The History of Jazz

by Ted Gioia

Jarrett’s career gained rapid momentum after his departure from Davis in 1971. He initiated his ECM relationship with a duet recording with DeJohnette and an extraordinary solo piano release, Facing You. The latter marked a compelling departure from the conventions of mainstream jazz piano, delineating an orchestral two-handed approach that revealed Jarrett’s novel, integrated concept of harmony, rhythmic momentum, and melodic phrasing, perhaps demonstrated most notably on the ten-minute composition “In Front.” Jarrett’s 1973 masterpiece Solo Concerts: Bremen and Lausanne built on these same elements in two titanic improvised performances, three hours of inspired keyboard music. Jarrett’s follow-up Köln Concert may have lacked the depth of Facing You and Bremen, but it attracted a large nonjazz audience with its sparse, simple harmonies and flowing melodic lines. The record quickly sold over one million copies and spurred a rash of imitators. It is only a slight exaggeration to claim that the burgeoning market for New Age music grew out of the influence of the opening twenty minutes of this recording, a mostly diatonic improvisation built primarily over a simple two-chord progression. But Jarrett quickly moved on to other projects, leaving it to other, far lesser talents to build on the commercial potential of this quasi-minimalist approach.