August 15, 2008
I hope you’ll indulge me for just a moment while I crow a little: This is the 50th blog I have posted here in The Stream in 22 months. People make a fuss over marriages that last 50 years (I know, because Barbara and I are planning our 50th Anniversary Celebration for July 2009), so I thought maybe a blog that had logged 50 entries in less than two years might be entitled to at least a comment. And, they said it wouldn’t last…
Thursday afternoon, August 14, 2008 (at 5:41 PM, to be exact), Rich Capparella of KUSC-FM radio (91.5 on the dial, L.A.’s only remaining 24/7 classical station) featured a piece that is a favorite of mine, one in which I haven’t indulged myself recently. It is Bridge of Light for Viola and Orchestra by Keith Jarrett, and it is a lovely classical composition. What makes it significant as a subject for this blog, however, is that it was written by a young man who is primarily known as a jazz pianist. Hearing it reminded me that I have not yet featured “Classical Music Written by Jazz Artists” here in The Stream, and what better time than now?
Bridge of Light, released by ECM Records, is a compilation of three pieces written for a soloist with orchestra and one piece for violin and piano; the pieces were written between 1984 and 1990. Both “Elegy for Violin and String Orchestra” and “Adagio for Oboe and String Orchestra” are pensive and thoughtful, as one might expect; “Sonata for Violin and Piano” is in five parts and is celebratory, although still of considerable substance; while “Bridge of Light” returns to a more serious vein. Soloists respectively are Michelle Makarski, Marcia Butler, and Patricia McCarty; The Fairfield Orchestra is conducted by Thomas Crawford.
Keith Jarrett is a fascinating individual. He was born in 1945 in Allentown, Pennsylvania and grew up with significant musical exposure. As a child, he was noted to possess perfect pitch, and he displayed prodigious talents very early. He was only six years old when he played his first formal public concert for paying customers; the event concluded with two of his own compositions. As a child prodigy, he was provided an opportunity to study composition with the legendary Nadia Boulanger in Paris, an offer that was amiably declined by Jarrett and his mother. As a youngster, Jarrett recalls being inspired by a performance by legendary jazz pianist Dave Brubeck, and he quickly learned to play jazz proficiently and fluently in his teens.
Following high school graduation, Jarrett moved to Boston where he enrolled in the prestigious Berklee College of Music. Before long he had moved to New York City and was playing at the renowned Village Vanguard. It was here that Art Blakey heard him, and he hired Jarrett to play with his Jazz Messengers. After playing in the Charles Lloyd Quartet (where he met drummer Jack DeJohnette, who has been his frequent musical partner), Jarrett played with Miles Davis, alternating with, and subsequently following, Chick Corea on electronic organ and electric piano, which he often played simultaneously. Despite his dislike for amplified music and electric instruments, Jarrett stayed on with Miles’ band out of respect for him, together with his wish to continue working with DeJohnette, who by this time had also joined the Davis band.
In 1967, Jarrett formed a trio with bassist Charlie Haden and Bill Evans drummer Paul Motian, and four years later, he added saxophonist Dewey Redman to form a quartet. (Parenthetically, Redman is father of Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude Harvard graduate Joshua Redman, winner of the 1991 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition.) The year 1991 also marked Jarrett’s first album for ECM, Facing You, a set of solo acoustic piano improvisations recorded in the studio that is being re-released on CD this month; it is still one of his best.
Since that time, Jarrett has been a prolific recording artist; Tom Lord’s Jazz Discography lists 93 CDs released under his name. Most significant of his jazz contributions have been recordings of his “Standards” trio (with Gary Peacock on bass and either Jack DeJohnette or Paul Motian on drums) and solo piano recordings of jazz improvisations. The most recent example of the former is a box set released in 2008 entitled Setting Standards; the best, with samples, is another box set from 1994, Keith Jarrett at the Blue Note: The Complete Recording, released in 2000. His solo recordings are best exemplified by 1975’s The Köln Concert [LIVE], re-released in 1999.
Bridge of Light is not Jarrett’s only classical recording. Since the mid-1980s, he has performed and recorded classical music of the masters, including Bach, Händel, Mozart, Shostakovich, and Pärt. As to his composed works, In the Light from 1973 consists of short pieces for solo piano, strings, and various chamber ensembles, including a string quartet, a brass quintet, and a piece for cellos and trombones. Luminessence (1974) and Arbour Zena (1975) both combine composed pieces for strings with improvising musicians, including saxophonist Jan Garbarek and Haden. CDs of his subsequent works confirm, however, that from this point on, his compositions adhered more closely to classical conventions.
Ritual from 1977 (which has not been released on CD) is a composed solo piano piece recorded by Dennis Russell Davies; it is somewhat reminiscent of Jarrett’s own solo piano recordings. The Celestial Hawk from 1980 is a piece for orchestra, percussion, and piano that Jarrett performed and recorded with the Syracuse Symphony under Christopher Keene. This piece is the largest and longest of Jarrett’s efforts as a classical composer. Finally, in 1995, Music Masters Jazz released a CD on which one track featured Jarrett performing the exquisite solo piano part in Lousadzak, a 17-minute piano concerto by American composer Alan Hovhaness; conducting the orchestra was Dennis Russell Davies.
In the 1990s, Jarrett was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome, and he was subsequently confined to his home for long periods of time. He did not resume touring until 2000, but he seems to be getting out and about as the decade has progressed.
Two awards Jarrett has received deserve special comment:
In 2003 he received the Polar Music Prize. This international prize for exceptional achievements in the creation and advancement of music is awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Music, with annual award ceremonies held in Stockholm each May. The prize of one million Swedish crowns (about $169,000) is presented to each laureate by HM Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden. Jarrett is the first and only recipient to receive a solo award, that is, he did not have to share his prize with anyone else.
In 2004, he was awarded the Léonie Sonning Music Prize. This prestigious award usually associated with classical musicians and composers has only one time previously been given to a jazz musician: Miles Davis. The first person to receive the award was Igor Stravinsky in 1959.
You can read more about Keith Jarrett here.
4 comments
I just wanted to say that Keith Jarret's LIVE album, The Koln Concert, is still a favorite. This is an album that I have been listening to since 1975 when I was just a young tot. His playing never gets old and is always filled with emotion and discovery. Thanks for the good words and insight into his life. You learn something new everyday!
The Koln Concert remains one of my favorites also, Lyle, and one that I return to often. Thanks for the kind words; from you, they mean a lot!
Good words.
Thanks, Trudy! I'm reading this in Hanoi, Viet Nam, but we'll be back in time for the Nakura concert. We're looking forward to it a whole bunch...!