Product Description

• Experience the visual and audio power of a live Keith Jarrett concert experience.

• Tokyo Solodocuments Jarrett’s 150th performance in Japan and director Kanama Kawachi has made an elegant film that captures the process live at Tokyo’s beautiful Metropolitan Festival Hall.

• The DVD includes the ‘Tokyo’ selections from Jarrett’s acclaimed 2005 RadianceCD, plus more than one hour of previously unreleased material.

• The concert is structured in ‘episodic,’ self-contained pieces of music, with three standards as encores ("Danny Boy," "Old Man River" and "Don’t Worry ‘Bout Me").

Track Listing: Part 1a / Part 1b / Part 1c / Part 2a / Part 2b / Part 2c / Part 2d / Part 2e / Danny Boy / Old Man River / Don’t Worry ‘Bout Me

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #22304 in DVD
• Brand: UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP DISTRIBUTION
• Released on: 2006-06-06
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Color, DVD, Live, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 110 minutes

Amazon.com
It's no bulletin that improvisation is perhaps the central component of jazz, or that Keith Jarrett, a master jazz pianist, is also a gifted improviser. Yet what Jarrett plays in the course of Tokyo Solo, a 2002 performance that was his 150th concert in Japan, could hardly be called jazz, at least not according to most accepted criteria; the music heard here is, as Duke Ellington once said, "beyond category." What's more, "improvisation" seems inadequate for the process Jarrett has been perfecting since he began making solo recordings in the early 1970s. "Spontaneous composition" is more like it, for while most jazz players extemporize over a known melody or set of changes, Jarrett begins with a tabula rasa, creating music from nothing other than what's in his head and hands at a given moment. It's a fascinating process to witness, and if Tokyo Solo is not his finest work, it's nonetheless filled with extraordinary moments. It's easy to see why Jarrett, a notorious perfectionist, has performed so often in Japan: the venues are acoustically superb, the audiences are quiet and reverent, and the resulting recordings, including this one, feature impeccable aural and visual production values. Some of the material here appeared previously on the ECM CD Radiance (2005). In the course of two lengthy pieces ("Part 1" has three sections; "Part 2" has five), Jarrett's music is sometimes dissonant and challenging, filled with furious chording and dense clusters of sound ("Part 1(a)"), sometimes classical ("Part 1(b)" brings to mind a Beethoven sonata), sometimes gorgeous and almost impressionistic ("Part 2(a)" suggests a Ravel etude, while "Part 2(d)," perhaps the most sublime portion of the concert, leans a bit more toward Debussy). The setting (a darkened stage with nothing but the pianist and his Steinway) is simple, as is Kaname Kawachi's direction; there are plenty of close-ups of Jarrett's face, hands, and feet, as well as a few shots inside the piano, but nothing in the way of effects or trickery. Three more standard encores, including "Danny Boy" and "Old Man River," complete a concert sure to be treasured by Jarrett devotees. --Sam Graham

Customer Reviews

Radiant
Keith Jarrett is arguably the finest musician living today. A man who brings to the piano a lifetime of dedication, art, creativity, expression- all at the highest levels any human can hope to achieve, yet he continues to improve and push himself to the edge again and again. In this beautifully filmed DVD, one can find Mr. Jarrett doing what few musicians dare to do: improvise freely. These are not the longer solos of "Vienna" or "LaScala", but shorter, and I dare say, deeper. It is not without effort; Keith's performances are always intense, full of meaning, full of searching. After watching/listening to this, you will feel like you've been on a roller coaster, unbelievably drained. Mr. Jarrett returns to the piano and ends with "Danny Boy" and "Old Man River" played with such a tenderness that only years can bring to the fingers. It is his spirit and mind flowing through his arms, down to his hands, into his fingers and to our ears. We need this. As musicians and humans, we need Keith Jarrett to show us this every now and then.

Keith Jarrett - Master of Improvisation
Keith Jarrett's Tokyo Solo is an excellent documentation of Jarrett's world of improvisation, beautifully filmed and recorded live. This is nothing at all like his playing with his Standards Trio, where one can swing along to the beat of Autumn Leaves or Oleo. No, these solo piano improvisations are free, abstract forays into what I'd call "pure awareness" and being "in the moment." Here we are witnessing an artist who is a human vessel through which the infinite creative energies of the universe flow! His genius is in harnessing these energies into coherent essays that maintain individual character and context throughout each piece, titled only as "Part" numbers. After enduring the eight Parts of the complete concert (inherently intellectual), Jarrett treats us to beautifully emotional encores of Danny Boy, Old Man River, and Don't Worry 'Bout Me.
Jarrett's improvisations typically fall into 3 catagories: the hymnlike ballad with lyric melodies; the spastic, atonal free-for-all; and the repeated, rhythmic groove - or various combinations of each of these.
Of course, his incredible technique allows for a very orchestral approach at the piano. An incredible variety of effects and textures are the result.
This is a great study of a master of improvisation at his finest. A must-have addition for any serious fan who can honor Jarrett's process as much as the music itself. A few of these tracks have also been included in Jarrett's latest CD, Radiance.

Do you like Jarrett? Aimez-vous Jarrett? Volite li Jarretta?
If you do, you'll probably jump right at this brilliant DVD with almost two hours of amazing piano soloing; mostly pure improvisation, with couple of well liked standards/popular songs (Danny Boy, Ol' Man River, Don't worry 'bout me)... Jarrett is amazing, radiant, imaginative, subtle, witty, energetic and extremely intelligent, so everyone should check out something like this...

To be honest, I'm not a connosseur; I started with his recordings of standards and then decided I'm ready for his lengthier works... Boy, was I right! I guess this is not the last solo concert I'm gonna get me for birthday, christmas, new year, hanukkah, croatian independence day or any other such holiday....

This video of Keith's 150th concert in Japan was very aptly directed by Kaname Kawachi; audio recording and mixing is by Martin Pearson...It's recorded live at Metropolitan Hall in Tokyo in 2002.