# Thoughts on Keith Jarrett?



## Tallisman (May 7, 2017)

I have totally fallen in love with this man's music. The Koln Concert's astounding, the Vienna concert is remarkable, the Sun Bear concerts... La Scala... and to think it's all improvised! He seems to have an almost supernatural musical sense, because even his improvisations are more formally brilliant than most compositions. By most people's standards he seems terribly arrogant, self-centered, challenging, and some think he's a charlatan. But he's an extraordinary musician, and I don't think his personality enters at all into his music, which is just a pure expression of beauty and energy.


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## Larkenfield (Jun 5, 2017)

Genius! He truly turns himself inside out when he’s improvising and constantly surprising himself as much as his audience. But at some point in his career he exhausted himself emotionally and physically and has been gradually climbing back. I could do with less of his vocal sounds and gesticulations at the piano. I loved his trio with Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette. Awesome!


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

Pure unadulterated genius. I have followed him since he played with the Charles Lloyd Quartet in 1967. The first album I ever heard him on was Lloyd's Dream Weaver. Brilliant stuff. The only albums of his that I don't have are the harpsichord Bach WTC albums he did on ECM. I may remedy that just for completeness.


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## les24preludes (May 1, 2018)

As above, a hugely talented pianist, as good as any of his generation. Outstanding with Charles Lloyd and then with his trio with Charlie Haden, who lacked the facility of Gary Peacock but always played in tune. Peacock frequently plays out of tune in the high register, and at times badly out of tune which is a challenge to listen to on repeated hearings. Unusual these days since most bassists have classical techniques and good tuning. Eddie Gomez and many others are a joy to listen to in thumb position. 

I heard the trio with Charlie Haden in the final concert of their European tour, in Belgium. Jarrett gave a long speech about how he was disbanding the trio because there was no money in it, life was hard, he wasn't appreciated, blah blah. Little did he know of what was to come. So "some think he's a charlatan".....? What an absurd idea. The guy is emotional, intense and very focussed. Bit like Glenn Gould really. i doubt if any jazz musicians are truly arrogant - they know how hard it is to get any meaningful recognition and how fragile it is when it's there. Paranoid maybe, difficult certainly, but at the core of it all there's always some kind of basic insecurity you live with as a performer.


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## Casebearer (Jan 19, 2016)

I had high expectations but was somewhat disappointed with his Köln Concert. Not my kind of jazz impro I guess. Maybe I'll recognize the genius later.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

I love him and think he is one of the most brilliant men of improv on the piano!


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## chill782002 (Jan 12, 2017)

Great player. His "Funky Tonk" solo on Miles Davis' "Live Evil" album is astonishing.


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## Bluecrab (Jun 24, 2014)

Casebearer said:


> I had high expectations but was somewhat disappointed with his Köln Concert. Not my kind of jazz impro I guess.


Hmm... I've had Koln since it was released, but never really considered it a jazz-oriented album. If you're interested in Jarrett playing jazz improvisation, check out any of the albums he did on Impulse back in the 70s with his "American quartet." If you'd like to hear a more classically-oriented live performance, definitely listen to the Bremen/Lausanne albums from around 1973. That was his first live solo album. To me, it sounds fresh and vibrant to this very day. I know that his quirky mannerisms grate on lots of people, but I don't think anyone can dispute that he is a virtuoso.


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## Azol (Jan 25, 2015)

*Paris Concert* never fails to impress me after all these years... Definitely add this to your collection.
*Solo Tribute* DVD is great also, watching him perform live adds another dimension to his improvisations. Maybe he's a tough person to deal with, but when he touches piano keys nothing else matters.


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## regenmusic (Oct 23, 2014)

When I saw that he could do that Mozart concerto for two pianos with Corea, it improved my opinion of him. I always realized he had a tremendous gift. Sadly, most of these jazz guys are too "jazz" for me, too into evolving the work backwards into sounding somewhat like standards. I know there are many who don't do that. The Finnish pianist Iiro Rantala is someone who doesn't do that. Jarrett still seems to be in Jazz modalities eventually, or something that sounds a bit like non-adventurous classical, too much of the time for my tastes. Music criticism is harsh, and not saying, "that's bad music." I wanted Jarrett to be more innovative that what I've heard so far but really enjoying this right now:


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## jim prideaux (May 30, 2013)

noticed this thread title with interest.......

I have been aware of the range of reservations regarding Jarrett's music for what must be nearly four decades now. Expressed sometimes by friends or journalists I sometimes can see why people may have 'doubts'. For me personally any questions or negative observations are totally negated by the degree of regard I have for the man's music and the positive impact it has repeatedly had on me as an individual. Not all of his music appeals directly to me and there have even been occasions when I have been disappointed but I only have to remind myself of certain aspects of his music and the deeply personal recollections and associations related to his music and any doubt is cast aside. Nostalgic perhaps, even arguably sentimental but I do not care-when the man has been at the 'top of his game' his music has formed an integral part of my life and (at the risk of overstating the case) the very sound of his piano playing (alongside Van Morrison's voice, Pat Metheny's guitar and the symphonies of Sibelius) seems interwoven into my experience.

If I do need to apologise for overstating this argument then so be it but I believe strongly that Jarrett is one example of where music can have such a profound impact on an individual- negative observations sometimes made regarding his character, the grunting and the odd 'dud' perhaps only reflect the fact that he is in fact human (even the rather mundane name 'Keith').....

personal 'favourites'?......changes frequently and too many to mention but I might suggest the following......

'Country' and 'My Song'........from 'My Song'

'Heartland'....

Bremen/Lausanne Concerts

Sleeper/Personal Mountains....the 'European Quartet live

'Blame it on my youth' from 'the Cure'......


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Ditto, I like his own concerts. 

As a classical pianist, recording say Bach, Shostakovich and Mozart, he is of less interest, IMO.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Paul Bley, Monk, Cecil Taylor, Paul Motian, and Ornette Coleman are the avant garde geniuses that came before Jarrett. As much as I love Jack DeJohnette and Gary Peacock, I never really followed Jarrett's popular trio. I tend to listen to his old quartet that recorded for Impulse.


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

starthrower said:


> Paul Bley, Monk, Cecil Taylor, Paul Motian, and Ornette Coleman are the avant garde geniuses that came before Jarrett. As much as I love Jack DeJohnette and Gary Peacock, I never really followed Jarrett's popular trio. I tend to listen to his old quartet that recorded for Impulse.


I'd throw Archie Shepp, Ayler and Coltrane into the mix too.

As for Keith, his American Quartet released some great albums as did his European Quartet. This thread prompted me into listening to some of his more modern music type albums like Into The Light and Arbour Zena. Just such a great musician both as composer and performer.


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## Larkenfield (Jun 5, 2017)

With Jarrett's long single-note melodic lines, he reminds me of the great Bud Powell and the long intricate lines of Lenny Tristano. I wasn't as much of a fan of Keith's solo albums but I admire that he was always pushing himself to his absolute limits.


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## les24preludes (May 1, 2018)

Larkenfield said:


> With Jarrett's long single-note melodic lines, he reminds me of the great Bud Powell and the long intricate lines of Lenny Tristano. I wasn't as much of a fan of Keith's solo albums but I admire that he was always pushing himself to his absolute limits.


Yes - my feelings entirely. Great single lines. His current trio for me is his best work, though Gary Peacock playing out of tune in thumb position is a constant trial for the listener. He really should fix this - modern bassists are very in tune with their usual conservatoire training.

The difficulty with solo jazz piano is that you conventionally need to play the bass notes which otherwise in a trio are played by the bassist, enabling the left hand of the pianist to simply play a variety of substitute chords. The advantage is not only the dynamic interplay with the bassist but the greater liberation of the right hand. Jarrett himself said that he needed to give his left hand more liberation, so it wasn't just dependent on his right hand, and he now plays more interesting figures in the left hand (Brad Mehldau is a good example of left hand liberation). In his solo concerts you do get the rocky rhythms that modern audiences like, but it's a sacrifice in terms of the greater expressive freedom in his trios, and the more interesting interplay. The jazz rhythm section is one of the great American innovations of the 20th Century.


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## Tallisman (May 7, 2017)

regenmusic said:


> When I saw that he could do that Mozart concerto for two pianos with Corea, it improved my opinion of him. I always realized he had a tremendous gift. Sadly, most of these jazz guys are too "jazz" for me, too into evolving the work backwards into sounding somewhat like standards. I know there are many who don't do that. The Finnish pianist Iiro Rantala is someone who doesn't do that. Jarrett still seems to be in Jazz modalities eventually, or something that sounds a bit like non-adventurous classical, too much of the time for my tastes. Music criticism is harsh, and not saying, "that's bad music." I wanted Jarrett to be more innovative that what I've heard so far but really enjoying this right now:


The Vienna Concert has some very adventurous stuff, and the Koln and Sun Bear concerts show his supreme melodic sense. If you want some truly adventurous and difficult stuff, the Munich/Bregenz ones are toughies...


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## Tallisman (May 7, 2017)

Nice:


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

An old favorite.


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