Keith Jarrett My Song 2009 transcription

Then, I had to ask him what happened, you know, what did he think. So then, first, I had to send him a copy of the recording. We're pretty fussy and Gary's memory was the only thing he had.

JARRETT: Now, we're getting to the part where we're actually perfectionists. SIEGEL: This didn't sound like a guy unable to play his bass that night. It was a really tough thing because he was in hell that night, as far as the sound was concerned. But in this particular case, it was just convincing Gary that it was good. So if we start to change that and I listen to it, then I don't even like it at all.īecause it's like, why did I - I didn't play the left hand that loud or that isn't how the piano sounded. I want the imperfections to remain because, to tell the truth, the way I play in a given space is because of the space. I like it just as it's handed to me the night that it happens. SIEGEL: But I listened to it for the first time. JARRETT: It's very hard to get rid of that right away. SIEGEL: So for you, for a year or more, this performance brings up all these memories, these very unpleasant memories of something not working well. So it almost was as though - sometimes it's like you have to slowly get rid of what you remember from the backstage or the, you know, the Germans not letting my wife sit in there in her seat because they didn't see her the first set and she has a ticket and they end up putting her behind the spotlights where she had to stand and sweat. Jack agreed that the hall was really not very good.Īnd I had played there before, had the same experience. Gary had an awful time with his bass sound in the room. In other words, we didn't like the sound when we were playing. And our experience with this hall was bad. JARRETT: There's a lot of answers to that, Robert. SIEGEL: Why does such a good recording take almost four years to get released? SIEGEL: This disc was recorded in Switzerland in Lucerne in 2009. SIEGEL: I guess, in fairness, we should say that for every - just to pick a couple of random favorites of mine, for every 'September in the Rain,' or 'The Nearness of You,' there are dozens of utterly unmemorable tunes in the world as well. If there's no singers and there's no good songs, which came first? But, again, let's say that there are also no important singers, so maybe it's all part of the same pancake mix. I sat down and wrote this standard tune, but it wasn't that easy to do. But I was in Tokyo once and I thought, I think I want to try to write a song as though it existed before and has words. JARRETT: Yes, is the short answer to that. SIEGEL: Yeah, isn't that something? Do we not have more songs like this for lack of people trying to write them? Is it unfashionable? Once Miles was asked how did he learn his phrasing or who do you listen to for that and he said Frank Sinatra. JARRETT: And I worked with a lot of vocalists when I was young and listened to them because my father liked Keely Smith and I probably heard Peggy Lee in those days and was impressed by phrasing. The people that were doing that were people who were actually good at writing melodies, for example. There was a period of time in American history where so many things came rushing in, especially in popular music. JARRETT: First of all, they are anything but standard by today's standards. SIEGEL: Standard tunes, first of all, what do they mean to you and why have you recorded so many of them on this disc? SIEGEL: Keith Jarrett, welcome to the program. The release of this music has been a couple of years in coming from the time it was performed in Switzerland. It's the title track of a new album of six standard tunes revisited by Jarrett and his trio, which includes bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Jack DeJohnette. SIEGEL: And this is jazz pianist Keith Jarrett performing 'Somewhere' by Leonard Bernstein. This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News.

Keith Jarrett My Song 2009 transcription