Jarrett interview on McPartland Piano Jazz

[jsaras]

I just saw Keith Jarrett at Royce Hall last night. Amazing! Anyway, I was hoping to hear Marian McPartland interview him but the audio is no longer available online and there is no CD of it that I could find. Anyone have any suggestions?

[delirium]

I can listen to Jarrett's playing sometimes, but I'm not interested what he has to say.

[linwood]

I remember listening to that podcast on itunes. I dunno if it's still there, but I figure you've looked. Terry Gross has a couple things with keith in the audiobooks section there. Other than that you can get the Art of Improv dvd, if you haven't seen it.

 

 

I wish I could have been there with you. I've gotta wait til he does a Cirque show to see him. Could be a while.

[SpaceNorman]

Having read about and watched video clips of his relatively frequent and outright hostile anti-audience tirades, I have a hard time getting past 'em to enjoy his music. There are just too darn many good artists who are downright good people as well out there to explore that I won't waste any time on a sphincter like Jarret.

[Dave Ferris]

Marian had that interview up on her website at one time..I heard it.

She went out to his place for the interview and was very nervous about it, you could hear it in her voice. He was very cool to her...they traded off different tunes, like she does with everybody. He did a free improv, it sounded like a standard but it wasn't...just a very melodic ballad feel. She seemed inspired and played her own thing that was nice as well.

They talked about improvisation and creativity...he was actually the least obtuse I think I'd ever heard him.

They played duo on something...can't remember what it was though.

You could tell he respected her and wasn't being a hard ass that day. She stills plays great, has a great outlook and attitude at what?....80 something. What a treasure she is.

[delirium]

Having read about and watched video clips of his relatively frequent and outright hostile anti-audience tirades, I have a hard time getting past 'em to enjoy his music. There are just too darn many good artists who are downright good people as well out there to explore that I won't waste any time on a sphincter like Jarret.

 

+1

[iLaw]

You probably already know this, but just in case you didn't, NPR still has just the songs from that interview up on their web site (scroll down a bit and the audio files are on the left).

 

Larry.

[magronbass]

I saw Jarrett at Newark performance art center a while back.. his playing was awesome and all, but I didn't get the impression he was a "sphincter". He came back for encores like for ever, seemed to genuinely enjoy performing with his buddies.. just seemed all good to me. But then, that's just one performance so..

 

I sort of expected the evil to be oozing out of him, judging from all that I've heard about him.

[SK]

There are just too darn many good artists who are downright good people as well out there to explore that I won't waste any time on a sphincter like Jarret.

Jarrett's been discussed here before and we know he can be an ass sometimes. He has his outbursts which I've found very irritating, because it can turn people off to music. But I don't think he's just another one of many good artists out there. He's at the very top tier, that is when he's not having a bad day. Music is still music. Not to disagree with you here at all - just trying to keep a balance.

[Jazzwee]

makes no difference if you think he's an a-hole. I have a lot to learn from him and there aren't many like him. I'm slowly transcribing him right now and learning at every moment.

 

In fact as I transcribe, I get even more amazed at the density of the tidbits of information in one of those fast lines.

 

I could never find tickets to that concert last night, so I saw someone else.

 

[SK]

And we're in agreement. I don't think he's an a-hole. Sometimes he acts like one, but his playing is tops, along with Chick, Herbie, etc.

[jsaras]

Keith did have a little tantrum that involved someone taking a photograph sometime during the performance which sounded like an angry parent scolding a child. He also made an obtuse political remark ("Jazz is the only thing in the country that represents its health. The rest is politics"), but a liberal/leftist slant is somewhat expected from most musicians. At least he didn't do a full-on disgusting Dixie Chicks rant.

 

On the positive side, he did do several encores and it was an astounding performance from the first note to the last.

 

I was lucky enough to get back stage after the performance. A college-aged kid brought an LP with him in the hopes that Keith would autograph it. Keith said that he didn't do autographs anymore because of "trouble with his shoulder". I had to laugh at that.

[delirium]

and who is Jarrett again?

[Jazzwee]

delirium, you judge your jazz guys by the speed and volume of notes they produce...

 

I judge them by what notes they play and how they play it, and it can be quite slow. If I wanted classical music played fast then I can listen to Chopin Etudes instead.

 

SK - my comment was directed to my buddy Delirium here, not to you.

 

 

[Bobadohshe]

I agree with SKs assessment that Keith is not just another good cat. He's at the top of the heap with a very elite few.

 

On that Piano jazz episode Keith was pretty mellow. He rapped with Marian in a nice back and forth manner. It's funny how normal Keith sounded during it. She would be like, 'This one time you played this song.' and Keith would say, 'I don't really remember that tune at the moment.'

 

In other words, as stupidly great as Keith is, he's apparently quite human.

 

I bet he wouldn't have been 1/2 as civil to any other interviewer though. Marian has been around, payed some dues, and can play herself.

[Legatoboy]

It was proposed to me that his illness a few years ago was brought on by his temperament and obsessive compulsiveness. Though he really is top tier, if that is true, it makes you wonder about things doesn't it.

 

I believe he had a form of Epstein-Barr or Chronic fatigue syndrome. I'm not 100% sure to be honest!

 

I hear Dick Hyman can only talk about music also.

 

I love and respect both their playing though I must say!

[delirium]

delirium, you judge your jazz guys by the speed and volume of notes they produce...

 

I don't know how did you get to that conclusion...

I like e.g. Monk and he is slow as hell...

 

I just say - if player is a jerk, I can hear it in his music.

[jsaras]

Monk was not a "slow" player. The recently released recording of Monk with Coltrane (at the Smithsonian?? or Carnegie Hall?) shows his playing at the top of game. He could play fast tempos without difficulty. His chops were certainly on par with any of the bebop players of that era.

 

His comping on that recording was out of this world. It sounded similar to contemporary classical music. His mastery of texture and contrast was unmatched.

[jsaras]

It was proposed to me that his illness a few years ago was brought on by his temperament and obsessive compulsiveness.

 

That sorta makes sense. It's easy to play arm chair psychologist, but I can see how someone whose mind is so wired to do one thing could be deficient in other areas and it can obviously have negative effects on physical health, relationships, etc.

[orangefunk]

I'd add aspergers in there too...

[Jazzwee]

delirium, you judge your jazz guys by the speed and volume of notes they produce...

 

I don't know how did you get to that conclusion...

I like e.g. Monk and he is slow as hell...

 

I just say - if player is a jerk, I can hear it in his music.

 

This is not some new discussion Delirium. We've discussed your distaste for Jarrett before and in his place you offered up some name that was an Oscar Peterson-like Player in the speed and notes department.

 

Even Oscar Peterson was not at Jarrett's level. While OP played pretty fast, he's using known riffs and patterns. Jarret plays streams of original ideas at high speed.

 

As I transcribe him right now, I can slow it down to 50% and it still sounds like Medium swing with completely original lines from some normal cat.

 

 

 

 

[delirium]

As I transcribe him right now, I can slow it down to 50% and it still sounds like Medium swing with completely original lines from some normal cat.

 

so when you slowed down so much, you might have noticed those Jarrett's jerks notes, haven't you? :grin:

[Jazzwee]

No he was actually guite friendly when slowed down

 

 

[Legatoboy]

It 'was' CFS. . .It was speculated to me it was self induced stress that may have made him more vulnerable but they really don't know yet what causes CFS. Stress is one of the suspected causes along with other immune system and bacterial causes. It effects short term memory and cognitive facilities supposedly. Must have been pretty bad for KJ, glad he survived it, we need him!

 

KJ Illness . . .

 

It was proposed to me that his illness a few years ago was brought on by his temperament and obsessive compulsiveness.

 

That sorta makes sense. It's easy to play arm chair psychologist, but I can see how someone whose mind is so wired to do one thing could be deficient in other areas and it can obviously have negative effects on physical health, relationships, etc.

[Bobadohshe]

 

 

Even Oscar Peterson was not at Jarrett's level.

 

 

 

Dangerous territory it enters!!! bEwARe!!

 

Theres more to OP than note choice. Theres SWING and SPIRIT.

 

And besides, you might as well be saying Debussy wasn't on Palestrina's level i.e. apples to oranges.

[delirium]

Must have been pretty bad for KJ, glad he survived it, we need him!

 

do we?

 

mr. Sensitive

[SK]

Re-entering "dangerous territory" here: OP was historically a very important pianist as a stylist... and as a player, you don't get any better than that.

 

But in the harmonic world, Bill Evans was a deeper player. And Jarrett even expands some on Evans' sense of harmonics, so he's 'deeper' yet. Jarrett is not a more important pianist or better player, but a more evolved player conceptually. Bill Evans, Oscar Peterson, etc. each were the very best at what they did.

 

So there's no contest between any of them. The context here is that jazz evolved, like Charlie Parker to Coltrane, and one couldn't have existed without their predecessors who blazed the way. (boring analysis finished, leaving dangerous territory.)

[Bobadohshe]

I was hoping you would come along and put that to bed SK, thanks!

[Jazzwee]

I was hoping you would come along and put that to bed SK, thanks!

 

...level of 'improvising' not level of 'playing'. And very few are, so that doesn't speak badly of OP. Oscar is likely the better swinger and better technically. I know you're a big fan of OP, Bobby.

 

 

[SK]

Well, to me, when discussing jazz players, playing and improvising are synonymous. Oscar swung every time, since that was his thing and his era, but he didn't swing any harder. Keith, when he's swinging, swings hard in his own way. While Oscar was technically great, he was not technically superior to Jarrett or Corea. They're all tops, technically speaking.