Latest Release
- JUN 30, 2023
- 18 Songs
- Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach · 2023
- The Melody At Night, With You · 1999
- Last Dance · 2014
- Bordeaux Concert (Live) · 2022
- Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach · 2023
- Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach · 2023
- J.S. Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I (Live in Troy, NY / 1987) · 2019
- The Melody At Night, With You · 1999
- The Melody At Night, With You · 1999
- Bop-Be · 1977
Essential Albums
- Pianist Keith Jarrett is famous for his landmark The Koln Concert album, which documented a transcendent concert-length improvisation from 1975. He went on to become one of jazz’s most prolific, notable, and demanding solo musicians (both of himself and his audience), but he suffered a debilitating case of chronic fatigue syndrome in the late ‘90s. Recorded at his home studio as a Christmas present for his wife in late 1997, this will be remembered as the first steps of his return. We get a subtlety of touch, phrasing, and lyricism here. He digs deep into the melodies for tender readings of “Someone to Watch Over Me,” “I Loves You, Porgy,” and “Something to Remember You By.” Also included here are remarkably straight readings of the folk standards “My Wild Irish Rose” and “Shenandoah.”
- Improvization at the keyboard was an essential condition of Handel’s musical life, just as it has been for Keith Jarrett. The latter’s feeling for subtle shifts of expression and ability to get under the hood of whatever he plays, whether jazz or classical, bring countless insights to these captivating interpretations of seven of Handel’s Keyboard Suites. Jarrett projects the composer’s contrapuntal lines with tremendous clarity, allowing each to speak freely without overpowering its companions. Every piece sings and dances under his fingers, at times with supreme grace, as in the “Sarabande” from the Suite in D minor and the “Adagio” from the Suite in F major. Others, such as the “Gigue” from the Suite in A major and the “Allemande” from the Suite in B flat major possess an irresistible charm.
- Bach’s music has long fascinated jazz musicians, and Keith Jarrett has gone further than most in exploring the keyboard works. For Book 1, he plays a piano (for Book 2, he chose a harpsichord) and proves a respectful champion of this great score, offering a straightforward approach that is totally convincing. Not overtly pianistic, he presents the music with clarity, an evident feel for its structure, and a sensitive choice of tempos.
- Inspired by Gregorian chant, Renaissance polyphony, and plainsong, the so-called “mystic minimalism” of Estonian composer Arvo Pärt forever changed the landscape of contemporary classical music. Pärt found a broad audience with this groundbreaking 1984 release, which was overseen by visionary classical and jazz producer Manfred Eicher and released on the newly formed ECM New Series label. Combining the stark beauty of early music with contemporary minimalism, the recording brings "Fratres" in two forms—a haunting piano and violin duet performed by Keith Jarrett and Gidon Kremer and a swirling arrangement played by 12 Cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic. The sorrowful "Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten” is set against the distant tolling bells; their ghostly, nautical sound bidding a somber farewell to the British composer known for his love of the sea. The double concerto "Tabula Rasa" is both mathematically precise and profoundly moving, with Kremer and fellow violinist Tatjana Grindenko developing exquisite melodic patterns over Alfred Schnittke's prepared piano and a subtle—yet thunderously powerful—string chamber orchestra. In the words of Eicher, the recording marks “a truly electrifying encounter between the most unconventional stylists and protagonists of contemporary classical music and jazz.”
- 1983
- 1974
- 2014
- 2013
- 2011
- 2010
- 2009
Artist Playlists
- These elegant recordings exude balanced, colorful ease.
- This pianist has been jamming with the greats since he was a teenager.
- Lean back and relax with some of their mellowest cuts.
About Keith Jarrett
Jazz pianist Keith Jarrett fell in love with the genre as a teenager and famously passed on his opportunity to study classical composition in Paris with world-renowned teacher Nadia Boulanger. ∙ Before he was fully established as a solo artist and bandleader, he played in groups headed up by jazz greats Miles Davis, Art Blakey, and Charles Lloyd. ∙ He was an early champion of improvised solo concerts, and 1975’s The Köln Concert—on which he famously performed with a substandard piano—is the best-selling solo piano recording of all time. ∙ In 1983, Jarrett formed a standards trio with bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Jack DeJohnette, with whom he spent the next 30 years successfully touring and recording. ∙ During the late ’80s and early ’90s, he returned to classical music, interpreting works by Bach, Handel, and Mozart. ∙ In 2004, Jarrett received Denmark’s esteemed Léonie Sonning Music Prize, which typically goes to classical artists and had previously been given to only one other jazz musician—Miles Davis.
- HOMETOWN
- Allentown, PA, United States
- BORN
- May 8, 1945
- GENRE
- Jazz