Keith Jarrett at the Disney Concert Hall

I know the name of this blog is Play GUITAR Now, but I have to write about a jazz PIANIST this time... I just came back from Keith Jarrett's solo piano concert at the Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. He was phenomenal! I've seen some big names in jazz in action such as Sonny Rollins, Dave Brubeck, Pat Martino and McCoy Tyner, but this guy was something else. It's a very commonly used phrase to describe exceptional musicians in action, but the piano truly was an extension of his body. He is famous for walking up to a piano without any preconceived songs or structure and start playing whatever it might be that comes to him, and I am not sure if that's what he was doing tonight, but it sure sounded great. He played some standards in the encores, but it was mainly very modern sounding sometimes abstract music. It made me feel like I was listening to the most advanced music of its time at its cutting edge. This must be how audience felt when they heard Beethoven's 9th symphony at its premier. The audience loved him and kept asking for encores. He came back three or four times to do encores. It is a very good feeling to know that somebody special like that is being appreciated by many people. PLAY PIANO NOW!