Keith Jarrett

Keith Jarrett (born May 8, 1945 in Allentown, Pennsylvania) is considered one of the most important living jazz piano players. His career started as a keyboardist for Art Blakey, Charles Lloyd and Miles Davis. Since the early 1970s, he has enjoyed a great deal of success in both classical and jazz music, as a group leader and a solo performer.

1970s quartets

From 1971 to 1976, Jarrett added saxophonist Dewey Redman to the existing trio with Haden and Motian. The "American Quartet" was often supplemented by extra percussionists, and the members would play a variety of instruments, with Jarrett often being heard on soprano saxophone and percussion as well as piano. The quartet recorded for Atlantic Records, Columbia Records, Impulse! Records and ECM. Noteworthy recordings include Birth, El Juicio and The Mourning of a Star (all 1971, recorded at the same sessions though Redman does not appear on the latter), Expectations (1972, the only album recorded for Columbia), Fort Yawuh (1973, live), Backhand (1974), Death and the Flower (1974), Shades (1975), Mysteries (1975), Eyes of the Heart (1976) and The Survivor's Suite (1976). Jarrett's compositions and the strong musical identities of the group members gave this group a very distinctive sound. The group's music was an interesting and exciting amalgam of free jazz, straight-ahead post-bop, gospel music, and exotic Middle-Eastern-sounding improvisations.

Related Topics:
1971 - 1976 - Dewey Redman - Atlantic Records - Columbia Records - Impulse! Records - ECM

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A little later in the decade (but with some overlap), Jarrett also led the "European Quartet", consisting of saxophonist Jan Garbarek, bassist Palle Danielsson, and drummer Jon Christensen. Albums recorded by this group include Belonging (1974), Personal Mountains (1979, released a decade later), My Song (1978), and Nude Ants (1979, live). This ensemble played music in a similar style to that of the American Quartet, but with many of the avant-garde and "Americana" elements replaced by the European folk influences that characterized ECM artists of the time.

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