Photo: Published by ABC/Impulse! Records. Photographer uncredited and unknown. / Public domain (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Keith Jarrett occupies a singular place in my listening life. Plenty of pianists have technique; almost none have his willingness to walk on stage with nothing prepared and trust the moment completely. The improvised solo concerts he pioneered remain, to me, the purest gamble in modern music. His apprenticeships with Art Blakey, Charles Lloyd, and Miles Davis gave him deep jazz credibility, but he transcended category, moving between jazz and classical as if the border never existed. The Guggenheim, the Sonning Prize, the NEA Jazz Masters honor: all deserved, all beside the point. What matters is that first note emerging from silence. Late at night, nothing else comes close.
Overview
Keith Jarrett (born May 8, 1945) is an American pianist and composer. Jarrett started his career with Art Blakey and later moved on to play with Charles Lloyd and Miles Davis. Since the early 1970s, he has also been a group leader and solo performer in jazz, jazz fusion, and classical music.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Keith Jarrett
- Name (Japanese)
- キース・ジャレット
- Reading
- きーす・じゃれっと
- Born
- May 8, 1945 (age 81)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Taurus / Rooster
- Origin
- Allentown, Pennsylvania, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- pianist / composer / jazz musician / recording artist / musician
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Emmaus High School
- University
- Berklee College of Music
Awards & achievements
- 1972 Guggenheim Fellowship
- 2004 Léonie Sonning Music Prize
- NEA Jazz Masters
- Steinway artist
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Pianist — see all → · Composer — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-10
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.