You'll Hear It: Full Album Deep Dives with Jazz Musicians - Is Keith Jarrett The Greatest Solo Pianist Ever?

Episode Date: April 21, 2025

One afternoon in Oslo changed the course of jazz piano history! In this episode, Adam and Peter dive into Facing You, the hit 1971 ECM release where a 26-year-old Keith Jarrett – torn between Miles Davis’ electric band and his own acoustic instincts – walked alone into a studio and recorded eight completely improvised masterpieces. From the gospel-tinged “In Front” to the apex moment in “Lalene,” we explore his remarkable touch, bluesy intuition, and the distinctive distorted Steinway that producer Manfred Eicher perfectly captured. We place this album among solo piano giants (Monk, Tatum, Evans), lovingly examine Jarrett’s “fussy” reputation, and show how this afternoon session laid the blueprint for his legendary Köln Concert. Five decades later, we jazz pianists are still chasing the magic Keith created that day.🟠 Open Studio Members → Nerd nook ABOUT OPEN STUDIO------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------As the premier online jazz education platform, with an ever-expanding course library and 20,000+ members, Open Studio (OS) has everything you need to excel and thrive on your jazz journey.Featuring everything from beginner to advanced lessons, engaging courses from A-list instructors, step-by-step curriculum, real-time classes and a thriving and incredibly supportive community, OS is the perfect platform to level up your jazz playing, whether you’re a total beginner, or an advanced pro-level improvisor.Try OS Membership today! → https://osjazz.link/aboutAll about YHIhttps://lnk.to/youllhearitYB

Then after all that, after all the friction with you, after Sheila gives him the look, Ron actually quits, moves to Cape Toronto. Well, he does have family down there, so still. Hey, I have a question for you. Yeah. Who do you think is the acoustic pianist that won the 1970s? Acoustic piano won the 70s. I got it. Three to one, at the same time, ready? Three, two, one.

Keith Garrett. Okay. Ooh. What's your favorite Keith Jared at? Three, two, one. Facing you. Okay, good. Expectations.

No. Okay. we should do Facing You, but we can't actually play the music for the intro, because that would be Sacred Ground. We can't... That's Keith's domain. Yeah. But actually, I wrote this little thing. It's more like an homage to Keith.

I thought we could do it in front of the podcast episode. Okay. And just to be clear, this has nothing to do with Facing you. No, no, no. This is just what we're going to do in front of the actual episode. All right, I trust. Okay. I'm Peter Martin.

And you're listening to the You'll Hear It Podcast. Music Explored. Explored. Brought to you today by Open Studio. Go to Open StudioJazz.com. for all your jazz lesson needs. Hey, Peter. Hey, how you doing? Pretty good, man. How are you? That was good. Did I make you nervous?

No, but I wanted to give it a little twist. Yes, got it. On the old all. Exciting episode today. Exciting episode. That was a nice little intro, man. You sounded great. Give it up for Bob and Caleb, too, on the bass and drums. Helping us out today on the intro. We got a special long outro on the way out for a full tune performance. That's going to be fun. Stay tuned for that. This, yeah, I mean, this was interesting adapting some music from the record we're going to talk about today because This is possibly, I'm going to put it out there.

I'm going to give it a floor run and see how it plays. Possibly the greatest solo piano record ever? I think it's got to be in the conversation. Is it in the conversation? I want to put it in the conversation. And let's be honest, any fan of yours, Peter, who's been a fan of the show for a while and has heard you talk about music for more than two minutes, has seen this day coming from a mile away.

Yes. We've all known that Keith Jarrett's facing you would eventually be on the pod because you love this album. This is a seminal work for you. I think. I think, well, it's a seminal for Keith as well, as it turned out. I would say that I never thought this day would come, not to contradict you, only because we've stared away.

We have just gotten, well, if you're watching this, we were able to obtain licensing rights. We're not sure this. We might just be doing it for ourselves, but ECM notorious for not allowing usage of, even in what we were considered a fair usage context, an educational, a sharing. We're trying to highlight and share. But they are now, so shout out ECM records. I mean, shout out ECM records for the beautiful music. you know across jazz classical many different genres one of the most innovative and exciting records

and and i think keith jarritt i don't think there's any artist that's more associated with ecm i don't think there's any label although he did some wonderful impulse records on atlantic and an impulse uh different types of projects but once he got with e cm yeah and the record we're going to listen to today is facing you his first record on ecm although it's actually not the first thing he recorded for ecm little known fact that i found out oh we got a history Lesson here, folks, people don't often know this, but Peter is also a noted musicologist. Peter, I believe you have a little bit of an intro for us. Why don't you take it away?

Thank you very much. At just 26 years old, Keith Jared found himself at a crossroads. After playing electric keyboards with Miles Davis, he was torn between the commercial appeal of fusion jazz and his own artistic instincts. We're going to put a little asterisk by that. We'll come back to that as well. During a European tour with Miles Davis, Jared had a single day off in Oslo. Rather than rest, he made a decision that would alter his career trajectory and influence jazz piano for decades to come.

Against the prevailing musical trends of 1971. Do you remember that, Adam? 71? I do not. I do. It was a great year for me. You don't remember anything. I was zero and turned one during that year.

Jared walked into a small Oslo studio with producer Manfred. I sure. There you go. There you go. With no preparation and no predetermined compositions, he sat down in an acoustic piano, rejecting the electronic keyboards and organs that dominated jazz at the time. In just one afternoon session, he recorded eight original pieces completely improvised that revealed a new musical language. What makes this story compelling is that Keith Jarrett approached this recording with remarkable confidence.

The resulting album Facing You became not just the foundation of his decades-long relationship with ECM Records that continues to today, but the blueprint for his groundbreaking later works like the Kohln concert. It marked the moment a young artist found his true voice by swimming against the current of his era. Okay, I editorialized a little bit on all of this, but and feel free to push back. No, I have to say, that is one beautiful intro. I just have one question about it. Is it done? No. No, like how many prompts through a large language model did it take to get it that good?

I don't know what you're talking about. That's way too good for you to have written. That's great. This single afternoon's work in Oslo became a turning point, not just for Jared, but for jazz piano itself. How an act of artistic intuition by a young musician transformed into an enduring legacy that continues to influence pianists today.

Dang, I'm excited to talk about Keith Jared. We never get to talk about Keith's Jared because we've always been kind of afraid of the big, bad ECM monster. But I'm stoked to actually go through this. One of our all-time favorite pianists, I don't know if you could play piano deeply for any amount of time and not discover his music and be like, what? Yeah, exactly.

And I mean, let's go ahead and call the elephant out that's in the room. And that is maybe a little bit afraid to tackle Keith Jarrett because he can be, he is and always has been a little bit of, I mean, super opinionated perhaps viewed as prickly, not by us. Not by else. No, I just assume he would hate it if he ever saw us talking about him or his music. So I'm, I'm resigned to that for sure. Well, if he's watching this, much love and appreciation for not just this beautiful artistic work. Thank you and congratulations on the lifetime of art.

So Keith Jarrett, 1963 graduated in high school in Pennsylvania. We're not going to go through his whole thing. Just some key points. He went to Berkeley College of Music, which I didn't realize, very briefly. And then by 64, he was already in New York City. Like, you know, to this day, a lot of musicians end up in New York. They go to school somewhere, whatever. I always think it's interesting going that far back into the 60s that was already happening. And then he was playing with Art Blakey by 1964, 1965, which is kind of crazy. It is kind of crazy. Yeah, let's check this out.

This is 1966. Are you sure that's Keith? Yeah. Keith Kelly, Keith Winton Kelly. Swinging, though. That is Keith. But you already hear some. You hear him coming out.

Like the pianist he's developing into is starting to emerge. But I think what's interesting about that is you really hear the hard swing that Keith could do and did do in the right situations. Because when I was coming up, there was a little bit of a backlash against Keith Jarrett, especially playing with his trio that, like, he, people were saying that he couldn't really swing. No, I mean, important, like jazz musicians that I looked up to were saying that, yeah. Oh, interesting. And, I mean, I don't think that was ever the prevailing mood. But when I first heard him, which certainly wasn't this record, I loved his first. playing. I think the first stuff I heard was like standards volume two, then standard volume one,

and then during that period, pretty much in real time. And I always loved his playing and felt like when he was just tipping that he had an incredible feel. That was live at the, I'm just a little bit later, the live of the blue note, not my favorite jazz club. Shout out Blue Note, but one of my favorite records, he did a box set on CD. It's an amazing record. Man, he's swinging his ass off. So, I mean, you certainly hear like sort of the foundation, the tradition. And then shortly after this, he started playing with Charles Lloyd in his famous quartet. First, you know, really started doing his extensive playing with Jack Dijanette, who to this day, you know, was a compatriot of his and musical partner for sure.

Also, shout out to Charles Lloyd, making amazing music back in the late 60s when Keith is playing. Yeah. Making great music today with some young musicians, if you haven't checked out Charles Lloyd's latest stuff, it's a beautiful. Yeah, I just heard him in Palm Springs like six weeks ago, and he's still doing his thing at a super high level. Of course, they had Forest Flower live at Monterey. Festival, which is a massive record. I mean, they were one of the most popular acoustic jazz groups

of that late 60s period when a lot of the other players were, I mean, like they were really sort of the biggest thing, especially with sort of the, can we say the hippie crowd? Well, they kind of had a hippie following. Yeah, but what they did was a little bit of the impossible at that time, which is to make the acoustic jazz set seem fresh. Yes. Like what they were doing was fresh and new and energetic. And a lot of that was Keith's energy. Absolutely. And I mean, Charles Lloyd, you know, he really, He would go to venues that were not just the village man. He would go to folk festivals and colleges and stuff like that. So a really important period.

And Keith was in the thick of that. And then he went Blakey to Charles Lloyd, others. And then right to Miles Davis. I mean, obviously a huge talent that everybody was identifying, coming right in that lineage of Herbie Hancock. Well, Witt and Kelly Reggar, all the great pianists with Herbie, right up to Chick Carrillo. And he played with Chick around the same time with Miles.

And then that went right up to this period. he was still playing with him in 71 when he made this record that, you know, facing you, his first solo piano record, his first record for ECM, and something that he'd done a little bit, but it sounds like he hadn't done a whole lot. Well, let's hear him talking about, like, the genesis of just sitting down and improvising. No tunes. No, I'm going to play standards or whatever. It started out, maybe as a result of recording facing you, I can't remember,

but it started out. I remember at the Heidelberg Jazz Festival where I was supposedly, I wasn't very well known, I guess, and I came out and did a solo thing, and it was tunes, but I started to connect them somehow. Like I'd have these transitional parts

that connected everything. And then that somehow just, moved slowly into the expanded solo concert where there are no songs whatsoever and everything is improvised on the spot. I don't know. Someone once sent me a note from the audience that's saying, you must be awfully alone. You must feel awfully alone or something like that. And I realized when I read that, that was true. It is a terribly, it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a, lonely thing to do. I mean, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not even bringing material along for companionship.

So that's from an interview with Terry Gross, Fresh Air, NPR, I think in the late 2000s. That's a classic interview at this point. Yeah, it's an incredible interview. Terry Gross went deep with Keith and it was really, really insightful. Yeah, and the whole thing's available on NPR.org. You can check it out. And then I think another side of this, well, actually Keith said this. He said, I met Manfred around this time. He had written me about a proposed collaboration with Chick Korea, but I was set on recording solo. I thought it would be a novel idea to not prepare

and was totally comfortable with my decision despite a tight afternoon schedule while strictly playing electric piano on the tour. He was on tour with Miles Davis in Europe. So he had just this afternoon, they went in the studio in Oslo. And so, and you know, there's other places where Keith talked about had he not met Manfred Eicher and started, I mean. Isher. Sorry. Keep rolling. Let's see how many we can do in this episode. I share. Manfred.

I always heard Manfred Iker growing up. Yeah, I think it's Isher. It might be Isher. Drop in the comments. I know we've got some German listeners. Yeah, that's right. So Keith had said in an interview that he wouldn't have ever made a solo piano record like this.

And then a lot of the output later on would have never happened had it not been for Manfred. He's meeting him at this time. Which is like quite a thing to say in terms of like a producer. or record label executive. I think a lot of times that's the case, but a lot of times artists don't just come on and say that. So I had a little bit of Manfred talking about this as well.

Recording, life started with Facing You, which was a solo recording done in Oslo. We decided to do that after a long walk in Munich after a concert of Miles Davis. Later on, the music evolved because Keyes and I decided to look for places to do solo concerts. Yeah, so they, you know, we're already thinking about, like,

what would the contentity already done, the one in Heidelberg, you know, kind of thinking about what would this actually look like, what would this feel like? But there was no kind of, like, template for this or, like, huge success that he would see several years later. This would become the template.

Yeah. Yeah. So, let's just take a listen to the first track, which is in front. Yeah. And we can kind of hear about what happened on this day in the studio in Oslo on. Well, I'm going to tell you about

the piano. Remind me to tell you about the piano, because I finally found that out. I'll tell you after this track. By the way, this was the track we played in front of this episode. Your beautiful arrangement. You got to compare it to that. No, man, your arrangement was killing. I loved it. It was fun. So here's in front, the first track of facing you, Keith Jared. This is the first time he's hitting at the kind of blues. He's down, yeah. That he's kind of sussing here now as opposed to the major sound. It's definitely in case, too, that... Check this out.

You need? Yeah. This is one of those albums I always think of. Every time I listen to it, first of all, it lights you up because this opening track is such a great track. But that specific style we now take for granted because it's been just ripped off endlessly and endlessly. You know what I mean? But like to hear that sort of, you know,

that the plagued cadence at the end of that whole thing, that's Keith's like hallmark, especially of this era and into the 80s. And I can't get enough of it. It has been overdone by other people, but this is the OG here as far as like this combination of like jazz virtuosity. Right.

Right. Of like really steeped as we heard in B-Bop and Post-Bop and and Winnelly and Swing and can play with Art Blakey and all the stuff. But then through this lens of, I mean, albums leading up to this are pretty remarkable as far as like watching a young musician's journey get to this point. And then I feel like this is like a turning point. You know what I mean? This album for some reason, I don't know if it was for Keith,

but it's certainly looking back with the hindsight of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, seeing it seems like he like found something here. You know what I'm saying? Absolutely. And I think what we can take from, like, how did he get from the Winton Kelly-ish sounding kind of bebop line? Like you hear those, and there's like a swing and a lilt, even though it's not in strict time.

Well, we're going to get to the part where it does get in the strict time, where it's much more kind of rootsy, bluesy, gospely, folky almost kind of country sound. But the swinging thing I don't understand. He's always seemed swinging to me. His time is one of his biggest stories. Oh, yeah. And even at this begin, I just want to play this again.

Because, like, you can't say where the time is, but it's in time, right? And it kind of gradually does get into it. There's a pulse. You can. Right. But it's not like one, two, one, two, one, two, three. But it's starting to hint at it. It's such a cool way to get into it.

And the other thing is like that phrase, so he's got, Bubba, bu da da da da da da da da da da da da da. Debo du be do bid do be da. Yeah. That, a lot of people kind of like, oh, he wrote this stuff out. I don't think so. And he says, and Manfred says it was totally improvised. I think he used that melodic idea. It was swirling around for him. Listen to it one more time. And this isn't the left hand, sorry. And then counter melody or secondary melody.

It's so logical in the way it fits in with the harmony, right? But check this out. Because there's a bunch of places in later tracks. I just found one. Because I wanted people If you like this record, you can go listen to it and you can discover this stuff. But that melody keeps coming back in an interesting way. This is from Vapalia. But kind of an interesting way,

instead of bo-da-de-da-do. Like, he's playing with this on the entire record. Common thing that would happen later in his other solo improvised concerts where you could hear themes come and go throughout the entire performance. Yep, yep, yep. So in front, he's doing all this great stuff.

Later on, I'm going to skip ahead. To the part that you like everybody likes I love I love the whole thing But like how does he get here? Oh I'm glad he did actually let me take it back a little bit so we get the transition Sorry, here we go. Oh yeah it's thick right kind of swampy a little bit And there's like extra beats put in but it doesn't interrupt the groove at all and then he's gonna go up high Hey, but that freedom. Oh this next part here pulls it back.

I'm gonna go up high here. Oh, mid a medium. It's marinating. This is vamping on one ford. Two over the still over the one. Osternato? To be two. Such a unique way to use that.

Oh, sorry. No, that the unique way to use that gospel piano sound. You know what I mean? The sound of the black church. The way that he's weaving it through these different keys like that is a bit. Blues, two. Now this,

part when he goes up high. Check it out. And the freedom, like, he can go up whenever he wants. It's not like a strict time. Right. It's like let the music flow. The groove is constant. That's some notes. Yeah. It's pliable. This is very much, I don't want to read too much into it. Honky talk and blues. Gospel. Gospel for sure. When he breaks it down, like that pulse. Damn. He had some, he had a confident pulse. Damn. And you know, you could say, then it gets into it home. Oh, this whole next section is great. So there is, some would quibble bit on this,

that it's a little bit self-indulgent, his playing. And I mean, to me, if you're ever going to say it, it's not on this record. To me, there's nothing. Like, yes, he's like, oh, I'm sitting in this vamp and I'm going to this other thing. But it's a good place. You know, it's kind of like,

the chef is bringing you more of a good thing. It's okay. I'm not sick because it's so good. It's so nourishing. It's so authentic. and like just, you know, like you can just wrap your head. I don't know, like to me, the piano, sue me, I love the piano.

So that's one thing. And he can play that damn thing so well, you know, but with that groove and stuff, yeah, you can just kind of vamp around on the one and then go to the two whenever you want, then go to the four. It's like listen to like a fantastic blues guitarist. It's like, you know they're going to go there.

You don't care when they go there, when they get there, and then they're going to come back. They're doing it when it's right for the song and it feels right to them. And it really is freedom. That's the advantage that you have when you're playing solo piano. Yeah.

There's no real. reason why you would stick to a form in this context, especially for an album like this. Yeah. You know? And yeah, he is a master at setting up your expectations and then subverting them in a really, really interesting and entertaining, I would even say, where. And man, this album, first of all, the sound of that piano in that, and we can talk about that maybe later, but the sound of that piano, especially when he's like really digging in,

I think is brilliant. And he's down there doing all that stuff down in the bass. Okay, so what, they're in Oslo, ECM records, Manfred, Ice Share. Okay. What kind of piano do you think that is? Oh, it's got to be like a Hamburg Steinway, yeah. Right. What size?

Oh, it's probably a nine footer. Right. Well, you'd be wrong, but lop off four feet from that bad, well, three feet, two inches. That's a five foot ten stymway, which is like what they used to call it, oh, I think it's closest size is to an L. Smaller than that bad boy right there. Yeah, we got a B here. Yeah, yeah.

So it's smaller than a B. I think it's a little bigger than an M, but it's, yeah, 5, 10. And, you know, I always thought because of the way that this is miced, this record, and we're going to talk about there is, there's some distortion on this. I think it's good distortion. I think it's like Jimmy Hendricks. Let's save it for the categories because I have some thoughts on the sound too. You know what's really cool about that, actually, is that would never happen probably after this.

Right. Where Keith would agree. No. To record on a piano. No. And it's a cool sound. It's a great sound. Although he became very particular about like Hamburg, Steinberg.

Steinway's seven-footers, your bees like this in the studio. He didn't like being nine-footers in the studio. He's like, those are for concert halls only. I agree with him. He was very, yeah. I think in a studio, the best experiences I've ever had recording have been with seven-footers. Yeah. Now, I just want to touch on because I think it's, and this is out of love.

How, can I just caveat that. Sometimes, depending on what the music is, a shorter piano is the better choice. Right. Right. Like, we've used, actually, Sam here in the booth. we've used like uprights on situations where we had used grants and they sound better.

Absolutely. Given the context. Yeah. And so, you know, just in terms of like really just talking about how Keith maybe a little bit fussy,

maybe a little bit opinionated over a different time, he was famously during this period was very like acoustic piano. He was kind of a backlash to what he was doing with Miles. I was going to say, wasn't he just like purely playing roads

and Worley's on the road with Miles? But he said it in a bunch of different. interviews that's documented where he was just like, I think the few, like the electronic instruments, there's, I remember him talking about, there's electricity in all of us as beings. Why do we need to make it electronic? Because that's what they would call it like electronic music. Why don't you play electronic keyboard? He did it, I think, out of deference to Miles because he loved Miles, but he didn't like that direction it was going. He wanted to do his own thing. He wanted to be based around acoustic piano, famously fussy about that, opinionated, you know, really a line in the sand

kind of situation. It's been two minutes on that. What do you think of that? It doesn't seem like that aged well. And I hear what he's saying. I love an almost exclusively work in acoustic instruments. Well, I don't think it aged well because let me play you something that was recorded just a couple of months before facing you. Okay. And tell me. I know exactly what you're going to play.

Go ahead. Yeah, just tell me what you think of this. That sounds awesome. Yeah. That's not a Hamburg Steinway, buddy. I would like to hear him do a full Vienna solo style concert with this. this thing. I totally would. Wouldn't it be amazing? What is it? I love this record.

Jack Dijunette. Jack Dijunette duo. This is, what is the name of it? Ria and Daitia. Say it again? The name of track is all we got. What's the name of the album though? This is technically his first ECM record.

That's how he's not answering. Oh. Ruda and Daiita. That's a Rhodes with a Wawa, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, you know. Like this is when you're really hearing,

not the beginnings, because they were already doing great trio. Well, he was mostly doing trio with Charlie Hayden and Paul Motion, but the quartet stuff, like the beginning of the journey with Dijanette. Yeah, I remember this. I heard this once at a friend's house,

and then I think in the same session, we might have been having a long session of a lot of things as we were listening and doing other things, but we listened to, was it, it was the one Freddie one with the Phap, voo voo, Fah,

Badovova. No, what is the name of that tune? But it's Herbie on a Rhodes with like a Morley Wa pedal. Okay. And I had just found a Rhodes from like some basement in High Ridge for $300.

It was in bad, bad shape. But we got it going. Yeah. And then I found a Morley Waugh pedal at a guitar store down here in downtown St. Louis. And I was like, I'm going to sound like Keith Jarrett

and Herbie Hankie. And I did. Same would be. I got a, a Wawa, no, it was a phaser, a little, like one of the box with the big... A little orange ones? Yeah, on the Rock Road, as we call it.

Hell yeah. What was it? McMurray music. McMurray music. Come on now, man. But yeah, so that's all we got from 1971. So this was actually, the reason I say it was the first, because they recorded this before. They didn't record it for Manfred, but him and G. Jizunette went into a studio when they were, I believe with Miles out on the West Coast in L.A.,

and they were like, let's go in and record some stuff. And he offered this to Manfred after he signed and did Facing You. He's like, I've got these other things, and they released it, and I think it's a cool record. Povo. Yeah. Carry on. Okay.

Hey, oh, Povo. Great, great, great. Okay, so that was other things that were happening then in 1971. Let's check out a little bit more of the record. Let's check out, man, this is an embarrassment of Rich's so good. Everything's great. We're going to get to, let's go to the second track, Ritoria. This, this one was very close second for my Desert Island track, but because it's, if I was

I was going to be in a pensive mood to be on and stuck on a desert island, not even pensive, just kind of a slow, spiritual, soulful kind of a mood. I guess already my surroundings would. Do you ever get slow, spiritual and soulful? I think a desert island would slow me down like that. Like if I was sunburned, you know, like sun, sun, Ken Burns in the back. If you were stuck on a desert island within two months, you'd have started two businesses. What are you talking about?

Here's track two, Ritorium. There's so much character the way they recorded the piano, the way he's playing it. Yeah. It's the way he's playing it. There's certain characteristics to the way he recorded it too. I have questions about. I mean, you're getting a lot of hammer.

You're getting a lot of... It's almost like overdriven, right? Well, there's a part where it doesn't. I believe Keith, too, is, like, interested in the recording process. Oh, for sure. And I know he has a studio at his place. In that Terry Gross interview, they talk about it. Well, he's in there in the Rick Beato interview.

Yeah. But the way he's playing with the left hand, like totally different kind of... tone. That simple little three-hote. Incredible. But I mean, some people would be like, oh, that, like, it's too, like, it's almost for some people, not me, but, like, it's almost too direct and like a piercing kind of sound. Let me just, if there's like a limiter or a compressor on there. Andy, Sam, do you guys hear that at all? Like on the piano sound? It feels like there's, like, maybe a heavy limiter on it. Sam's shaking his head. There's a place here. This is getting towards,

like four minutes where he really breaks it down and then comes in. Sounds like Bell. Beryl Castro. Jared, notoriously, one of the great touches of all times on the piano. And in fact, in that same interview with Terry Gross that you were playing earlier, he talks about how he was trying to develop in conjunction with some engineers from Steinway, a piano that didn't have the break on it, that typically they have, the escape, the escapement or so that, you know, as he demonstrates, I think in the interview, you can press a key all the way down to the piano.

know, if you do it soft enough and slow enough, the hammer won't strike and it'll just come back down and the key is all the way depressed. And that's a drag if you're trying to play softly. And that tells me that Keith has this level of control where he can play as soft and, of course, as loud as he wants. Another characteristic, especially from that track that you realize, and for all of us who are big Keith heads, it's the first time anybody's ever said that. But it seems attainable almost. Like his, style of playing, it's sort of like, it's like Hank Jones, not in the same style, but in the characteristic of like, when I hear Hank Jones and when I hear Keith Jarrett, two great pianists, I think like, oh, that seems doable, right? Like, technically. And then when you try to mimic it, you're like, huh, that is impossible. Right. Like, because there's, the details, which aren't flashy details, but it is things like touch and feel and little harmonic things and countermelodies that are happening that are controlled so beautifully that it does make the overall product seem,

first of all, light and easy and melodic, which is why I think we are under the misconception like this is, this must be kind of easy to play. It's someone who has like just monster chops like Kenny Kirkland or something. Like you hear that and you're like, oh my gosh, that's hard to play. Right, right. But this is like, oh, it's so beautiful and melodic. And I think I can mimic this.

Yeah. And you go to do it and it's like you're so far away from that end product because he is not using his immense technique for flashy things. I mean, he's got flashes. Yeah. But it's not flashy what he's really utilizing some really incredible piano technique for are things that make it sound just more human and beautiful. And those are my favorite piano players.

Absolutely. And I mean, I think it's that combination with Keith of just extreme control, like really just very high-level. of piano technique in terms of control. Yeah. Like the dynamic range, just off the chart. It's everything, though. Control.

The actual chops are off the charts. When it goes for it, it's incredible. But it's like that control, that very essence of like bringing out all the things that can be archaical about the instrument combined with his really deep, soulful connection with music that kind of defies categories. And I think that's why these records are so closely loved and held. And in the case of Colne concert,

or a couple of years later, I think it's the biggest selling solo piano record of all time. Beautiful record. But the reason it has this sort of crossover appeal is because he does touch on country and folk and it's not a jazz record, but he's a great jazz piano.

It's not a blues record, but there's like strikingly bluesy stuff happening throughout it. So it's like that connection with what I humbly say is the greatest song. 100%. I don't think there's any question in anybody listening if you don't think that, you know.

And then, but then he's also an incredible musician, like composer. Of course. So he's creating, but this is all like spontaneous improvisation, so it's easy to think, oh, he's just a great improviser. That's what's so exciting about this period,

1971 when this album came out, is he's about to prove to the world with the succession of records in the 70s that he's about to really crush the 70s with a bunch of different groups and solo recordings and playing the saxophone. And like, you know what I mean?

And playing percussion. Yes. And like doing all this crazy stuff. And he's about to take off into an artistic direction that I think is just unprecedented. One more thing about his technique. I saw him live once in Newark when I was living in New York. We took a train.

Newark. We went out to Newark, New Jersey to see him at a theater. And it was the only, it was like he played at one point in the concert, it was a trio concert, but he played a solo intro to something. At one point, he played a chord where, speaking of like the unflashy virtuosity that he has, he played a chord where he brought out a couple of notes in the chord a little more than others.

and the entire hall gasp at the court, which is something that just doesn't happen very often in a concert where it's like you gasp it, like emotional moments where there's a... Or for everybody kind of to have the same... Right, but he plays a chord, and it was just like all of our hearts just melted down our legs, and it was, we were all feeling that. It was a special night. That's great, that's great.

I've heard him twice live, and moments like that happened. I think that was kind of a regular thing. I think he gasped that is... You can hear it on this record. And that throws off a lot of people be like, wow, are you fuller yourself? He's like, no, he's connected with the, this is my me editorializing a little bit. Please do. That's what the show's about, bro.

Fact checker. Come on. But like he's responding to that too. Like he knows that he's the conduit for those special moments. And then on the macro level of creating this whole thing that makes sense that's not just an endless supply of special moments, but it's a cohesive thing. And that's why I say, like, as a composer, there's that whole element that I think comes out this as opposed to just like the first thing we heard you know this kind of I know how to improvise over rhythm changes kids you got to learn that too though you got to learn that's where it starts

but check this out this is also from 1971 so we listen to the Dijanette duo the all we got facing you these are all within a few months of each other this is with his american quartet duie redmond Paul motion Dave Holland Charlie Hayden I'm blanking on that sorry but this is toll road from a great record called the judge hey Peter yeah where's the piano here I'm He's killing on here. You can't hear him? He's playing soprano saxophone. So that's a whole other thing.

But I just want, you know, we're not even going to get into all that stuff. He can play the flute. He did all these things. This composition is, well, give you a little bit of his classical playing. This is a few years later. Brilliant. Well-temper, Calvier, C-sharp major. You know, obviously a masterful classical musician as well.

But it's just to say that, not that, but those other two tracks that we played that were so different conceptually, those happened in 1971 as well. So it wasn't just like facing you, like, oh, I'm going in this other direction. Then we haven't even gotten into Paul Motion Charlie Hayden trio from before this and was still happening.

And then, of course, later on, Gary Pukk, Jack Nishanat trio. The great trio. The great trio. Of the 80s. Let's get into some Desert Island tracks. Oh, heck yeah. And let me just throw this out there too.

I know I kind of mentioned in the title, greatest solo piano ever. These are some other ones. And look, it's not important to say this is or this isn't. But I put this in a group, the ones that I made a note of, and these are just personal loves of mine. Philones Monk alone in San Francisco, or solo month, but equally great in different ways, I think. Anything that Art Tatum did on record, I mean, piano starts here.

There's a record, I remembered Earl Hines playing Duke Ellington very late in his career. I believe it was even the early 70s. It might have been late 60s that I think is just masterful solo piano playing, super enjoyable. Sullivan Fortner, solo games, friend of the pod, friend of the open studio. Absolutely. And then also Bill Evans alone, which is not, I think it's, there's a track on there never let me go. I remember when I first heard that I was like, wow, solo piano, just Bill Evans.

There's that conversations with myself where he's overdubbing that most people talk about, which is great too. But I know that never let me go, at least that track is just true solo piano. But that's the kind of stuff I compare this to, not compare. That was your, into the- Were that was your up next thing? No, that's just my, is this the greatest solo jazz piano ever? Is this the greatest solo jazz piano?

I'm just throwing that in this. I'm rolling off script, buddy. I think this, again, I think this has to be in the conversation with a couple of others. I think Colen Concert, Vienna Concert, need to be in that conversation. Oh, of Keith, yeah. Well, what about those other ones? Would you argue any of those? I would definitely argue those.

There's a couple of Hank Jones. Hank Jones, I believe it's Satendahl tribute to Duke Ellington, which is 1976. So a little bit later in Hank's career and incredible playing. Oh, there's some Duke Ellington solo piano. There's some Duke Ellington solo piano. I know. It's interesting to think about the lineage. and just, you know, because we talk about it's always like trio.

What's the greatest trio record? And Oscar Peterson. Oscar Peterson. On the everything, everybody, some of my best, not some of my best friends. Did you have monk on one of years? Yeah, that was what I said first, buddy. You paying attention? Sorry, Simon.

I said solo monk or alone in San Francisco. I'd say alone in San Francisco. I'd say solo monk, but we'll agree to disagree. But facing you goes right in here for sure. Yeah, I think facing is amazing. What do you have for your desert island track? I have Laylene. I think Laylene.

Oh, perfect. So do I. Yeah. For your desert island track? Yeah. I changed it. I changed it. Okay, sorry.

Yeah. Then I'll take in front if you are. No, I'll switch to in front. But I also have Laylene. Yeah, I think it's good. We can call it last row. I changed it because I was like, I was thinking Ritoria in front. But Laylene, let's take a listen to this.

This is the third track. We're not going to get all the way through this record, my friend. We're going to get three tracks. I think of three tracks. But this is also my apex moment. Can we listen right up to the apex moment? Because it's pretty early. I mean, yeah.

Freedom, how he phrases these melodies, those grace notes. A little bit of, rip that off so much. that phrase. It is. It's a Glockenspiel? Glockenspiel. Glockenspiel. Okay, we're coming up to my Apex moment.

I'm just going to raise up my hands when we get there at him, okay? Like I'm in church. Raise it up. Lift him up. That's nice, too. Ooh, pull back. Okay, here we go. When he hits that, I got to listen to it again.

I'm sorry, I'm greedy. I'm greedy. When he hits that suss, man, it's got such a, like, and that's, you know what? That's from Thelonious Muck, I think. I don't know. He'll say. he heard

I mean I've heard Monk do that exact same voicing it's interesting he said oh he knows it check it out it doesn't get better than that man that's great

great call Pete that's a great apex moment well I mean since we're both going Laylene I'll take that as my apex moment too what about bespoke playlist you've got some good ones here

okay so I've got fuzzy jazz masters absolutely not fuzzy could be fuzzy jazz masters and I'm thinking It was slightly fuzzy at this time. Well, just because I don't want to make it like solo Keith classics, yes, you could put this, you could put home concerts, you could put the more recent live in Hungary, some really cool

different things. But to me, like, I like fussy jazz guys. And I'm thinking, I'm looking at you, Wint Marcellus. I'm looking at you, Miles Davis. Highly opinionated, like, this is what's right, this is what's wrong. You know what? I might even be looking at you brand for Marcellus as well. And like a little dogmatic, but in a way that I think is deeply.

connected with jazz music. Like there's a tradition of that. You know, Jelly Roe Morton, I'm looking at you. You're talking about I'm the inventor of jazz. There you go. But you know, people that are, first of all, just are incredible artists, but they're a little bit fussy,

they're a little opinionated. They're not going to just go along with the machine. You know, Keith famously said, like, you know, this music isn't for all different plays. What I create is special. He's like, I'm not going to take this on Johnny Carson. Yeah. I also like this attitude.

It's not the attitude that I'm able to cultivate in my personal. You're not a fussy jazz. You're a jazz master, not a fussy one. I'm way too Midwestern to be that fussy. I really am very much a labradoodle in this situation. You know what I mean? However, I really love when an artist like this gets fussy.

I think it actually... Oh, I'm going to throw it a little personal one too. Sorry, Diane Reeves. She can be a little fussy. Just start her in there. Also in a good way. Here's what I'm saying. We were just kind of talking, like,

is the fussiness part of an ego thing? And I think it's actually part of the death of an ego. I think people like Keith and we even around here with some of our open studio artists, like I think about Fred Hirsch, they're just not afraid to tell you the truth about things in the way they see it. And that can come across, especially for a round-faced potato-eating Midwesterners like myself, that could come across as a little bit, you know, like harsh in some circumstances, but they kind of know that and they're okay with you thinking they're harsh

because they're doing it for their art. And I freaking love it, man. I do too. And I wish we could get like 10 more people on this list that are like that. Fred Hirsch, we're going to put him on that list? No, and by the way, it is all love. A little bit. They all have, Keezer is also Midwestern.

So he's got a soft edge to things. But he will, he is very, very honest. And he's a master. But I think that practice of honesty and the practice of telling you exactly what I'm thinking in because I know how I feel about it and it's true for me is the same process you go with in making your art as well in that you're going to be. honest about things. And the more honest you can get, the better your art gets. So I

think it's a big, huge plus. What you got for bespoke playlist? I have First Baptist Church of ECM. I love it. Thank you. I think that would be a good one. Thank you, Claude. I also have solo piano geniuses, as you were talking about all of those other solo piano records. I wasn't listening to you. I was thinking

about my own thing. So I put that in there. But yeah, and then up next actually, oh yeah, up next. So we have some other records that we go along with this, with this nicely. I have that Hank Jones record Sat and Hall. Oh, great. That's great. I've got Cone concert, an obvious, but I do like, well, here, let's just check a little bit because this is

just three years later, but it was a big... Talk about us. People love this record. The sound of the pianos. It's so different, though. I mean, this was in a, you know, big concert hall, not a recording studio, obviously. This is the perfect album to put headphones on and close your eyes.

Yeah. Just listen all over the film. Some banging Olfson, hopefully, or higher. Only. And Wilkinson. Wilkins. Yeah, so I mean, that's, you know, that flows into that. But that's a very different record than Facing. Like, Desert Island, you know, the boats dropped, do both drop you off or do you just kind of,

whenever you're getting there and you're like, bye, bye, and you've got two CDs, Cone and facing, if they're like ripping one from my hands, I would say from my dead, barren hands rip facing you. I'd give them Cone Con. I hate to break this to you, but I think if you're getting onto a desert island, it's a more violent transition. So it's. But if it was as I described.

which one would you keep between those two. Facing your comb? Yeah. Man, don't make me pick. Okay. I don't know. You'd be fine either way. You'd be, yeah, exactly.

You're not losing either way. Two other ones I'm going to throw in there on the solo. I mean, just would just be for me. Brad Meldow, Tokyo. Yep. Great. Great solo piano record. And solo game, Sullivan Ford.

I mentioned that before. Also great. Incredible. And that's in my rotation now, but I think I'll be shocked if that doesn't stay on the test of time. Great record. You got any quibble bits? We talked a little bit about the piano sound.

Yeah, I mean, I don't have a quibble bit. I think people do and they've talked about that. I love it. I also love it. It's not a super accurate sound in a way, but to me it's very accurate for this record. It sounds awesome. It sounds awesome. Is it distorted?

Is it overdriven? Is it compressed? Probably. You know. Is it a short little piano? Yes. Yeah, yeah. I mean, maybe that's why they did that because they had, but I just think sometimes like out

of pressure and stuff, beautiful things are made. I kind of, I feel the exact same way. I actually wouldn't change a thing about it. I think it probably, the, length of the piano, you know, without, with Keith knowing it or not, probably affected what he was doing, and it gave us this special performance.

I really do believe that that kind of, even those minute differences in the way things sound or feel, especially when you're doing something that's this, that's this micro as far as like, you know, the attention to things. Yeah, I really think it's special. And I like it. And like I said, one of the cool things about it,

I didn't even know it was a short piano. But hearing you say that, again, he's not doing this anymore. Like he would never record on a piano like this after this. But in a studio, he did record on small, I mean, seven foot, five, or ten is not a huge difference. We know it's, we look at it as a big deal. I think for most people, be like, oh, it's still a great piano. By the time I was born, he was already like, please give me a nine-foot Steinway every time I go. And I might slap you in the face of being the right kind of nine-foot.

That's right. Like traveling with his own nine-foot Steinway around Europe. I think two other quibble bits I have. his vamps are keep going and they're perfect and they're too great. His vamps are wonderful.

It sounds like a quibble bit. Is that a compliment? Is that a compliment sandwich? Cobble bit? A cobble bit? That's a compliment sandwich. Other things, I think he gets too bluesy on this.

Too good. I think he gets too bluesy on this record. Are you serious? I think his lines are too clear. No, I'm kidding. So no quibble bits. This is a rare.

I don't have a quibble bit. I can understand how people would. Do you have any? No. I don't want to say that it's the perfect record because I never, I mean, it's not like,

Well, okay, so, but here's the thing. But there's nothing that like, oh, I wish they'd done this. Is this the perfect? Here's a great qualification you can think about. Is it the perfect record? That's impossible to say. Did they perfectly capture what they set out to capture with this? I have no idea.

I think they did. I think they nailed it. Oh, I think they nailed it. And what he played and he nailed it. But how do you know that that's what they set out today? I think this might have been different than what they thought it was going to. I think because of the improv, if it really was totally improvised, then I think they had no idea what it was going to.

I don't know. Well, but I feel like if their idea was to capture, if Keith's idea was like, I want to capture this spontaneity that's been happening in these concerts where I'm playing these tunes and I'm making all the in-between bits, capture the spontaneity.

They did that. They nailed that shit. And this is that happened. And it's delightful for everybody who listens. And this is the rare record. Actually, some of those other ones like Monk alone in San Francisco, that might be the only one out of those,

I would say, I mean, piano starts here, art table, although that's a different kind of record. But both those records like this one, I love piano starts here. Assume it's a perfect record. But no, all three of those records, and not exclusively, they'll certainly kind of blue. We can talk about the class. But to me, you listen to them from beginning of the end,

and there's no lull. I mean, yes, there's emotional ups and downs. No, there should be. There's a story. But there's no like, oh, this track was, you know. And so to me, from that thing, how can you have a quibble with it, you know? We're quibble with our own category here.

So what about accoutrements? What about the covers? I gave it a nine. I give it an eight. I mean, it's great. I probably should give it a 10 because there's nothing wrong with it, but it's not like,

if you want to be to name the greatest jet, record covers all the time, it wouldn't come to mind, but it's great. I think it's a great image, it's great composition. Keith looks amazing. He looks cool.

He looks like how the record sounds a little bit, black and white cool. Snobometer. I will say it's very different than what ECM became, like such an iconic thing. It's not an ECM-ish type of record. Snobometer, Peter.

How snobby is this album? I mean, it's either a nine, a 10 or one. I can't tell which. You've got 10. I've got 9. It's super snobby. Okay.

But is it? Yes. Without question it is. What about cold concerts? Yes. That's not snobby. It's literally the greatest selling solo piano record of all time. Linda has a copy of it.

No, she 100% doesn't. But is it the greatest, we can quibble about that, but I don't know. I don't know. I think this is. Well, we're close. I'm at 9, you're at 10. I mean, the thing is like this is a record. Coln concert for sure

but I think this one too that a lot of classical piano aficionados have and they might not have phelones well they might have Muck but they're not going to have like and they all they might have Bill Evans too now that this is one that a lot of non-jazz fans are like oh that's jazz oh I do like jazz

I think the Coloss concert and this is no knock on Keith or the album itself it's one of my favorite albums of all time it's one of my favorite moments ever captured in music but I think it did catch this wave of popularity almost like a not I don't want to say Reader's Digest or something, but like, Indelectuals. Windham Hill-esque?

Intellectuals were like, that's a great album. And so then it's just like, oh, that's the jazz album we should listen to this year kind of thing. You know what I mean? Not that it's not, doesn't deserve it. It deserves as big of audience as possible, but I don't think it's not snobby. But wouldn't the duo record with Ruda,

Ruda and Dieda from the same year? Wouldn't that be 10 on the snobby? Yes. Then that would make this much lower. Everybody knows it. Well, I don't know. Keith even said himself. He's not going for Johnny Carson here. Going for Manfred, I'd sure. Better than K-O-B.

No. Okay, I'm going to say, okay, I want to give a new definition for this. Is there time to do this? I want to say, no, I want to define better when we say better than. RIMS. Isn't this the same as is this our personal number one desert island album? Isn't that what we mean by that? No.

Well, what does that mean better than? Is it, do you think it's better than Canada Blue? Okay, so let's just, let me give you to another land. If you had kind of blue and facing you, which would you rather have on a desert island? Kind of Blue. Okay. So you think this is not as good because it's not a number one desert island. So I am correct.

Thank you. Kind of Blue might not be my number one Desert Island. The fun part about this category, Peter, is that we're taking an arbitrary great album, no doubt. But saying, we chose Kind of Blue because everybody kind of knows Kind of Blue. I know. So it doesn't even have to be your Desert Island. I'm going to say even. and the reason is is because

if they were sitting there with both of those records I had to grab one as I'm being dropped off on the desert island I would be fine with either one literally equally but the cone concert in facing you I'd rather have facing you. How many evens do you have on better than KOB? Have I had a lot? Yeah because if everything is even with KOB

nothing is even with KOV. No, but I mean well there you go dropping the comments if you think that's valid. Speaking of comments, Peter, we've got some great comments here please leave us a comment on YouTube leave us a rating and review wherever you got your podcast by the way

And if you want to get super frisky, leave the review on Apple Podcasts. You can always go comment on YouTube if you want to, like, if you want us to really get excited. But if you want to go next level, go to Apple. It's a little bit, you know, fussy, but give us a rating and a review. We read them. This is a comment. This is a comment from our last episode on Roberta Flack. Why did jazz pianists love Roberta Flack?

On YouTube, Josh Morellis 4999 wrote, as someone with very little exposure to this side of music, but absolutely love listening to it. it now. Y'all are really expanding my knowledge with this series. Please keep it going. Thank you, Josh, and we definitely, definitely will. And we'll remind you about the nerd nook. I think what we're going to do in the nerd nook, I'm going to break down kind of what we're actually about to do on Laylene. I'll kind of show what my thought process on that. Maybe that or in front, the first one that we did, just a little bit of an arrangement of these tunes, which are actually improvisations. What else

we got? I think that's it. Let's go out with a little Laylene with Bob and Caleb. Let's do it. Until next time, you'll hear it.