Keith Jarrett Trio

Few musicians have made a greater contribution to the wider development of jazz than Keith Jarrett, whose interest in fusion music has involved folk, blues and classical. Born on May 8, 1945 in Allentown, Pennsylvania, he was playing piano by the age of three, appeared on a TV talent show by the time he turned five, and played his first classical piano recital at the age of seven. Part-inspired by Dave Brubeck, Jarrett got into jazz in his teens and abandoned classical music to join Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. He moved on to a more improvisational group formed by Charles Lloyd, recording one of the most influential jazz albums of the 1960s: Forest Flower: Charles Lloyd at Monterey (1967), which was flavored by psychedelia and appealed to rock as well as jazz audiences. Keith Jarrett went on to lead his own group, releasing a pair of acclaimed albums while also joining Miles Davis to play organ and electric piano. In 1969, he formed the short-lived Keith Jarrett Trio with Charlie Haden (bass) and Paul Motion (drums). They released their sole album, Somewhere Before (1969), before Keith Jarrett continued his solo career. In 1983, at the suggestion of ECM Records’ Manfred Eicher, Keith Jarrett  approached bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Jack DeJohnette to record an album of jazz standards, which was entitled Standards, Volume 1. The album was credited to all three musicians on the album’s cover but was also referred to as the Keith Jarrett Trio or the Standards Trio. The album proved to be an enormous success, leading to live performances and more albums including Changes (1984),  Standards, Volume 2 (1985), Standards Live (1986), and many more. While each member pursued their solo careers and performed in other groups, they continued to record together on and off for the next 25 years. The trio disbanded in 2014.  Bassist Gary Peacock died on September 4, 2020.