There have been many great jazz pianists in my life time, but when it comes to pure improvisation that is often profoundly melodic and moving, Keith Jarrett has few if any peers.\u00a0 Yes I know when he performs live sometimes his soul is so moved by the music that he leaks sounds and reactions, sometimes almost singing along.\u00a0 You just have to accept it as part of the effect the music has as it comes out of Keith.\u00a0 Yes, he has also done some very nice studio albums with covers of classics like Danny Boy or Somewhere over the Rainbow, the version of which can just make you cry tears of joy for what might be someday.\u00a0 Of the live concerts I would recommend starting with his famous Koln Concert,\u00a0 or La Scala, or Paris\/London or A Multitude of Angels some of his south American live performances.\u00a0 And of the studio lps, start with The Melody the Night, and You.\u00a0 \u00a0When I tell you that as for his live shows of original music, it is composed on the spot in many cases, and if you ask where it came from, it came from that deep well of musicality and musical knowledge that the man embodies.\u00a0 He is capable of moving a whole audience to tears with instrumental songs they\u2019ve never heard before, so much emotion and pathos does Keith put into his songs and the playing of them.<\/p>\n
Take for instance this performance in Tokyo\u2013 and notice he doesn\u2019t even need to look at the keys never mind any sheet music.<\/p>\n