Keith Jarrett is not your typical musician. In fact, many jazz critics, musicians and fans label him as a rather eccentric figure in the Jazz world. Rightly so in some ways - Jarrett is far from what one would expect when he is seated in front of the piano. Writhing and contorting his body in sometimes angular and violent ways, he hums audibly to the music emanating from his fingertips and closes his eyes transfixed and entirely absorbed in creating some of the most imaginative and awe-inspiring music the ear can fathom. AND his genius is purely whimsical, all impromptu by design. Nonetheless it is this indisputable connection he has with Jazz improvisation and even his eccentric nature that draws music lovers, including myself, curiously closer to his art.
When I was in my first year of high school, I remember being at home one evening and shuffling through my parents' cabinet of CDs in the living room. I sifted through the predictably large number of Christmas albums and Barry Manilow records and finally discovered something that looked rather intriguing: a solo album titled "The Koln Concert" by an artist named Keith Jarrett. The album cover was pretty plain, and featured just a candid photograph of Jarrett performing at the piano. Being a very pianistically inclined person, I was eager to see what this was all about. After listening to the entire CD through, I was honestly nearly moved to tears. I wasn't very knowledgeable about Jazz at the time, but this was the kind of Jazz that had a universal appeal. It reached out to me and spoke in a way that evoked within me a new sense of what music really stood for. The CD consists of four tracks, title-less improvisations of music that was produced not just by a musician of tremendous genius and creativity, but of exceptional heart and depth as well. Perhaps most moving of all was knowing that it was a live recording of an improvisation, music at its most brilliant encapsulated in time.
Little did I know at the time that this CD would change my outlook on music and even alter my approach (as a classical pianist!) at the piano. In an obvious way, it launched my interest into Jazz, which has always been a consistent influence in my growth and discovery as a pianist. But most importantly, it encouraged me to take risks with my work, and allow myself to free myself from the confines of a purely classical form and give way to the limitless power of spontaneity.
Keith Jarrett represents for me a kind of musical liberation. Despite his highly unorthodox demeanor as a pianist, he is a uniquely passionate artist who possesses no fear or reluctance to show himself as he truly is. For this, I believe any eccentricity can be overlooked.
A few clips of Jarrett:
From the Koln Concert:
An improvised concert from 1975, a year after the Koln Concert:
A more recent video, in his standard Trio with Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette:
Jarrett even dabbles a bit in the Classical idiom. Here, playing Mozart.
Enjoy.
CLG.
