Keith Jarrett interview by Rick Beato

[jazzpiano88]

 

[Outkaster]

Man it's terrible what a stroke does.   You can tell he sees the music he played when he closes his eyes.  I am not sure Rick's idea of reminding him when he could play with both hands constantly is a good idea.  I have a guitarist friend this happened to and he is having a hard time coming back as one side of his body isn't working.  The rehab is terrible to go through.   What a talent Keith is though.  Eastman is near my house. My teacher at the time saw Kieth in the 70's do a classical piece and came back in did a whole improve piece.

[Docbop]

Keith appear to be in physically worse condition than I heard he was that was sad, but it was great watching listen to his own playing from the past and react to it. 

[jazzpiano88]

4 hours ago, Docbop said:

Keith appear to be in physically worse condition than I heard he was that was sad, but it was great watching listen to his own playing from the past and react to it. 

 

Watching Keith react to Solar brought tears to my eyes.

I took a sip of coffee right when he started playing Desafinado with his right hand and forgot to swallow for about two minutes.

Also getting Keith to elaborate on and demonstrate his style of "American" music was fascinating.

 

[Nathanael_I]

Keith is one of my absolute favorites.  I definitely prefer his large scale free improv.  I think that it takes a very musically capable person to interview him and draw out the best.  Ethan Iverson's intervew is stellar:

 

https://ethaniverson.com/interviews/interview-with-keith-jarrett/

[Mark Schmieder]

Holy cow, he can still do more with one hand than most piano duos can do with four!

[Al Quinn]

I enjoyed that interview with Keith. He’s one of my favorite musicians and a huge influence. I could listen to him play with just his right hand all day.
 

His performance of Solar is incredible. The melodies, the rhythms, the layers, the attitude, the hand independence, the energy — he’s one of a kind. Interesting that he called himself Bach-ian; makes sense to me. 

[marino]

I had only heard the audio from the previous interview; I wasn't prepared to *see* Keith in his present conditions. It made my heart shrink.

And yet, his reasoning is still very lucid, maybe even more to the point than it used to be. His passion for life and love for music come from his every word. Listening to his memories and views was a privilege; thank you.

[Outkaster]

His left hand is one of the best.

[Montunoman 2]

Pretty cool to see what he can do with only the right hand though. If he has the desire and energy, I think he could still put out some great music. 

[Docbop]

Oscar Peterson continued to play with his trio after his stroke that left his left hand unusable.  I'd say Oscar was in better shape overall than Keith appears to be.  

[analogholic]

Man...this was hard for me to watch...even though I've seen pictures from the interview before 

 

This not so long ago so beyond incredible and energetic player...

 

Watching him listen, react and smile to his own take on Solar...was both joyous and sad and brought tears to my eyes...

I think Beato showed good taste here not playing him the video, just the audio.

 

I hope I'm wrong but it looks like the glow in his eyes is gone....

 

Still glad I watched it...getting to know more about this genius

 

[HammondDave]

A true genius and a huge inspiration for this then young keyboardist. He inspired me to compose improvisationally, which I still do musically and visually.
 

Thanks to Rick and Keith for sharing this with us. 

[ElmerJFudd]

I just finished watching.  That was beautiful. 

[LX888]

I am not a huge fan of Rick Beato

 

 I just deleted a bunch of comments I wrote particularly regarding some of his "teaching" videos. I have seen a bunch of his stuff that just rubs me the wrong way.  Rick is acquiring a lot of influence and I just wish someone else would have done this if it was going to be done

 

Keith seems very vulnerable at this point. Saying he is disabled would be putting it mildly. I can't even imagine what kind of challenge he must be facing ...can you imagine someone being at the top of his game the way he was and then having to live with such a sharp decline in physical capability? I sense that perhaps at this point Keith needs support from qualified  people. This just a guess but there would just about be some kind of need for emotional support for a person in his condition and I hope to God he is getting it.

 

The period that I really followed Keith was when he released his first multi disc Solo Concerts set. He playing was quite beautiful at that point. Before that I really liked the album with Gary Burton and another highlight was his unaccompanied solo on Miles Davis Live/Evil where he played brilliantly on an out of tune Rhodes and Fender organ simultaneously. And don't forget Forest Flower live at Monterey... He left quite a Legacy.

 

So I am not sure that I agree that this interview was such a good idea. I apologize for being so blunt about Rick Beato. It bothers me the way some people kiss ants with the stars while the rest olf us are just supposed to buy his merch. No thanks Rick

[Reezekeys]

Interesting point of view. I watch zero of his teaching/theory videos but I have to say I enjoy his interviews with people like Sting, Scofield, Metheny, Ron Carter, Thomas Newman, etc. It's obvious to me that Beato is a jazz guy at heart with very wide tastes and a lot of knowledge. That makes it refreshing to see a musician interviewed by another musician who "gets it" in a way I can identify with. His videos calling attention to past icons like Joe Pass and Wes Montgomery are great imo - he's potentially turning on a lot of people to the same kind of stuff I've been listening to my whole life, so I guess I'm biased! I also like the occasional videos highlighting classical musicians too – he knows where all this stuff came from. His >1 hr interview with Ted Gioia is excellent as well - imo of course.

 

I tune out when he gets into some of the shop talk about guitar techniques, or the theory stuff, but that's just me - I'm sure there are a lot of folks that benefit from that. Not to mention it's giving him a decent income too, since as he says, his days as a cog in the traditional music biz machine are over (as they are for many folks our age). Good on him that he's found a way to stay relevant. As to the Jarrett interview, it's painful to see one of the icons of jazz piano diminished like this, but I'm assuming Keith had the option to nix it at any time. Keith's right hand still blows away a lot of what's out there and it's nice to see he still has the urge to create.

[ElmerJFudd]

3 hours ago, Reezekeys said:

Interesting point of view. I watch zero of his teaching/theory videos but I have to say I enjoy his interviews with people like Sting, Scofield, Metheny, Ron Carter, Thomas Newman, etc. It's obvious to me that Beato is a jazz guy at heart with very wide tastes and a lot of knowledge. That makes it refreshing to see a musician interviewed by another musician who "gets it" in a way I can identify with. His videos calling attention to past icons like Joe Pass and Wes Montgomery are great imo - he's potentially turning on a lot of people to the same kind of stuff I've been listening to my whole life, so I guess I'm biased! I also like the occasional videos highlighting classical musicians too – he knows where all this stuff came from. His >1 hr interview with Ted Gioia is excellent as well - imo of course.

 

I tune out when he gets into some of the shop talk about guitar techniques, or the theory stuff, but that's just me - I'm sure there are a lot of folks that benefit from that. Not to mention it's giving him a decent income too, since as he says, his days as a cog in the traditional music biz machine are over (as they are for many folks our age). Good on him that he's found a way to stay relevant. As to the Jarrett interview, it's painful to see one of the icons of jazz piano diminished like this, but I'm assuming Keith had the option to nix it at any time. Keith's right hand still blows away a lot of what's out there and it's nice to see he still has the urge to create.

I’ve similar thoughts on Rick’s show. Given the mindless crap (for lack of a better word) to thoughtful programming ratio that our media is filled with… I applaud Beato’s efforts to find a way he can share his love for all things music and earn a living from it.  And that is regardless of any opinions he may share or thoughts he may express that differ from my own.   Rick did it, 1.1k shows, 3.3m subs.  Other people with similar skills, knowledge, experience were doing something else while Beato was getting his YouTube act together.  I appreciate this Keith Jarrett interview, especially the time they spent sitting at the piano.  If Keith is up to it, he should multitrack.  There’s music to share that I know we’d love to hear.   
 

Jarretts thoughts on the way of things back in 2014. 
 

 

[jazzpiano88]

8 hours ago, Reezekeys said:

Interesting point of view. I watch zero of his teaching/theory videos but I have to say I enjoy his interviews with people like Sting, Scofield, Metheny, Ron Carter, Thomas Newman, etc. It's obvious to me that Beato is a jazz guy at heart with very wide tastes and a lot of knowledge. That makes it refreshing to see a musician interviewed by another musician who "gets it" in a way I can identify with.

 

Totally agree with this.   "Journalist's" interviews seem to be almost always about drawing attention to the journalist.  Rick got Keith to agree that his composition style in breaking new improvisational ground was "American Music" fusing elements of Gospel, Hymns using triad voicings.  Keith uses as an example the great tune, "Rider" (see below) and proceeds to play it with his right hand.   You wont see any journalist drawing this type of information out of Keith because they would be completely clueless about such nuances of music vocabulary.

 

Keith playing Rider and commenting on on it:

 

 

 

Keith invited Rick out to his home *twice*, I'm sure it was a way to screen the interview ahead of time, so clearly Keith wanted to do this.  

My only criticism was that the interview video was too short.

 

 

 

[Mark Schmieder]

Jarrett at his best, when he's doing gospel-influenced music.

[Outkaster]

On 3/11/2023 at 11:39 AM, Reezekeys said:

Interesting point of view. I watch zero of his teaching/theory videos but I have to say I enjoy his interviews with people like Sting, Scofield, Metheny, Ron Carter, Thomas Newman, etc. It's obvious to me that Beato is a jazz guy at heart with very wide tastes and a lot of knowledge. That makes it refreshing to see a musician interviewed by another musician who "gets it" in a way I can identify with. His videos calling attention to past icons like Joe Pass and Wes Montgomery are great imo - he's potentially turning on a lot of people to the same kind of stuff I've been listening to my whole life, so I guess I'm biased! I also like the occasional videos highlighting classical musicians too – he knows where all this stuff came from. His >1 hr interview with Ted Gioia is excellent as well - imo of course.

 

I tune out when he gets into some of the shop talk about guitar techniques, or the theory stuff, but that's just me - I'm sure there are a lot of folks that benefit from that. Not to mention it's giving him a decent income too, since as he says, his days as a cog in the traditional music biz machine are over (as they are for many folks our age). Good on him that he's found a way to stay relevant. As to the Jarrett interview, it's painful to see one of the icons of jazz piano diminished like this, but I'm assuming Keith had the option to nix it at any time. Keith's right hand still blows away a lot of what's out there and it's nice to see he still has the urge to create.

 

 

My buddy taught him guitar years ago.  My trumpet player friend went to HS with him also.  A ton of people know him around here and said that he was a good musician.  I never heard of him till the  YouTube videos.  

[Bobadohshe]

I don't get the Rick Beato hate. He's an incredibly well educated and well versed musician and extremely open minded and humble. I consider myself quite knowledgeable about lots of music, but Rick blows me away. He's just as likely to know the nuances of guitar tone and voicings on a Blink 182 record as he is who played with Sonny Rollins in 1955 or what Bach's favorite kinds of pieces were to write. Obviously the musicians respect him as well because they all do his interviews. His channel is a treasury of knowledge.

[stoken6]

2 hours ago, Bobadohshe said:

He's just as likely to know the nuances of guitar tone and voicings on a Blink 182 record as he is who played with Sonny Rollins in 1955 or what Bach's favorite kinds of pieces were to write

This. He's incredibly open-minded about musical preferences, even among musicians (who tend to be less insular/blinkered in their taste). 

 

Cheers, Mike.