Keith Jarrett

Keith Jarrett is one of the most significant pianists to emerge in the last fifty years. He is perhaps most renowned for his solo performances and recordings, many of which are spontaneously improvised. He collaborated with Miles Davis in the early days of jazz-fusion, which was the only time he has used electronic keyboards in his career. By the 1970s, he was leading various jazz trios and quartets, and in the 1980s he began performing a lot of classical music as well as jazz. By the 1990s, he was also interpreting standards in a jazz trio with Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette, and this group is documented extensively on recordings. Anyone familiar with Jarrett’s work knows that he sometimes “sings along” when playing the piano, which can be distracting. However, he remains a formidable force in jazz and improvised music.

Recommended listening:

• The Köln Concert, 1975 (ECM)
• The Survivor’s Suite, 1976 (ECM)
• Tokyo 96, 1998 (recorded 1996) (ECM)