キース・ジャレット 人と音楽 by Ian Carr


キース・ジャレット 人と音楽
Title : キース・ジャレット 人と音楽
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 4276232740
ISBN-10 : 9784276232747
Language : Japanese
Format Type : Paperback
Number of Pages : -
Publication : First published January 1, 1991

Keith Jarrett is probably the most influential jazz pianist living today: his concerts have made him world famous. He was a child prodigy who gave his first solo performance at the age of seven. In the sixties he played with the Jazz Messengers and then the Charles Lloyd Quartet, touring Europe, Asia, and Russia. He straddles practically every form of twentieth century music.


キース・ジャレット 人と音楽 Reviews


  • Michael Finocchiaro

    If you have listened to the Köln Concert by Keith Jarrett, you have only scratched the surface of this consummate pianist (and if you haven't - what are you waiting for?). Keith's music is incredibly diverse and oh, so full of beauty. Whether it is his solo improvisations (of which admittedly Köln is the most surprising and moving IMHO), his trios, his quartets or his classical work (Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Shostakovich,...), there is so much variety here. Any yet, I would have missed all this had it not been for this short but informative biography from Ian Carr (who also wrote one of the best Miles Davis' biographies). Keith is worth getting to know and this is a great way to explore his works - reading this and listening to the albums. Your ears will thank you and your mind will expand.

  • Кремена Михайлова

    "For me, it’s hard to understand why a musician needs more than the music."

    At the end of the book I realized that nothing more than Keith Jarrett’s music was needed – no words, no explanations, no facts… All I’ve learned (and felt) about him is from his music.

    Nevertheless, simultaneously reading the biography and listening to Keith Jarrett’s music, I experienced an exciting artistic journey - from the 60’s Charles Lloyd quartet, the American and the European quartets, the unparalleled solo improvisations, classical music, “Spirits”, to present day solo and trio concerts.

    Following all the stages throughout the years – no matter how much I value each of them – I was ultimately happy to reach the trio onset (with Jack DeJohnette and Gary Peacock). Because I adore the bass player and the drummer almost as much as Keith Jarrett; because the three of them share common values in music and life; and just because I’ve seen three fantastic live concerts of the trio (and just one solo).

    I was also reassured of what I had perceived through Keith’s music - that he is an honest, authentic and straight person (though personal facts were not the at the core of the book, happily – the focus was almost entirely on music and Keith’s values).

    At some points I found the account rather dry, at others I saw the words (about Jarrett’s music) that I’ve felt through the years but hadn’t been able to express.


    "… there’s one thing that I know well – that I feel very alone. It’s the price you have to pay if you want to be yourself. And don’t believe that I don’t suffer for it, but it seems to me that I have nothing to say to the majority of people and it’s perhaps that which makes me feel timid… I'm very demonstrative when I play. I always make faces, laugh, jump about, gesticulate, and am very animated, and many people who see me like that think that I’m much more reserved when I’ve left my piano. In reality, I feel truly at ease only in music…"

    "Peacock and DeJohnette have the same kind of integrity as Jarrett in their life and their work, the same values and commitment. Above all, they followed their inner needs and instincts and were always scrupulously honest: they would never continue to work with Jarrett if they could not commit themselves to his music; in such a case, they would simply leave. There was also a mutual respect of a very high order."

  • Arjen

    Jazz has always been too difficult and unapproachable for me, but that doesn't mean I can't try to learn some more about it. Throughout this book I've listened to a lot of records made by Jarrett and artists he's collaborated with. While I doubt I went too much into unknown territory it was a nice journey. One day I'll be familiar with jazz and I'm reaching that goal one step at a time.

  • Tony

    Maligned in ways that I still can't quite comprehend, Jarrett is at least on par with Van Gogh: if that is not acknowledged in this lifetime then I am certain it will be in succeeding ones.

    At 65, his recorded output is prodigious and astounding (70 recordings as leader plus 10 classical and another 25 as sideman); the diversity of compositions and performances, equally so. He is not a "jazz" musician but a Musician. Everything he does is about the music as the source of wonder and revelation and, ultimately, beingness.

    This book is noteworthy yet a bit too fawning of Jarrett to be fairly critical. Still, there is no one else who has taken the time to document his professional and personal worlds so thoroughly, so even though it was written in 1988 it is nonetheless essential for its insights.


    Quotes of note:

    "If you play a note, it's got to mean something." KJ

    "Jarrett's art is an art of the moment...a magical incantation.... (he) does not quote from musical history, he conjures it...he brings into being." Peter Ruedi

    "Like Lester Young, Jarrett too believed it was necessary to know the words...before they played it...with utter respect for the song above everything else."

    Regarding "Starbright" on "Facing You": "Art Tatum...often performed the fast runs which were his stock-in-trade and part of his habitual repertoire, Jarrett seems to be actually conceiving and playing new lines at this amazing speed and intensity."

    "With consciousness, improvisation is a much deeper tapping of something than any other process (...a state of grace...ecstacy)." KJ

    "Previous solo pianists had either improvised on song structures, or had played totally abstract music. Jarrett was doing neither."

    "The music, the phrases, are a kind of breathing to him." Frank Conroy

    "Jarrett's attitude to audiences...not as passive receivers...but active witnesses of and participators in a living process of music creation...when the (audience) impinges on that concentration it drags him back to self-consciousness, which is the least desirable state when improvising."

    "It is the process (of creativity) that motivates every human activity.... If you know it incredibly well you write Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. If you refuse to even consider it, then cocktail hour may be your most important experience.... We were Created to Participate." KJ

    "...ferociousness and the need to accept that struggle is part of the joy of creativity." KJ

    "Ideally, I'd like to be the eternal novice, for then only the surprises would be endless." KJ


    For more, ((
    http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/music...)), ((
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Ja...))

  • Roddy

    Worth reading but you may find you don't much warm to the man. His music, well most of it, is another matter. Some of it is very much of its time (70's) but the playing, musicality and improvisational genius of the later output is timeless and essential listening. "Standards live" and "Still live" would probably be my top recommendations. Those who moan about his grunts and wails just don't get it - for me they are part and parcel of the music and enhance my enjoyment of it. As a relief from the preciousness and self-absorption of this musician, watch a few YouTube videos of Russell Ferrante (Yellowjackets) talking about his craft 😊.

  • wabbash

    First of all, Ian Carr is (was) a musician and a writer, so that helps a big deal. The book is what it is and its approach (the music and artistic evolution of the subject) very adequate.
    Then, Mr. Carr is a Jarrett enthusiast but that doesn't deter him from being harsh when describing a subpar album like "Restoration ruin" (1968), stating that "As a bit of juvenilia, this is an impressive achievement in terms of instrumental competence, but as art it is disastrous."
    It's a pity that the biography ends in 1991 but that also means that both the publisher and Mr. Carr took a bold stance writing about a 45 year-old genius whose healthy life (it's a fact) would take him a long way. In 2020 Jarrett is still alive (but not kickin') and Mr. Carr has gone to heaven. That means that, unfortunately, we are not going to see a revision book, like we had with Miles Davis' when "the man" passed away and Carr decided to complete his extraordinary and half-finished Davis' biography. Thus, 30 years will be gone, like tears in the rain ... (however, those are the less interesting in terms of Jarrett's output).

    Due to all these cold facts, I am for 4 stars instead of 5. Of course that refers to the book as an object, not to its quality.

    *******
    Aside from all the great comments and praise that has been (and will be) uttered, having read and even "combed" the book chapter by chapter (several times!), after some research (Google mediating), here I present a few "chronology mistakes" that Mr. Carr included in the text, just for the sake of comprehension:

    a) It is not accurate saying that "after" Keith Jarrett got sacked from Columbia in 1972 (after releasing "Expectations") he "magically" received a letter by Manfred Eicher (head of ECM Records). In November 1971 Jarrett had already recorded "Facing You" in Norway with Mr. Eicher. That story is told on page 57-58 and it seems that "before 1972" Jarrett did not know who Eicher was. In fact, Mr. Jarrett was juggling a little bit here (between ECM and Columbia), so the story is not as romantic as Mr. Carr seems to portray it.
    That mistake has its origin in the wrong "Expectations" recording date included on page 215 (discography). It wrongly states September-October 1971 (so that is coherent with Jarrett going to Norway just one month later) but in fact it was April 1972. That information is included in the original credits of the Columbia album.

    b) Pages 218-19 in the discography also contain mistakes that make Mr. Carr stumble on the chronology of events regarding the disbanding of the "American Quartet." (1971-1976) The recording dates of "Mysteries" and "Shades" (December 1975) are somehow alright (the month is not included) but for "Byablue" and "Bop-Be" (October 1976) he is a little bit confused. From that information, he constructs the (wrong) tale that the group's last sessions were those belonging to ECM ("The Survivors' Suit" and "Eyes of the Heart"). Actually, the last sessions were documented in October 1976. This is explained quite well in the wikipedia article à propos de "Mysteries" (American Quartet's last sessions).

    The book is marvelous and it's the Bible of every Jarrettist, don't get me wrong. I'll keep updating this post as long as I find other well documented inaccuracies.

  • Sandra Eckelhöfer

    I enjoyed it very much. Ian Carr has a very nice style and the artist portrayed in the biography is the most sensational musician ever existed. Mr Jarrett owns my soul.

  • Edward Wakefield

    Ian Carr is a solid biographer and manages to explain (straight faced, so to speak) the orgiastic joy Jarrett goes through on his epic improvisations. You'll understand why a C major chord is so painful.

  • Serge Pierro

    My favorite piano player. It was great to read about the genius of Keith Jarrett. His solo piano playing had a very profound influence on my guitar playing. I love his epic solo piano works, and read with great interest his thoughts and philosophies on music.

  • Harry

    Had this book a long time but avoided reading it thinking it would be just another recounting of details. Instead the book was well written with great insights into Jarrett's process. Inspired me to listen more and confirmed many feelings I had about his music.

  • Peter

    A good bio about one of the greatest living pianists, in jazz, classical, or any other genre.