Got to be some love out there for the great man. His grunting, humming, moaning accompaniment to his long improvisations on piano are reasonably well-known, less so his additions to the classical canon and his talent on soprano sax. Saw him live back in the 70s in a smoky little jazz club in Boston, sitting exactly one metre behind his elbow. Completely hooked me. My favourite work of his is this, the Survivors’ Suite (of which only the start is available)
And here’s a fitting article on him
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/may/10/keith-jarrett-70-greatest-living-musican-geoff-dyer
Yeah, but is he any good? Only kidding, I have nothing by KJ and was wondering whether the Original Album Series would be any good as an introduction?
Buy the Koln Concert Baron.
Then get ready to empty your wallet.
It ain`t full, but that`s what I`m bothered about is getting hooked. Oh well.
There’s a solo piano concert recorded for radio in Berlin in 1975 which you can hunt down and download on bigozine2. The recording quality is good and it is in a similar vein to The Kohn Concert (although disappointingly lacking the moaning and stamping). Gives you a free taste though.
Most Jarrett recordings fall into one of five categories:
1. Solo piano stuff
2. the famous trio (i.e. with Peacock and DeJohnette)
3. the European quartet
4. the American quartet
5. The classical stuff
Have a bit of a listen to stuff from the various categories, and then dive in. I favour nos 1 and 2 myself.
But whatever you go for, you’ll soon discover that the music of Keith Jarrett is a very deep well.
My own favourite dozen KJ albums are probably these…
The Köln Concert
La Scala
Live at the Blue Note (6CD box)
Survivors’ Suite
The Sun Bear Concerts (6CD box)
Still Live
At the Deer Head Inn
The Melody at Night, with You
Jasmine
“Concerts” (Bregenz)
Changeless
Hymns – Spheres (KJ improvising on a church organ in Germany – nice, if you like that sort of thing. Which I do.)
The Koln Concert is wonderful but I must confess I do find his “singing along” more than a mite irritating. However, It’s a minor complaint.
Probably my favourite Jarrett work is the central role he played in the Miles Davis crews of the early 70s, notably highlighted in Miles Davis at Fillmore: Live at the Fillmore East.
Happy birthday to a Jazz giant.
Those who enjoy KJ’s vocalising should check out Bud Powell. On some of his recordings you can barely hear the bleedin’ piano.
Monk was another well known mumbler. What is it with jazz pianists?
Monk is the only pianist who is almost as good with the sound off. Using weird parts of his hands, getting up and having a wander, wearing top-notch hats… what an entertainer. Seriously!
I vividly remember hearing the Koln Concert for the first time. At the Ringo Guest house in New Delhi. My mind was blown.
Unfortunately equally explosive things were happening at the other end of my body. KJ can take no blame for that.
The Ringo Guest House in New Dehli? I thought Ringo was the one who didn’t like India? Didn’t he come home from Rishikesh before the others because he missed baked beans on toast and other British culinary delicacies?
I heard the Koln Concert for the first time just a couple of years ago and it is absolutely stunning, you can’t help but get completely lost in it and it’s unlike anything else I’d ever heard.
Since then I’ve spent far too much catching up with his other work – and there’s a LOT of it. Not all as good as Koln, it has to be said, but there are many pieces right up there, and a wide variety of styles. Duco01’s list is bang on
I’m off to hear this Koln Concert now as I can’t believe anything can be that good.
… and it isn’t 🙁
So James – tell me about your listen. What was the context.?A sit down focussed listen to all 4 sides or something different?
I can recommend The Paris Concert too which contains a stunning blues improv.
I posted recently regarding a review of his latest solo effort in which the review discusses rather well his transition from pre and post chronic fatigue.
Koln concert mimicked the sound of concert about to start bell at the venue I heard somewhere. However I also remember hearing a Bartok Hungarian folk melody once and it was a dead ringer for the principal motif. As coincidence would have it Jarrett has released a box set of Bartok stuff so guess I will have to wade through it to find the song.
There was a movie starring Art Garfunkel and a stunning female actress, was it Valerie Perrine which featured Koln Concert music very effectively.Movie was called Bad Timing.
For mine the 2 stand out records at the ones with the European quarter featuring Jan Garbarek. My Song and Belonging.
Great minds!
You might also want to check out Bad Timing, the bleak Nicholas Roeg film that makes extensive use of the Koln Concert.
Other Keith Jarrett stuff to check out (and all the recommendations are great):
Arbour Zena
My Song (the first one I bought after The Koln Concert)
Shostakovich: 24 Preludes and Fugues.
Arbor Zena is the only one I know well and it is magnificent. I think it would appeal to fans of Talk Talk’s Laughing Stock and Spirit of Eden, of which I’m sure there are many on this site.
Oh, and the actress in Bad Timing was Teresa Russell.