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Keith Jarrett

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Musician

The Resume

    (May 8, 1945- )
    Born in Allentown, Pennsylvania
    Jazz and classical pianist and composer
    Performed with Art Blakey and Miles Davis
    Recorded the albums ‘Restoration Ruin’ (1968), ‘Facing You’ (1971), ‘The Koln Concert’ (1975), ‘Hymns/Spheres’ (1976), ‘The Sun Bear Concerts’ (1976), ‘G.I. Gurdjieff: Sacred Hymns’ (1980), ‘Spirits’ (1985), ‘Dark Intervals’ (1987), ‘Bridge of Light’ (1993), ‘La Scala’ (1995), ‘The Carnegie Hall Concert’ (2005), and ‘A Multitude of Angels’ (2016)
    Inducted into the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame (2008)

Why he might be annoying:

    He turned down a chance to study classical composition with Nadia Boulanger in Paris.
    He has been married and divorced twice.
    He tends to loudly sing and moan while playing.
    He is so intolerant of audience noise that he has cough drops distributed to his audiences in cold weather.
    On one occasion, he got lost during his improvisation and sat silently at the piano until someone in the audience yelled out ‘C-sharp major! whereupon he thanked the audience and resumed playing.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He has perfect pitch.
    He gave his first formal piano recital at age seven, ending with two of his own compositions.
    His ‘Koln Concert’ is the best-selling instrumental piano album.
    He has often been mistaken as black, by audiences and even fellow musicians.
    His talent for improvisation drew admiration from Miles Davis, who marveled at his ability to ‘play from nothing.’
    Steely Dan had to cut him in on the royalties and add him as a cowriter of ‘Gaucho’ after ‘Musician’ magazine pointed out the similarities between that song and Jarrett’s ‘Long As You Know You’re Living Yours.’
    He was the first composer to receive the Polar Music Prize for both contemporary and classical music.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 6 Votes: 83.33% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 9 Votes: 77.78% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 6 Votes: 16.67% Annoying