Share thoughts on Keith Jarrett

He is so taken with his idea of his own 'genius' that his improvisations tend to be monumentally self indulgent, and what is worse, self aggrandizing. I find that he never really invents, but merely elaborates, which is different. Overly and artificially 'dramatic', dynamically forced, and saturated with a sense of 'here it comes people, listen to ME'. I personally cannot stand his music even though he was a great side man. His solo recordings nauseate me.

Thanks everyone - Lots of excellent points coming from different perspectives. Posting mere hours after experiencing the emotions of a great musical journey might, in retrospect, have been ill advised. Truth told, he doesn't "always" click with me either. But because he is so prolific, a fan can easily assemble a collection of a dozen or so recordings that appeals to him, and then come to regard those as a body of work, ignoring the majority of recordings that strikes him indifferently. This alone should probably preclude his name being mentioned alongside Miles.

I noticed similar situation of ''who is he - not that great'' when the magnificent Oscar Peterson passed away, a true original who walked on much higher ground imho.
Peterson is of course a different style, but one many tried to copy with no success. Back to Jarret - to me he is a very fine talent, but one that leaves me somewhat indefferent, not unlike Kenny G. Highly subjective of course.

I'd like to try more of his recordings, but the one I do have turned me completely off with his nasally vocalizations. I thought my tweeters were buzzing...are they all like this?

Nice comment above about Keith Jarrett and a sideman.

I recently saw a documentary on Miles Davis that focused on his early fusion bands. There was some really nice footage of the band playing an Isle of Wight festival. Jarrett and Chick Corea were on keyboards, Gary Bartz sax, Dave Holland Fender bass, Jack DeJohnette drums and Airto percussion. The music was fiery/challenging/difficult/chaotic etc. and Jarrett was right on top of it. Jarrett was also in Mile's "Live/Evil"/"Cellar Door" band where he also was fabulous.

I also particularly like his playing on Kenny Wheeler's "Gnu High".

Like any serious artist Jarrett will inspire both positive and negative responses. Overall, I believe he has had an extremely impressive career. Even if you don't like him, you can't not respect him.