Keith Jarrett a umbria jazz 07

[KingDaddyO]

Originally Posted by henryrobinett

Thanks kingdaddy-o! Your pre edited post was cool too!

LOL ... busted! Sometimes I type something, hit post, and then start to second-guess myself to pieces. I went back over that silly little end tag a few times, thought it was awkward, and decided to kill it. But I'm glad that you enjoyed it!

thumbsup

[henryrobinett]

Well yeah! I mean I must have a healthy opinion of myself, and I think that's OK too. But I'm just a guitar player and a jazz guitar player at that. I don't think I'm better than ANYBODY. I just work hard. I think anyone who plays music is special and anyone who works hard to express themselves or do something with this instrument, in any capacity or style or any instrument or studio gets my undying respect. The instrument itself is not easy and I have a lot of work to do. Every day I try to improve because I hear so much improvement needed.

I didn't post those so much so I could say "look at me! I'm great." I did it because I've been so disappointed in the past talking to people on similar forums who gave the impression they were Coltrane and were in actual fact beginners. You have to begin somewhere. I just wanted to give musical voice to my voice and to give perspective on where I'm coming from. That's all. Not trying to push anyones buttons. But you know, that happpens . . .

That's another subject.

[lucey]

Thanks for posting Henry ...

[Dave Ferris]

This got some mileage over here.

I'm certainly no fan of his antics and personality. I think a lot of that is "put on" to further his mystique or image. I've heard some stories from pretty reliable sources. No doubt he can be a complainer, whiner, a..hole, spoiled child, all of the above BUT.....

NO ONE plays the piano and has more command of the instrument on a deeper level than Keith. He's in his twilight years now and that Chronic Fatigue Syndrome really did take a toll on him physically but there's no denying the materiel from the Standards Trio w/ Jack and Gary took the piano trio to a new level. I don't know any serious pianist or musician for that matter that would deny Keith's brilliance or influence on not only jazz but all creative music..

[henryrobinett]

Originally Posted by Dave Ferris

This got some mileage over here.

I'm certainly no fan of his antics and personality. I think a lot of that is "put on" to further his mystique or image. I've heard some stories from pretty reliable sources. No doubt he can be a complainer, whiner, a..hole, spoiled child, all of the above BUT.....

NO ONE plays the piano and has more command of the instrument on a deeper level than Keith. He's in his twilight years now and that Chronic Fatigue Syndrome really did take a toll on him physically but there's no denying the materiel from the Standards Trio w/ Jack and Gary took the piano trio to a new level. I don't know any serious pianist or musician for that matter that would deny Keith's brilliance or influence on not only jazz but all creative music..

[Daniel Stark]

I remember seeing KJ play in Montreal maybe 4 or 5 years ago....

He stopped in the middle of the first piece to request that the piano be retuned, then proceeded to insult the guys tuning it...."Now I don't know if I'm a genius, but these guys sure ain't"....

What a jerk. I could care less about his music. Go eat a turd.

[Daniel Stark]

Why people think jazz is dead or dying is beyond me (2007 toilet bowl comment lol)...There are tons of people "doin it" at a very high level today and I don't foresee them stopping.

[Uncle Russ]

Jazz is dead. It's just that most of us musicians haven't heard about it yet.

Seriously, I have a recording group of the best practitioners of Swing era jazz in Southern California. (We all play later styles, too, by the way.) When do have our sessions? Saturday afternoons and evenings. Why? Because nobody is working!

All forms of acoustic music are hurting. The reason has little to do with the practitioners or their ability. It has to do with the lack of commercial support. If clubs can't afford or don't want you, if concert venues make more money with other kinds of entertainment, if the broadcast media behaves as though you don't exist, and if the audience refuses to demand your music because it's easier and about as much fun to watch a movie on TV or play a computer game, then your music is commercially dead. Commercial death is half a step from cultural death; if you don't get paid well, how can you afford to be at the top of your game? And if you're not outstanding, how will you attract people to something out of the mainstream?

Archery is alive, too. But if Robin Hood challenged all comers, the contestants and audience combined wouldn't fill a high school auditorium.

Russ Reinberg

[PlugHead]

Originally Posted by Plush

In reading about this incident, I learned that the Umbria Festival, the largest jazz fest in Italy, has banned Jarrett for life because of this outburst.

Professional managers and presenters won't tolerate this behavior.

Any of his apologists on this list ought to be ashamed of themselves.

Good for them.

Tho I admire Jarrett's musicianship, and the sound of that particular trio is kind of a benchmark for me and my trio's through the years, I cannot stand him personally. His total lack of humility, and condecension towards his audience is something I abhor.

I hope some pic's of that Umbria fest are sent to his website/email address just to infuriate that asshole.

[fallforward]

This is why I don't read jazz biographies anymore. I love Jazz, I have been playing sax since I was eleven and when I grew up I wanted to be Stan Getz, until I read a book about him. I loved Miles, transcribed the entire kind of blue record and rearranged for a project then I read Ian Carr's book, F*CK! I loved Keith Jarrett, as a jazz piano player now (It's a lot easier to get work playing piano than sax!) he is one of the main guys I listen too, but I had never heard about his personality until now!

I hate this artiste mentality. Go sit in your house and play if you don't want your picture taken. People are paying serious dough for those tickets to come and see music that is now more of an indulgence than a business, and the LEAST you can do for them is let them have a freaking memento to keep.

Jazz artists should encourage people to records their gigs like: the Dead, Phish, or Dave Mathews band. Improvised music is different every night and you should give you fans something to dig into. The main difference here is that those bands work their asses off touring. Jazz artists want to play a concert here and there for 10k+ do a master class at a school for a quick 5k then dupe some college kids out of 200+/hr for a lesson while you're there and all they are really thinking about is what they are going to have for lunch.

When I saw Tony Bennett at the Hilton two years ago, he encouraged everyone to take pictures, he gave me a big wave and a wink when he saw me framing up a shot of him. That was class, he appreciated where his money was coming from. Keith, and others like him, think we should all just mail him a check and apologize for getting in his way.

[lucey]

I have no history with him personally and enjoy some of his older work, so I do respect him as an artist.

He seems like an ass but it's his right to not be photographed and I think this whole thing is overblown. He was upset, and not PC about that, but he's got passion and that's what we like about artists. If we want PC artists we end up with smooth jazz and beer commercial rock. I was not offended by his comments as I was not taking photos, many people were clapping and laughing at his comments so why the big deal?

This is overblown by a PC world with little respect for artists rights. The customer is always right? I guess so. Commercial rules apply ... don't offend the people who are breaking the rules and insulting the artist, just kick the guy out who gets emotional about the disrespect of a few assholes, and call them an asshole!

He specifically spoke to the people who were offending his sense of violated rights, which had been agreed to by the venue which hosted his performance. So why is this a problem?

And we wonder why music suffers in this era.


Tony Bennett? Is it possible that there are some artists who need the moment to be contained in time in order to do their thing, and they create a different moment/music than those who want it exploited over time with photos and live taping? Why can't we respect the artists wishes here as well as his frustration?

[fallforward]

"And we wonder why music suffers in this era."

I always wondered why that fifth dentist never liked trident. (or was it dentyne) Keith definitely has a right, especially if it was agreed that no photography would be allowed. Just as that fifth dentist doesn't have to like the gum like everyone else does, but everyone else does. People were paying to see Keith and see him they did, I just don't agree with his display.

And I know that if someone from a Italy got up on stage at a concert here and started yelling and swearing in Italian, I would clap and laugh even if he was speaking about my mother.

About your other point, I don't think music as a whole is suffering in this era, people like Kanye West or lil Wayne never would have had a chance 50 years ago. Mozart played 4 notes in a chord and was thought a heretic, Benny Goodman used to be devil music, the Beatles were corrupting the youth. In my opnion, every generation thinks music is going down the crapper because they don't like what the kids are listening to. This is just my opinion and anyone can kindly disagree with it, but times are just the same as they have always been, and the same as they always will be in principle, it's just the manifestation that is different.

Good Luck Guys!
Robby

[lucey]

Many Italians speak English ... we don't speak Italian. The laughter was from competence.

My point is that artists are passionate people, and if want them to be restrained and PC 'entertainers' all then we lose out on a large chunk of the people who make great music. That fifth dentist, indeed.

Plus the visual is dominant, that's new. Were MTV around in the 60s and 70s all those ugly and wonderful people would have not had a chance. Pop Music today is often like musical theater, rock and country have suffered most of all. There was always pop, but there were other options that were not so hard to find.

[fallforward]

Were MTV around in the 60s and 70s all those ugly and wonderful people would have not had a chance. Pop Music today is often like musical theater, rock and country have suffered most of all. There was always pop, but there were other options that were not so hard to find.

definitely agree here. Mama Cass anyone. Ella Fitzgerald. Little Richard could have made it as a new artist in the 80's I think...