keith jarrett transcriptions by bert ligon

Same thing goes for easy listening - some of it (the better stuff) makes use of very sophisticated harmonization. Competent cocktail piano requires a high degree of skill, and a good ear for harmony. It's a bridge between the pop/classical world and jazz. It's a matter of personal tasteĪlso, regarding 'cocktail.' don't knock it. I cannot say the same about Jarrett or Bill Evans.īut if you want some examples, of true jazz pianists who I truly enjoy listening to:Īll those guys (and one gal) are true jazz pianists, not the classical-jazz hybrid that Jarrett represents.Īgain, this is nothing against Jarrett or his style of playing. As i said, I could listen to cocktail music all day long. His style of playing, and Bill Evans' *solo piano* (not his work in groups) simply do not appeal to me that much. Keith Jarrett is sort of a bridge of classical and jazz, that's why he is often listened to by classical fans who otherwise wouldn't be interested in straightahead jazz or bebop. Kitsch cocktail piano is the furthest thing from real jazz. Perhaps your ears just aren't attuned to the nuances of jazz. Herbie on the other hand is a master of color and 'impressionist' style. He'll do some dominate 7th adds like the standard b9/#9, b5/#5 but nothing unusual in jazz. Jarrett plays chords simply, often in triads or 7ths. If you think Jarrett does reharmonizations I can only imagine what happens when you listen to Herbie Hancock. Frankly, those links you provided sound like any pianist I could hear at a Holiday Inn lobby. If you are talking straight-ahead jazz standards both Jarrett and Evans are top of the list.

My personal taste is more attuned to the rythms and changes of the standards and straigtahead jazz. Their solo jazz stuff is just too dense with non-standard reharmonization and 'classical' type stuff for me to be able to hang on for more than 5 or 10 minutes. I guess I'll be the minority here, but honestly I can't listen to either Keith Jarret or Bill Evans solo piano for any great lengths of time. It's the same reason people say Jazz is dead. I also agree that improvisation is very much alive in some classical circles too, and the perception of it being dead probably has more to do with lack of awareness than anything else. They all bring something special to the table that only they could, and they do it at incredibly high level. To say who is better just seems pointless. Claire Fischer's 'Alone together' is my favorite jazz piano album of all time, and I find Enrico Pieranunzi, Fred Hersch, Alan Broadbent's playing of jazz ballad just as exquisite. I've also used to worship the likes of Bill Evans and Keith Jarrett too, and I would have said they were the absolute best, but then again, the more jazz piano I listen to, the more it get's difficult to make that kind claim. I didn't want the thread to go to that route. I used to do that for non-jazz keyboardist too. On the other hand, it can be very frustrating when a classical musicians talks about merits of jazz piano without really understanding how we judge the craftsmanship that goes into jazz. I may not understand everything about classical piano playing but I really do have tremendous respect for the craft. Thanks I just wanted to add my two cents because I didn't want things to get ugly. Like you, we should embrace diversity, and shun those whose waste their time judging ( including me, since I am clearly judging here).

Sadly, we live in a society that places some value on being the best, even when it is not possible to determine objectively what or who is the best. I'd rather not think of music as a contest in general. Keith Jarret is one of my favorite pianists, but then again I love listening to so many different pianists, and they all have different things to offer. Not being a snob about one type of music really opened my ears to new things, including hip hop(believe it or not, it takes a real talent and craftsmanship to do whats someone like J Dilla does on his records). In other words, I use different ears when I listen to Rubenstein, Keith Jarret, Chucho Valdes, Cecil Taylor, Ethan Iverson or Stevie Wonder. They are require different skills set and attention to different aspects of music, and if you judge every music by one rigid criteria, you are going to miss out on wide range of experiences that music can really offer. Comparing Chucho Valdes to Keith Jarret is just as pointless. There have been classical musicians who have been competent, and even good, but none of them really are regarded in the same ranks as the likes of Keith Jarret, Oscar Peterson. I can't think of a single pianist who are regarded as a 'master' on both genres. For me discussions like this is just pointless.

Keith jarrett transcriptions by bert ligon