{"id":5073,"date":"2012-02-29T01:45:51","date_gmt":"2012-02-29T08:45:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/?p=5073"},"modified":"2012-02-29T01:48:37","modified_gmt":"2012-02-29T08:48:37","slug":"keith-jarrett","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/2012\/02\/keith-jarrett\/","title":{"rendered":"KEITH JARRETT"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"KEITH JARRETT<\/strong><\/h1>\n

After four decades, a piano giant still plucks inspiration from thin air<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Jeff Tamarkin<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jazz is in part the art of improvisation\u2014and\u00a0legendary pianist Keith Jarrett takes the concept to its extreme. Up until the moment he presses down the keys, he hasn\u2019t a clue as to how he will begin or what will follow. \u201cThere\u2019s this nanosecond, or maybe it\u2019s an eternity, between sitting at the piano ready to play something and actually playing something,\u201d Jarrett says. \u201cPeople say to me, \u2018It\u2019s hard to believe that was improvised,\u2019 and I don\u2019t believe it either, although I know it\u2019s improvised and I know that I did it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Such brilliance comes with its idiosyncrasies\u2014in his four-decade career, Jarrett has been known to berate audience members who distract him. His animated and verbal performance style\u2014he often hums aloud while playing\u2014is certainly unique. But his genius is never in dispute. The Allentown, Penn., native grew up a piano prodigy who was giving formal recitals by age 7. After a stint at the Berklee College of Music, he played with Art Blakey, Charles Lloyd and\u00a0Miles Davis (for whom the acoustic-focused Jarrett briefly and reluctantly went electric) before focusing on a full-time solo career.<\/p>\n

Much of that work truly is \u201csolo\u201d\u2014Jarrett, alone with his piano, improvising. Rio<\/em>, recorded last April in the Brazilian capital at a gig Jarrett calls one of his best in years, is one such offering. Its two CDs are broken up into 15 numbered parts, each under 10 minutes apiece. But since 1983 he has also worked with a trio featuring bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Jack DeJohnette. One-off pairings like 2010\u2019s Jasmine<\/em>, with bass giant Charlie Haden, are a rarity. \u201cI\u2019m not against the idea of playing with other people,\u201d says Jarrett, 66, who does most of his studio recording at home in New Jersey. \u201cBut I don\u2019t think it\u2019s all that wonderful to meet someone and make an event recording and have that be the hook.\u201d We recently enjoyed a rare conversation with Jarrett about Rio<\/em>, his trio and the endlessly challenging psychology of improvisation.<\/p>\n

What do you recall of the Rio show?<\/strong><\/p>\n

When I walked onstage for the Rio concert I was at ease. There was something warm and glowing about the hall. It was a little funky, and there was something inviting about it. But I wasn\u2019t aware of my radical feelings about it until I listened back to it. I couldn\u2019t stop listening to it, and that had never happened to me before.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What makes a show stand out?<\/strong><\/p>\n

In my case it has nothing at all to do with musical thought. It\u2019s just, am I in the right place? Did I have the right meal? I somehow realized that there was a connection with the audience that grew as the Rio concert continued. It was a nice feeling. There is nothing edited out of Rio<\/em>. That\u2019s true of most everything I\u2019ve released solo, but Rio<\/em> has a structure that was so tight I surprised myself. One of my biggest questions to myself after that gig was how do I play again? How do I play anywhere else? Where else does the music of the culture have some very close association to jazz? This has happened in other countries, but not so perfectly.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You\u2019re known for long pieces, why are you playing shorter ones now?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was a major change. I\u2019ve heard people say, \u201cHe had chronic fatigue syndrome and his endurance isn\u2019t as great as it was when he was younger, so that\u2019s why he does these short pieces.\u201d Obviously they didn\u2019t know the backstory. I kept hearing myself going to the same places and playing things that my fingers were used to playing, but I honestly didn\u2019t like those things anymore. So I told myself, \u201cEvery time this happens, just stop.\u201d Then I would wait a minute and start again, telling my hands, \u201cJust go somewhere, just do something.\u201d The idea that I should have been playing forever was never my idea. That\u2019s just some critic thinking,\u00a0\u201cThat\u2019s the real Jarrett.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What is the single most challenging aspect of improvisation?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The hardest thing to do in improvising, for me or for anybody who would do what I\u2019m doing\u2014although I don\u2019t know anybody who does\u2014is beginning. On Rio<\/em> there are 15 difficult moments that wouldn\u2019t exist if I played constantly. It\u2019s an affirmation of my state of mind being so open that I can start over 15 times and create a structure that more or less seems unimprovised.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What guides you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

In Buddhism, an empty mind is the real music. It\u2019s that first choice of sound that brings you back into the world again. When I began that format, the audiences didn\u2019t know what the hell to do: \u201cDo I applaud? Is he OK?\u201d When I came onstage for the second set in Rio, I had no idea I was going to play an F-major chord. As soon as I played that chord one would think, how does he know what to do from that? But it was the chords that told me what to do. It\u2019s life or death. It isn\u2019t even a decision.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How about in the studio?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I hate studios. The only reason I can record in my own studio is because I live there. It doesn\u2019t feel like a studio. It has a window that looks out at trees and a lake and is very small and cozy. But in general, if I could stay away from studios I would. I need the audience. They think I don\u2019t like them, but actually I know how much more they\u2019d get under slightly different conditions that they can control. They think, \u201cOh, how\u00a0come he\u2019s so sensitive?\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How do you adapt to the trio?<\/strong><\/p>\n

You just stay out of the bass player\u2019s way. (laughs<\/em>) It\u2019s not so different, but we are in a category of music I\u2019m intimate with when I play with the trio. When I play alone I\u2019m not in a category, I don\u2019t think I am a jazz player. In the trio, that is what I do. There\u2019s a different psychological and musical makeup that we\u2019re dealing with.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Is that format restrictive?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s restrictive to be playing too many concerts in any format. When you\u2019re young and need the work, you have to play a lot. But I saw the Duke Ellington band when they were doing one-nighters for 30 days in Europe and they looked like ghosts. I remember thinking, \u201cThis is a lesson.\u201d Also, musicians don\u2019t listen to their own music enough when they keep playing. They don\u2019t realize what they\u2019re doing, they\u2019re just getting to the gig. But I wouldn\u2019t say I\u2019m a different kind of player in either situation. If I can use the whole piano, then suddenly I\u2019m not a jazz player\u2014because most jazz players have a right hand but no left hand. I grew\u00a0up playing classical.<\/p>\n

What did you learn from that?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mozart helped me realize that I could be doing a lot more with ballads, because there\u2019s a certain touch that\u2019s required that jazz players don\u2019t have. Most jazz players don\u2019t even have a touch. It\u2019s an idea music, and I wanted to play everything music. Maybe it is jazz that I\u2019m playing, but it\u2019s also involved with touch, which is why classical listeners come to the concerts. It doesn\u2019t have to reside in rhythm all the time.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What did you learn from Miles?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I learned some smart ways of leading a band. I was already doing that, but I hadn\u2019t seen it\u2014the fewer words the better, that kind\u00a0of thing. Don\u2019t tell anybody what to play unless you\u2019re forced to.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When did you find your own style?<\/strong><\/p>\n

In Belgium, in the middle of the forest outside the city. It had to be in the late \u201960s.\u00a0We took a break, and up to that moment I thought I had been working on my \u201cvoice,\u201d which is what you\u2019re supposed to be doing in jazz. But then I came back onstage and thought, \u201cWait, I found it. Now I can just play the piano.\u201d That was the moment. People think you find your voice and then everyone knows who you are. But that\u2019s only a stage, not the final stage. The final\u00a0stage never comes.<\/p>\n

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KEITH JARRETT After four decades, a piano giant still plucks inspiration from thin air By Jeff Tamarkin Jazz is in part the art of improvisation\u2014and\u00a0legendary pianist Keith Jarrett takes the concept to its extreme. Up until the moment he presses down the keys, he hasn\u2019t a clue as to how he will begin or what […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7],"tags":[3032,3157,970],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5073"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5073"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5073\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5078,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5073\/revisions\/5078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}