Keith Jarrett

Feature photo: Excerpt of record cover Budapest Concert (2020)

When I saw the Cologne Concert (1975) by Keith Jarrett When I heard it for the first time during my studies in the 1980s - unfortunately only on CD - I knew immediately that I would often buy a CD by this jazz pianist. Over the years, a few of his records have probably found their way into my collection. I enjoy listening to his music so much and so often that I transferred this CD to my server years ago so that I can always access the corresponding record whenever I feel like it. It is probably due to this convenience that to this day I have hardly ever heard a long-playing record from Keith Jarrett have in my collection.

Even today might the Cologne Concert be Jarrett's best-known recording and probably his best-selling record. Jarrett's solo concerts are pure improvisations and, according to his own statement, quite the most revealing psychological self-analysis he can imagine. Even though his improvisations are consistently inspiring, it is his recordings, such as the Goldberg Variations (1989), or his interactions with other musicians, that fully showcase his skills.

My favorite shots of Keith Jarrett are the following to date:

• Miles Davis at Fillmore (1970)
• Another Bitches Brew (1971)
• Death and the Flowers (1974)
• The Cologne Concert (1975)
• Concerts (Bregenz 1981)
• Dark Intervals (1987)
• Paris Concert (1988)
• J. S. Bach: Goldberg Variations (1989)
• Tributes (1989)
• Dmitri Shostakovich: 24 Preludes and Fugues op. 87 (1991)
• Vienna Concert (1991)
• La Scala (1995)

If I should have made you a little more curious, just listen to the above recordings — I am very confident that you too will like one or the other recording of Keith Jarrett to add to your collection.