Keith Jarrett

Keith Jarrett, born in 1945, American pianist and composer, noted for performing both jazz and classical music. Through his many collaborations with other jazz musicians and his solo piano improvisations, Jarrett introduced tonal and structural ideas to jazz from disparate sources including classical, rock, country, and world music (see Worldbeat). His best-known solo piano improvisation took place in a concert hall in Cologne, Germany, and was released as The Köln Concert (1975).

Born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, Jarrett was a child prodigy on the piano. He toured with band leader Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians at the age of 16, and turned down an opportunity to study under French teacher and composer Nadia Boulanger in Paris while still in his teens. Instead, he studied at the Berklee College of Music in Boston before going to New York City. There, he played with drummer Art Blakey, instrumentalist Roland Rahsaan Kirk, and saxophonist Charles Lloyd during the 1960s.

After a short stint with one of the groundbreaking bands of trumpeter Miles Davis in the early 1970s, Jarrett formed his own quartet, which recorded several albums including The Survivor’s Suite (1976). He also recorded Belonging (1975) and other albums with Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek. After 1983 he focused his jazz work on performances with his Standards Trio.

In the 1990s Jarrett took an enforced break from performing, owing to illness, but began to play again in 1998. Since then he has released several recordings, including the solo albums The Melody at Night, With You (1999) and Radiance (2005), and the albums Whisper it Not (1999) and Up For It (2003) with the Standards Trio.

Jarrett is a renowned classical performer on both piano and harpsichord. His acclaimed classical recordings include J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations (1989) and Dmitry Shostakovich’s 24 Preludes and Fugues (1993). He has also composed pieces for a range of non-jazz ensembles, including In the Light (1973) for a string quartet and brass quintet, The Celestial Hawk (1980) for symphony orchestra, and Spirits (1986) for various non-Western instruments.