Share thoughts on Keith Jarrett

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.

"not unlike Kenny G. Highly subjective of course."

Subjective or not, that's a lousy thing to say! Take it back!

i'm in the ok-but-not great camp; he's a trailblazer in terms of popularizing the long-form solo concert thing, but there's a certain new-agey, samey quality to much of his voluminous output (plus the humming is a turnoff). he's technically proficient, and i do still listen to him in my rare contemplative moments, but there's a number of other pianists with more swing and a broader palate that i prefer (e.g. vijay iyer, robert glasper)