Jarrett

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Just a reflection on a lost intellectual sparring partner - viz one Johnny G. Kyte [blog posts passim], and music. Johnny and I, as I've mentioned before, had a musical history going back to the day we first met: the first day of term in the third year at Lordswood school, in Birmingham. One topic that we never resolved regarding our mutual love of jazz - amongst the panoply of other genres we subscribed to and enjoyed - was exactly where it was actually going. John loved bands like Snarky Puppy - a great and creative collective, without doubt - but I always felt that the bulk of jazz in recent decades had fallen into a kind of post-bop normalcy, not really aiming for anything further than its own orthodoxy.

Fine in and of itself as music, but not pushing any boundaries, which is what jazz has always done by definition, since its inception. In hindsight, one particular artist should have entered our discussions, but for some reason - despite our mutual knowledge and appreciation of him - didn't: Keith Jarrett, interviewed recently here by Rick Beato on his YouTube channel. Jarrett took jazz and improvisation to a whole new level, creating a pure, American music of his own, proving that the dead-end of free jazz was not the only way forward, post Coltrane, Monk, et al. Check out this wonderful interview for its insights into the man. And buy some of his music...

Comments

  1. Phil3 March 2023 at 13:03

    Rick Beato channel is an absolute mine of information. He is a musical genius........ "like that" I listen to it often. Trust All Well. Phil.

    ReplyDelete

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