of the live performance corridor’s less-than-perfect piano and performed the live performance whereas sporting a again brace. In the end, the ensuing double LP captured the pianist at his most mellifluous. The efficiency is riveting from starting to finish, however the opening and longest improvisation, “Part 1,” is magical in the best way the music begins tentatively and progressively unfurls to create a richly embroidered tapestry of sound.
For some Jarrett devotees, 1973’s Solo Concert events: Bremen/Lausanne, a 3-LP set recorded in Germany and Switzerland, represents the head of his improvised work. It’s greatest represented on the opening facet, “Bremen, July 12, 1973 – Pt. 1,” which blends the bittersweet romanticism of Invoice Evans with the exact melodic readability of Ahmad Jamal (each pianists influenced Jarrett profoundly).
Arguably extra stunning is “Kyoto Part 1,” a 43-minute improvisation that begins as a luminous nocturne and opened Jarrett’s Solar Bear Concert events, a 10-LP field set chronicling the pianist’s Japanese tour in 1976. (On the time it was extremely uncommon for a report label to report and launch a complete tour, but it surely additional illustrates ECM’s dedication to Jarrett, in addition to Jarrett’s versatility from one night time to the subsequent.)
In a reside setting, the presence of an viewers appeared to propel Jarrett into an orgasmic state of rapture. He typically accompanied his taking part in with ecstatic cries and moans. And but, an viewers wasn’t at all times the mandatory catalyst to spark Jarrett’s inspiration, as 1977’s studio solo providing, Staircase, confirmed. The double album contained 4 multi-part themed improvisations, of which “Sand: Part 2” showcased his limpid right-hand strains cascading over a churning, ostinato bass line in a compelling expression of inventive impulses changing into a musical actuality.
Not all Jarrett’s reside improvisations have been epic items, just like the concise “Heartland” from the 1981 LP Concert events; a stately, heartfelt hymnal that channels the exultant cadences of gospel music.
In his later years, Jarrett’s solo concert events have been typically configured into multi-part suites and confirmed a darker, however no much less compelling, classical-influenced facet to his music. “Part 1” from 2006’s La Fenice, recorded in Venice, which is a dense, swirling matrix of intricate counterpoint peppered with disquieting dissonant notes.
The American Quartet
As his notoriety as a solo pianist was blossoming within the early 70s, Keith Jarrett led a band composed of older musicians: saxophonist Dewey Redman, bassist Charlie Haden, and drummer Paul Motian. Dubbed the “American Quartet” – to differentiate it from a European quartet that Jarrett recorded with throughout the identical interval on ECM – the group was in electrifying type on the sensible 1972 double album Expectations, whose greatest piece was the funky, percussion-driven “Common Mama.”
After this, the quartet signed to the US jazz label Impulse! Between 1973 and 1976, they issued eight various albums that produced among the most adventurous music of the pianist’s profession. “The Rich (And The Poor),” from 1974’s Treasure Island, is among the group’s extra accessible tunes, pushed by Jarrett’s gospel-inflected piano over an addictive mid-tempo groove. Ear-catching too is Treasure Island‘s title music, the place guitarist Sam Brown replaces Redman on a blithe meld of jazz and rock flavors.
One of many American Quartet’s most interesting performances is “De Drums,” from the 1973 reside album, Fort Yawuh. It’s a joyous and easy modal groove with hints of gospel music in its DNA. In sharp distinction, there’s a deeper depth to the opening solemnity of “Everything That Lives, Laments.” Led by Redman’s keening tenor sax, it’s adopted by an eloquent Haden bass solo earlier than Jarrett produces a glistening solo passage of elegant improvisation.
Each “Rainbow” (from 1977’s Byablue) and “Bop-Be” (the title tune from the quartet’s 1978’s LP) highlight the group’s extra approachable facet in addition to its intuitive interaction. On each tracks, Dewey Redman’s absence reduces the group to a trio with Jarrett producing a stream of exquisitely flowing melodic strains over Haden and Motian’s subtly swinging undertows. (Jarrett’s musical affiliation with Haden continued into the 2010s; they recorded Jasmine and Final Dance, two elegant albums of requirements configured as intimate piano-bass duets.)
The European Quartet
Combining his piano with the abilities of two Norwegian musicians – saxophonist Jan Garbarek and drummer Jon Christensen – and Swedish bassist Palle Danielsson, Jarrett made an indelible impression with the 2 studio albums his “European Quartet” lower for ECM; 1974’s Belonging and 1978’s My Music. The previous album featured considered one of Jarrett’s most well-known songs, “’Long As You Know You’re Living Yours.” It’s an infectious amalgam of blues and gospel tropes over a throbbing backbeat that includes Garbarek’s plaintive saxophone cries (the music was later the inspiration for jazz-rock group Steely Dan’s 1980 observe, “Gaucho”). The Norwegian’s haunting saxophone additionally lights up “The Wind Up,” a extra pressing observe pushed by Jarrett’s febrile piano.
One other important Jarrett piece is the quartet’s achingly stunning “My Song,” from the 1978 album with the identical title. It highlighted the pianist’s predilection for creating bittersweet pastoral ballads with memorable melodies whereas the episodic “The Journey Home” confirmed Jarrett’s distinctive storytelling means as a musician. The European Quartet was additionally a compelling reside act, exemplified by the euphoric, carnival-esque “New Dance” from the in-concert album, Nude Ants, which encapsulated the group’s onstage synergy.
The Requirements Trio
By the tip of the 70s, each the American and European quartets had dissolved. However in 1983, Jarrett teamed up with drummer Jack DeJohnette (whom he had beforehand performed alongside in Charles Lloyd and Miles Davis’ bands) and bassist Gary Peacock to type a brand new band. Dubbed “The Standards Trio,” the group ran from 1983 to 2009 and served up 21 albums dedicated to the Nice American Songbook. Each on stage and within the studio, the three musicians appeared to own ESP-like musical telepathy, which is clear on a radical interpretation of singer Billie Vacation’s “God Bless The Child” (from the group’s eponymous 1983 debut LP) and an astonishing retooling of Dizzy Gillespie’s bebop traditional “Groovin’ High” from the 2000 reside album, Whisper Not.
Like all of the piano-playing legends which have graced the pages of jazz historical past, Keith Jarrett is far more than a talented technician; he has that uncommon means to conjure aural magic by combining his virtuosity with emotional sincerity and a storytelling intuition that resonates. It’s the hallmark of all nice musicians, and it may be deeply felt in these items.
Keith Jarrett’s Solar Bear Concert events can be found now and could be ordered right here.
