So it took till maybe my early teens before I started to- I remember- malls just came into being. So in my formative years I heard nothing. And there was almost no music coming through town. It's really Wonder Bread, white bread kind of place. KEITH JARRETT: I didn't hear anybody till- I mean I- this is Allentown, Pennsylvania. JO REED: Who did you listen to or were there any jazz players you heard- you know, in those formative- in your formative years that just set you back on your heels? And it might be called 'Jungle Piece.' And it was all improvised except for possibly melodies that- determined each section. And on the recital program would be one thing that had my name on it. The feeling that there should be other notes even in other people's music- when I first heard jazz I realized that that- it was almost, like, expected of the player to find those notes that were his.Īnd so it was a very natural because when I was a very young kids I was doing recitals. And I'd say, 'I don't really think this is the exact right voicing on for this chord.' So Mozart, I would be studying and playing a piece. I think the genesis to actually being a jazz player came from my desire to change notes in other people's music. I had my little 45- record player and some of the silly songs of those days. And I was already listening to the same thing young people in those days were listening to. But I remember having a teacher in Philadelphia who didn't want me to hear other music. I spoke with Keith Jarrett in his New Jersey studio and began by asking him when Jazz first came into his life. He’s received many-and now, he's been named an NEA Jazz Master. The session marked the beginning of a fruitful collaboration that has lasted over 30 years.Īlthough Keith Jarrett has no interest awards-they keep on coming. In 1983, Jarrett invited bassist Gary Peacock and NEA Jazz Master drummer Jack DeJohnette to record an album of improvised jazz standards. And creating extraordinarily broad and often lyrical piano performances that have been acclaimed by fans and critics alike. Jarrett also focused on his solo improvised piano work becoming famous for walking out on stage and simply beginning to play without knowing where the music might lead. Keith Jarrett went on to lead his own groups including-simultaneously- a quartet in the United States and another in Europe. He turned down the Paris offer and moved to NYC, where he began to performing with jazz greats like Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, Charles Lloyd, and Miles Davis. He continued his classical studies at Boston's Berklee College of Music and with an offer to study in Paris with a renowned teacher, his career seemed set. Keith Jarrett began playing the piano at age three, and studied classical music throughout his youth-giving his first formal recital by the time he was seven. Jarrett is also an accomplished classical musician who's composed extended works for orchestra, solo instruments, and chamber ensemble.

He is a master of jazz piano known for his brilliant improvisations-although he's also written hundreds of pieces for his various jazz groups. Keith Jarrett is one of the most creative musicians performing today. JO REED: That's 2014 NEA Jazz Master Keith Jarrett, and this is Art Works, the weekly podcast produced by the National Endowment for the Arts. And that's why being in the room as in the as an audience member for a solo concert, you are actually watching the process When I'm out there and there's just a piano, if I can be available to that music that was not played or if I can manage to mold something that I never expected to happen to me. KEITH JARRETT: What I'm seeking is this music that's in the air that is ready to be played at all times, that's why I show up at a concert.

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