Does Keith Jarrett Belong in the Hall of Fame?

by Anthony Medici in Celebrity News, Opinion Posts

The cover picture and cover story for this month’s (December 2008) DownBeat (DB) heralds Keith Jarrett’s election to the DB Hall of Fame (HOF). Does Jarrett belong in the Hall of Fame? Well, I suppose the immediate and obvious answer is: Yes. Yet I am uncomfortable with the selection. I have reservations. Indeed, I would like to borrow from the recent discussions regarding the Baseball HOF, and suggest that Jarrett, while he might belong in this venerable jazz institution, should be entered with an asterisk next to his name (figuratively speaking of course), in the same way that many have suggested that such baseball stars as Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGuire, and Pete Rose, were they to be inducted, also be awarded the asterick symbolizing a tainted achievement. Let me offer a few reasons why.

Jarrett came to superstar status as a result of his Koln Concert recording for ECM in 1975. This was a pyrotechnic, exhaustive and massively egocentric performance that allowed jazz, for a moment at least, to share in the rock idolatry of the overblown extended solo, like Clapton guitar solos or Ginger Baker drum solos. “Wow, Jarrett, man, he just plays for hours!” The sheer over-the-top nature of the performance garnered Jarrett massive attention. Now, from this point in time, it can be understood that the demonstration was more technical than musical, more gymnastic than pianistic, more showmanship than musicianship.

Koln also introduced, in a splashy way, Jarrett’s pretensions to classical music performance. I believe this pretension has benifited him in the same way it benefited Wynton Marsalis, who, although practicing jazz craft with such groups as Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers and Herbie Hancock Quartet, only came to the attention of the general public by performing Baroque bon-bons. Marsalis’ presumed authority in Classical performance carried over into the jazz arena and gave him greater authority that he could have otherwise earned as a sideman. Similarly, Jarrett’s classical efforts have helped him present a persona of pianistic genius. The fact that his classical efforts are generally inferior doesn’t seem to be a barrier. I do like Jarrett’s Handel’s Suite for Keboards, performed on piano, but his Mozart is embarrassing. Classical critics are generally not enthusiastic about Jarrett.

My next objection to Jarrett is the horrid, feral, squealing vocal noises he makes behind his piano playing. I know, this sounds trivial, perhaps even silly, but if you have heard it, you will know what I mean. It positively spoils many of his performances for me. I have heard Bud Powell’s bopping vocalese, Monk’s vocal musings, Glenn Gould’s humming. None of them bother me. But Jarrett’s weird noises are disruptive and oft-putting (to put it mildly), which is a shame, because when he shuts up, his keyboard work is often exquisite.

The final, and most serious, objection I would make is Jarrett’s usual passive aggressive,and sometimes outright aggressive, relationship to his audience. The most recent, and most shocking, incident took place at the 2007 Umbria Jazz festival. Jarrett verbally abused the audience in an extended temper tantrum; articles on this incident abound. The best response to
the incident is Daniel Biro’s “Open Letter” at AAJ.  As the Umbria festival producers put it, “As an artist Jarrett is sublime, but as a person he leaves much to be desired.” I’m not about to suggest that a jazz HOF, of all places, should institute a standard of conduct, but I do find it dismaying that a musician who has a long history of denigrating, dismissing and sometimes attacking his audiences, should find his way into a HOF, especially so soon after the most notorious incident of its kind. I think some additional penance is due.

So why should Jarrett be in the HOF? My standards for such awards include: a long career of achievement; breadth of achievement; and, a significant body of work. Jarrett meets all these criteria. For my taste, his work on Impulse with Dewey Redman, Charlie Haden, and Paul Motian, is his best work, as much for Dewey as for Jarrett. As an added bonus, when Dewey plays, Jarrett’s feral noises can’t be heard. Jarrett’s work with Jan Garbarek is of a different nature, but worthy of respect.

Of course, Jarrett’s “Standards” work with Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette is probably considered by most listeners to be among his best work, if not his best. I think this work is of a very high order indeed, with the caveat that it is a refinement of the trio tradition, not an advance of the art of jazz. It consolidates what went before; it doesn’t break new gound.

So, yes, give Keith Jarrett an entry ticket into the Hall of Fame, but slap an asterick on it.