![]() And if Keith Jarrett thought that was bad enough, he had to contend with malfunctioning sustain pedals. They managed to tune it, though couldn’t do much to improve its tone and timbre, which was defined by jangly high notes and a less than resonant bass register. Thankfully, Vera Brandes refused to give in and managed to cajole and pacify the pianist while technicians spent several hours trying to make the piano playable and sound halfway decent – at least to an untrained ear. Given that situation, it was no wonder that the pianist was ready to call it a day. To cap it all, his condition was exacerbated by the exhausting five-hour, 350-mile drive he made to Cologne from a concert he’d given in Zurich. He had been suffering from excruciating back pain for several days, a result of which was a run of sleepless nights. Making matters worse, Jarrett was not in good shape. When he was given the news that there was no time to get a replacement piano, Jarrett threatened to cancel the show. To make matters worse, it was a piano used for opera rehearsals and was in abject condition and badly out of tune.įor a renowned perfectionist such as Jarrett, who was fastidious about his pianos and possessed perfect pitch, the instrument was an abomination. Unfortunately, the opera house staff wheeled out the wrong piano – a much smaller Bösendorfer baby grand. QUOTE: "A young German student and part-time promoter called Vera Brandes – an avid jazz fan who was just 17 at the time – was responsible for organizing the concert and, at Jarrett’s request, had arranged for a Bösendorfer 290 Imperial concert grand piano to be provided for the show. I was in college.Ī while back, I found a backstory to that concert and made me understand what a tour-de-force it was. This concert is a historical milestone, my first exposure to his genius. This excerpt from Sun Bear (10 LPs improvised live in Japan within a 15 days) are also quite amazing:īach, Mozart, Beethoven and Liszt were also said to be great improvisers – but as far as I know, there are no piano players in our generation which comes close to Jarrett. His various versions of Over The Rainbow is definitely worth checking out. The 'My Song' album (1978) with songs like My Song and Country is also a good document of what they were doing in that period. ![]() Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock and John McLaughlin) but Jarrett always was the one I was most interested in.įor those who only came across this historical Jarrett interview and don't know much about him, here's the Belonging album (1974) – one of his IMO most interesting albums: There are other musicians from Jarrett's generation that have been or are active at a high age (like eg. Personally I prefer to listen to his Scandinavian quartet over his Standards stuff. ![]() I heard him live a few times, but the best I've heard from his hands – and his band – was some Walkman-recording that someone in the audience had been making on one of the US tours with Jan Garbarek, Palle Danielsson and Jon Christensen. Sheet Music Library (PDF) in Jazz & Blues Music, Keith Jarrett The Art of Improvisation. Physical pain and a dysfunctional piano presented tremendous challenges, but Jarrett overcame these obstacles to create sensitive, enthralling pieces of music.Click to expand.Yes – Jarrett's best concerts really representing something else something which no other piano players have done. Though all of Jarrett’s albums showcase his sprawling talents and carefully considered sound, The Köln Concert (1975) stands out as a testament to his virtuosity. In the 1980s, Jarrett joined forces with bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Jack DeJohnette, kicking off a long-lasting collaboration that produced many of Jarrett’s most memorable albums. He recorded many solo piano albums, like the influential Facing You (1970), and led the notable “European” and “American” quartets. After this experience, Keith Jarrett dedicated his career to acoustic instruments and music. Inspired by fellow group member Jack DeJohnette, Jarrett embraced fusion, playing with Miles Davis’ band in the early 1970s. ![]() There he established himself in the jazz world, joining saxophonist Charles Lloyd’s quartet in 1966. Though he started with classical music, Jarrett’s interest in jazz eventually took over, leading him to relocate to New York. Jarrett began playing piano at three years old, and exhibited prodigious talent. 1945) first made his mark on the jazz world in the 1960s, and continued performing as one of the leading pianists of his generation until an injury in 2020 forced him away from the instrument. ![]()
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