Keith Jarrett: The Man And His Music [Paperback]

Ian Carr (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 22, 1992

Keith Jarrett is probably the most influential jazz pianist living today: his concerts have made him world famous. He was a child prodigy who had his first solo performance at the age of seven. In the sixties he played with the Jazz Messengers and then with the Charles Lloyd Quartet, touring Europe, Asia, and Russia. He played electric keyboards with Miles Davis at the beginning of the seventies, and went on to lead two different jazz groups—one American and one European. He straddles practically every form of twentieth century music—he has produced totally composed music, and has performed classical music as well as jazz. Jarrett has revolutionized the whole concept of what a solo pianist can do. And his albums such as Solo Concerts (at Lausanne and Bremen), Belonging, The Koln Concert, and My Song have gained him a worldwide following.Now, with Keith Jarrett: The Man and His Music, Ian Carr has written the definitive story of Jarrett's musical development and his personal journey. This is a revealing, fascinating, and enlightening account of one of the outstanding musicians of our age.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This adulatory recap of jazz pianist Jarrett's work with Charles Lloyd, Miles Davis and American and European quartets will please his admirers, but others may wish for a more critical assessment. Photos.

Copyright 1992 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Ian Carr is the author of Music Outside and Miles Davis, and coauthor of Jazz: The Essential Companion. He plays trumput, flugelhorn, and keyboards with his band Nucleus, and has appeared on over twenty records, including his own, Old Heartland.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (March 22, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0306804786
• ISBN-13: 978-0306804786
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,313,456 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating Subject - Very Readable Book, September 1, 1999

By 

Terry Saundry (Keysborough, Vic, Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Keith Jarrett: The Man And His Music (Paperback)

I'm not sure why the review below is so negative. Actually, I have been re-discovering Keith Jarrett and, once this reviewer complained about the reviews in the book, I was sold! Just what I was looking for to help me sort through the huge back catalogue! Mr Carr has written this bio in the time-honoured fashion. He does not heap praise on Keith Jarrett's every recording. He reviews every disc (up to the end of the eighties) as one would expect from a biographer - we can't all see an artist live whenever we want to - most of us rely on these "records" of the artist's sound, style and progress or whatever. He gives examples of Jarrett's genius and of his to-be-expected-of-a-person-like-this idiosyncrasies and lets us make up our minds about the man. It's worth reading just for the incredible circumstances surrounding the "Solo Concerts" and "Koln Concert" recordings. Recommended. Hope he updates it in the future.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Somewhat Shallow Biography Of The Great Pianist, March 5, 2004

By 

FePe (Denmark) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Keith Jarrett: The Man and His Music (Hardcover)

I agree with the first reviewer who writes that "the major problem inherent in books about musicians is that ultimately the only way to understand the artist's music is to listen to it." I see no reason why anyone would want to read this book without having listened to some of Jarrett's music. But those who have will likely be interested in this rather short biography by Ian Carr.

After a short foreword, we hear about Jarrett's childhood, his experiences with his piano teachers in particular and the stories surrounding his child prodigy. In chapter two, entitled 'From Allentown to Berklee and Boston', Ian Carr writes about the struggles to get out of the boring and dead town that Keith thought Allentown was into the more jazz-suited places like Berklee and Boston. Chapter three deals with his going to New York and playing with the Charles Lloyd Quartet, the first major turning point in his career, and the next chapter tells about his experiences on playing the Miles Davis. The following chapters is more about his own persuits where he doesn't have to play in an apprentice's role.

The book has only 195 pages, and that's too little to cover the story of a genius. The book quotes musicians from time to time and those quotations are much like a tv documentary without much depth. Actually the book could well be a tv documentary, because it reads like one - the story about his family relationship, his economic problems, a tour of his albums and so on. Although I have mostly critized the book, I want to recommend it to fans of Keith Jarrett. This is the only book about him, and though it's a little bit shallow, it provides a good picture and overview of his music and his personal life that fans would love to read about.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good read, August 29, 2007

By 

S J Buck (Kent, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Keith Jarrett: The Man And His Music (Paperback)

This absorbing biography of Keith Jarrett was written 15 years ago, so theres a large chunk of his career (and illness) missing. But its the best biography of Jarrett available.

The reason it doesn't get 5 stars is that Carr over-praises Jarretts work in places. Yes Jarrett is one of the greats but not everything he's done is as magical as Carr would sometimes have you believe.

Don't let that put you off though, there's a lot of interesting interviews, and information about particular recordings that I found facsinating in this book. The author Ian Carr, is a Jazz musician himself and he writes with authority on his subject.
Perhaps one day he will update this volumn with the last 15 years of Jarretts career.