Virtuoso Pianist-Composer Keith Jarrett To Release ‘Munich 2016’ Album
The album captures the last night of Jarrett’s tour of that year, and a concert in which he was at the peak of his improvisational powers.
Virtuoso pianist Keith Jarrett will have Munich 2016, a recording of his concert at Munich’s Philharmonic Hall on 16 July 2016, released by ECM on 1 November.
The album captures the last night of Jarrett’s tour of that year, and a concert in which he was at the peak of his improvisational powers. He plays music of polyrhythmic and harmonic complexity, intermingled with blues and folksong lyricism in what was recognised as one of his finest performances. The attentive and admiring German audience hangs on every note in a show that featured an encore of ‘It’s A Lonesome Old Town.’
Munich 2016, recorded in the home town of his label ECM, is the latest release in a line of solo concert recordings that have illustrated Jarrett’s career. These have included 1973’s Solo Concerts Bremen-Lausanne as well as later high points such as The Köln Concert, Sun Bear Concerts, Concerts (Bregenz München), Paris Concert, Vienna Concert, La Scala, Radiance, The Carnegie Hall Concert, Testament, Creation, A Multitude of Angels and La Fenice. The Sun Bear album is due for reissue on vinyl in the coming months.
That live album history also illustrates the way in which Jarrett’s concerts have themselves been transformed. His early shows featured unbroken improvisations that would span an entire set, but Munich 2016 highlights a modern-day style of tightly focused and spontaneous performances. While there are far more solo improvisers working in this musical milieu than was once the case, Jarrett’s dexterity for developing motifs and melodies and uncovering forms in real time is still unparalleled.
As the Polar Music Prize committee commented when honouring Jarrett with its 2003 award, “[his] musical artistry is characterised by his ability to effortlessly cross boundaries in the world of music. He has expressed himself over the years in the context of both jazz and compositions for various chamber music ensembles and orchestra.
“Through a series of brilliant solo performances and recordings that demonstrate his utterly spontaneous creativity, Keith Jarrett has simultaneously lifted piano improvisation as an art form to new, unimaginable heights.”
Munich 2016 is released on 1 November, and can be pre-ordered here.
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