Keith Jarrett Biography
One of the most important jazz pianists to emerge in the 1960s, veteran keyboard iconoclast Keith Jarrett is the possessor of a singular improvisational technique that integrates elements of gospel, blues and classical music in the service of a creative vision that’s wholly his own. Although he won international fame for his completely improvised solo concerts, Jarrett’s four-decade career has also seen him leading trios, quartets and quintets, performing classical pieces and interpreting standards with his longtime trio.
The Allentown, Pennsylvania-born Jarrett began his musical life as a child prodigy with perfect pitch. He took up the piano at the age of three, and played his first formal concert, including two of his own compositions, at the age of six. In his early teens, after attending a Dave Brubeck performance, he developed a strong interest in contemporary jazz. After studying at the Berklee School of Music, Jarrett began playing piano in bars and lounges around the Boston area. In 1965, he moved to New York, where he briefly joined Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, before serving a three-year stint with the Charles Lloyd Quartet. His work with Lloyd won Jarrett considerable notoriety, and he gained more attention after joining Miles Davis’ pioneering fusion group in 1969, playing electric piano, organ and various electronic keyboards. After leaving Davis in 1971, Jarrett would concentrate exclusively on acoustic piano.
Jarrett had cut his first sessions as leader in 1967, and in 1968 even made a folk-rock LP, Restoration Ruin, on which he sang and overdubbed all of the instruments. In 1971, Jarrett began recording for the ECM label, a prolific association that would last for three decades. During the ’70s, he recorded extensively with a quartet that included saxophonist Dewey Redman, bassist Charlie Haden and drummer Paul Motian; that group sometimes took advantage of its members’ multi-instrumental abilities, with Jarrett doubling on soprano saxophone. For several years in the mid- to late-’70s, Jarrett concurrently led a European lineup with saxophonist Jan Garbarek, bassist Palle Danielsson and drummer Jon Christensen.
In 1972, Jarrett began playing improvised solo concerts, for which he would do no pre-show planning; those performances produced a series of popular live albums, including the three-LP Solo Concerts, The Köln Concert and the ten-LP Sun Bear Concerts. In 1973, Jarrett began a long-running parallel career as a classic pianist and composer; he recorded several classical albums, both solo and with groups ranging from string quartets to orchestras. In 1983, Jarrett began recording with his “Standards Trio,” with bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Jack DeJohnette, which emerged as one of jazz’s most productive and consistently popular working units.
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