Keith Jarrett, whose Köln Concert from 1975 has sold over three million copies worldwide, virtually defining the art of the solo piano concert in jazz in the process, has dramatically altered his style with his latest release The Carnegie Hall Concert. In a rare interview, he tells Stuart Nicholson how and why he changed his approach, the value of classical studies to aspiring young jazz musicians, what his own practice routine is at home, the state of jazz today and a whole lot more.

With the release of The Carnegie Hall Concert, Keith Jarrett has successfully redefined his approach to the solo piano. In one of his most wide ranging and forward looking performances ever, The Carnegie Hall Concert represents an eloquent summation of the current state of Jarrett’s art.

From the opening track of this double album it’s clear that he has not simply fine-tuned his approach to the spontaneously improvised concert but has radically reappraised his whole style in a way that is not only ambitious and forward looking but is also in tune with audiences in the new millennium.

It is part of a gradual process that saw its beginnings documented on Radiance and the DVD Tokyo Solo, both from 2002, where the long arcs of improvisation that characterised his earlier landmark solo piano series, including Solo Concerts, Bremen/Lausanne (1973), The Köln Concert (1975), Sun Bear Concerts (1976), Paris Concert (1988), Vienna Concert (1991) and La Scala (1995), were replaced with an emphasis on smaller forms.

In the past, Jarrett segued major episodes of improvisation together with an ostinato or a pedal point while new ideas were organised to create an extended improvisation of anything from around 40 to 60 minutes. On Radiance everything changed. His expansive, uninterrupted album-length lyricism was replaced by spontaneous improvisations that rose up, made their point and ended. In all there were 17 episodes, some just over a minute in length, the longest just 14 minutes

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