Blurred Affinities Tracing The Influence of North Indian Classical Music in Keith Jarrett's Solo Piano Improvisations

Blurred Affinities: Tracing the Influence of North Indian Classical Music in Keith
Jarrett's Solo Piano Improvisations

Author(s): Gernot Blume
Source: Popular Music, Vol. 22, No. 2 (May, 2003), pp. 117-142
Published by: Cambridge University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3877606
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Popular Music (2003) Volume 22/2 Copyright @ 2003 Cambridge University Press, pp 117-142
DOI 10 1017/S0261143003003088 Printed m the United Kingdom
Blurred affinities: tracing the

influence of North Indian
classical music in Keith Jarrett'

solo piano improvisations
GERNOT BLUME
Abstract
In the first forty years of his career, American pianist Keith Jarrett has established a reputation in
multiple stylistic directions. Jarrett has typically incorporated influences as varied as bebop, country,
rock, gospel, minimalism, baroque and classical styles into his often lengthy improvisations. Vital to
his musical persona, but less obvious, is the influence North Indian classical music has had in shaping
Jarrett's improvisatory strategies. Although he never formally studied Indian music, and although his
instrument - the piano - is far removed from the conceptual backdrop of North Indian raga performance, Indian music was a central component in the artistic climate out of which his improvised solo
recitals grew.
A cultural climate of global influences was the backdrop to the development of Jarrett's solo
concerts. Therein, perhaps, lies one key to understanding the spell that this music has cast on large
and international audiences. With this format, Jarrett tapped into the ambiance of a particular historic
moment, which combined a desire for change with the discovery of spiritual and musical traditions
outside the Western world.
In this paper I will demonstrate how explicit and implicit references to classical Indian principles of music making helped shape Jarrett's unique free solo concerts.
Introduction
In the first forty years of his career, American pianist Keith Jarrett has established a
reputation in multiple stylistic directions, which include improvisational solo pia

classical and contemporary music, and jazz standards.' His freely improvised sol
piano concerts beginning in the 1970s stretched the traditional scheme of

improvisation, and found a ready market at a time when many well establis
performers were breaking away from traditional procedures. Jarrett has typic
incorporated influences as varied as bebop, country, rock, gospel, minimali
baroque and classical styles into his often lengthy improvisations. Vital to Jarret
musical persona, although less obvious, is the influence North Indian classi
music has had in shaping his improvisatory strategies. Although he never formal
studied Indian music, and although his instrument - the piano - is far remo
from the conceptual backdrop of North Indian raga performance, Indian music w
a central component in the artistic climate out of which his solo improvisation
grew.
117
118 Gernot Blume
Jarrett's investment in 'world music' styles in general, and Indian

particular, is by no means original. Reaching for the 'East' and for India
points of reference has been an established tradition in the context of
ernisms', which emerged as a popular trend in the cultural environment
1960s, can be found outside jazz as well.3 India became for many musici
of otherness, of alternative spirituality and of musical exotica. The ima
differing reflections, but was a recognisable feature of the processes of
characterised the 1960s in the United States and Europe.4
Jarrett developed his concept of solo improvisations, featuring mod
the breaking up of tonal centres, and the abandoning of repeating
gressions, in a cultural climate of global influences. Therein, perhaps, l

to understanding the spell that his solo concerts have cast on large and i
audiences. With this format, Jarrett tapped into the ambiance of a partic
moment, which combined a desire for change with the discovery of sp
musical traditions outside the Western world.
In this article I demonstrate how explicit and implicit references to classic

Indian principles of music making helped shape Jarrett's unique free solo conce
I begin by tracking the development of Jarrett's improvisational style.
'Inventing' a musical genre: the evolution of Jarrett's solo concerts
As Jarrett's solo concert format developed out of gradually expanding performan
of jazz standards and of his own jazz compositions, the predetermined mel
material began to disappear in the midst of growing improvisations elaborat
rhythmic riffs or melodic cells. This aesthetic resonated with German record p
ducer and founder of the label ECM, Manfred Eicher, whose vision to prod
Jarrett's solo recordings became a cornerstone of Jarrett's subsequent commerc
success. The free jazz movement was afoot, and from the Art Ensemble of Chic
to the multi-instrumental collages of Oregon and Codona, a global, inter-cultur
frame of reference accompanied the rising interest in the extemporised creation
structure.5
With respect to textural and structural elements, Jarrett's first solo piano
album Facing You (ECM 1017) represents a set of miniature blueprints for the
extended solo concert format. The following observations on this recording provide
the foundation for an identification of Indian music influences in Jarrett's subsequent solo piano recordings.
The composed melodies on Facing You are loosely conceived ideas developed
and alluded to throughout each piece on the album. The improvisations, however,
are not confined to predetermined harmonic structures. By aligning the meaning of
the term jazz with the pervasive attributes of exploration rather than a codified
grammar of musical principles, Jarrett secures for himself the possibility of using
any stylistic option at his disposal. Even during the most contemporary, gospel,
folk-like, or classical moments of his improvisations, he is still playing jazz according to the definition he insists upon: 'jazz is about inclusion' (Jarrett 1996, p. 36).6
This approach to defining jazz is the basis for Jarrett's absorption of multicultural and specifically Indian - musical references. A vaguely inclusive model of jazz also
provides a framework that camouflages each reference and the cultural back-
grounds from which Jarrett's music draws.

His music defines itself in part by appearing to question traditional definitions
Blurred affinities 119

of jazz. In this matrix of blurring boundaries, Jarrett creates a set of repeatable
procedures and formulaic practices that reinstate the effects of idiomatic delin-
eation. He forges a style out of his melange of styles to communicate with his
audiences in an identifiable conceptual framework. His language appears original
by interweaving conventions that belong to a number of musical systems and traditions. The perpetual argument over whether or not this approach results in jazz
adds to a shimmering ambiguity that makes Jarrett's products attractive to audiences not readily identified with jazz.
Apart from the evocation of musical categories, Jarrett has developed a system
of codes that gives his freely improvised projects unmistakable shape, channelling
ideas from a broad sonic vocabulary into a particular energy curve.7 'A typical
Jarrett improvisation begins with a quiet, lyrical idea and expands ... into an opulent, surging climax. Out of the climax grows a new piece of material, which is
developed in its turn' (Aikin 1979, p. 39).
This scheme underlies many of Jarrett's improvisational journeys, and in itself
vaguely resembles the typical format of many raga performances. Indian sitar players, for example, develop a raga from the free-rhythmic alap to a pulsating but
non-metred section, jor, typically ending in a climactic peak, jhala, before the onset
of a composition that features a rhythmic cycle and the entrance of tabla drumming
accompaniment.8 Improvisations with alternating restatements of the refrain-like
composition lead to a final climax, jhala, characterised by fast, pulsating and repetitious melodic and rhythmic sequences. Jarrett repeats strikingly similar structural
processes on Facing You, and as greatly elongated shapes in his later solo concerts
as well.
'Lalene', from the Facing You recording, exemplifies a process of textural metamorphosis, which can be retraced in the later Kiln Concert, 'Part I' (ECM 1064/65).
In 'Lalene' Jarrett develops a quickly thickening soundscape. An initial thinly textured rhythmic and chordal idea eventually leads to dense, accented chordal voicings. Subsequently the music is characterised by a strongly contrasting texture: long,
fast paced, quasi-rubato lines in the right hand rise above a simple, strictly metrical,
chordal accompaniment.
It is common practice in classical North Indian music for the melodic instrumentalist to improvise in a free-metred, non-pulsed rubato style over the simultaneously occurring cyclical time structures of the accompanying tabla drummer.9
Jarrett, as is evident already in 'Lalene', at times develops a similar textural juxtaposition between his two hands on the piano. Fluid right hand melodies are a characteristic tool with which Jarrett builds long arches. There is no fixed rhythmic
relationship between these explosive runs and the even pulse maintained in the left
hand. This technique frees Jarrett from a strict rhythmic grid outlined by unchanging duple or triple subdivisions. Any number of swiftly changing beat subdivisions
can be heard superimposed over a steady quarter note. The resulting simultaneous
juxtaposition of a floating, seemingly a-rhythmic style in the right hand and a strong
underlying sense of rhythmic drive in the left hand creates a characteristic effect.
Changing textures follow each other quickly in 'Lalene', whereas a similar

shape is much expanded in K'ln Concert, 'Part I' (ECM 1064/65). The excerpts in
Figure 1 show a textural development similar to that described in 'Lalene', but
stretched out over a longer period of time. The typically long duration of Jarrett's
solo improvisations, averaging between twenty-five and forty-five minutes, constitutes a basic affinity with North Indian raga performance, which unfolds gradually.
120 Gernot Blume
Jarrett's approach to shaping time in turn distinguishes his excursio

conventions of the jazz tradition before John Coltrane, who champion
extended soloing, and who himself was largely influenced by Indian
The opening (excerpt 1) of the Kdln Concert exemplifies what Aik
as 'a quiet, lyrical idea' (Aikin 1979, p. 39). The next passage, 3:25 min
performance (excerpt 2), still maintains the arpeggiated and sustaini
pattern announced in the opening. By now, however, the right hand
pulsating flourishes. This development culminates in the third excerp
at 5:50 minutes. This passage represents the 'surging climax' (ibid.) wh
into a new section (see excerpt 4, beginning at 6:54 minutes), replaci
feel with a consistent beat introducing new motivic material. These
be understood as distant correlates to the codified stages of textural
in a raga performance: the opening of the alap, the onset of pulse in t
the climactic note intensity of a jhala, and the beginning of melodic m
fixed rhythmic structures.
By itself, this formula seems simple and transparent. Jarrett's i

sense of time in the moulding of his improvisational constructs, howe
idea of gradually unfolding musical energy a stable shape, as if
composed. This aspect of timing is one of the central form-producin

Jarrett's improvisations, although using the term 'strategy' may im
consciousness on Jarrett's part than he cares to experience during a
Jarrett's techniques of structuring are difficult to address, perhaps
insistence that the process of improvising requires an absence of for
striking continuity that exists in the bulk of the extended piano im
suggests, however, the working of some internal structuring system.
Peter Elsdon has pointed out that the referencing of different styles i
lishes form in Jarrett's improvisations (Elsdon 2001, pp. 168-72). As

of styles is constantly reformulated and reinvented, particular sequen
allusions allow for the construction of repeatable, intelligible shapes.
the progression from 'blues vamp to gospel', or the textural change fr
blues vamp' (Elsdon 2001, p. 171) sets up a certain predictability of m
Transitions between such stylistic references can be sudden or gradu
moments of drama, or invoking what Elsdon holds as a central concer
improvisations: the possibility of 'transgressing' against the norms J
vocabulary may imply, in order to re-establish the primacy of proce
uct - the willingness 'to risk the unknown' (Elsdon 2001, p. 206).
However, as this 'unknown' becomes incarnate through ever-
nations of stylistically recognisable material, Jarrett's intuitive sens

remains one of the consistent factors that can cast the musical resul
that appear logical and familiar. This sense of familiarity, key to Ja
success, is catalysed by internal timing mechanisms that are mirrore
Indian principles of formal construction.
Form in Jarrett's piano improvisations and North Indian ala
Since Jarrett has repeatedly referred to North Indian music when dis
visation in interviews (see for instance Lange 1984, Strickland 1987,
and personal communication with the author), it seems appropriate t
the art of playing alap, the freely improvised introductory section t
70
I j J J JJ dodo
7"c~~A
Excerpt
1.
92l--
Opening
(Jarrett
1991,
p.
----------\
Excerpt
2.
Florid
melodic
sty
--------71
r-'3-7
iii?ill
SL
,lw
,w
1
.,,,I i...I
Ii
I., I Ido
Excerpt 3. Rhythmic intensification of melodic runs (Jarrett 1991, p. 15).
O-
---------------
Lt in tempo
:I' -mI
-II "1d
- -.-, -L
-
?~~~~~ --.LdoJ L - J
Excerpt 4. Emergence of new motivic ideas (Jarrett 1991, p. 17).

Figure 1. Four excerpts from Koln Concert, 'Part I' (ECM 1064/65), transcribed by Yukido Kishinami and Kunihiko Yamashita, Schott Japan Company Ltd, 1991 (Jarrett 1991).
122 Gernot Blume
North Indian raga performance as a conceptual counterpoint to Jarrett

In this context, Jarrett's solo improvisations become visible as a Wester
to the North Indian concept of alap, sharing a remarkable number of s
principles.
The German jazz critic J.E. Berendt coined the nearly untranslatable term 'erimprovisieren' (Berendt 1982, p. 163) referring to improvisation in jazz. The German
prefix 'er' implies the idea of a recurring and predetermined structure underneath
the improvisational process, a nexus of improvisation and composition. 'Er-
improvisieren' evokes the interactivity of the artist's immediate expression and a

structural framework that may itself have evolved through improvisation. One
example of 'er-improvisieren' could be the soloing of John Coltrane on his composition 'Giant Steps'. Different recordings of this work show that Coltrane had developed a system of improvising over the chord changes that he used each time he
performed the piece, re-improvising over a conceptual structure that was already
laid out in his mind.
This approach also applies to Jarrett's piano improvisations in which he draws

from various stylistic options, motivic possibilities and pianistic resources to creat
a sensible musical shape as he performs. Specific motives may not be laid out
Jarrett's mind beforehand, but the understanding of the principles that enable him
to shape musical form in the moment are already rehearsed through years of exper
ence.
Similarly, the structuring of time in alap can be underst

'er-improvisieren'. The structures of alap are not defined by
ment of time or beat, but through the repeated practice of
time. A sense of equilibrium is imperative between phrases w
ture of the performance, but also within phrases and small p
ment. The Dutch anthropologist Wim van der Meer has obs
lation of time in the ... "alap" should be used to create a

at the same time bring out the correct note-durations of t
36-7). Ravi Shankar wrote 'alap ... has proportion and dis
p. 5).
The quotes exemplify a concern with proportion of musical time that is foundational to the conceptualisation of alap, which establishes a certain flow of time, a
specific if varying temporal structure that is essential in maintaining the rasa or
particular emotional expressiveness of a given raga. As will become apparent, Jarrett's solo improvisations reveal a similar concern with structural equilibrium.
Structural principles in Ravi Shankar's alap of 'Raga Malkauns'

Shankar's recording of alap in 'Raga Malkauns' (World Pacific Records 21434) demonstrates that the non-metric alap proper and its combined parts, jor and jhala, take
up approximately the same amount of time. It would be considered inappropriate,
for instance, to play fifteen minutes of alap, then only three minutes of the jor and
jhala sections of the alap.10 The opening of Ravi Shankar's performance of Raga Malkauns (World Pacific Records 21434), as transcribed in Figure 2, serves as a basis for
an analysis of the syntax of improvisation in the alap.
Shankar's internalised sense of timing is manifest in the sequence of phrases
that unfolds fourteen seconds into the recording. The excerpt includes two main
phrases, labelled 'Phrase No. I' and 'Phrase No. II'. A similar 'Concluding Phrase'

Excerpt from the Alap of Raga Malkauns,
performed by Ravi Shian(ar,
"The Sound of the Sitar,"World.Pacific 21434
Transcribed by Gernot Blume, 1994 repeated cycle
Tambura 1(drone Instrument) Tambura 2 (similarly throughout)

/ repeated cycle -\
time
I I I I I l I
I I I I I12
in
seconds
cycle
(similarly
throughou
S-Phrase No. I a
flourish of resonating
r strings /- open main strings \ , *

,
..
13
--
24
en
SPhrase No. I c
Phrase No. I b Phrase No. I
part 1 part 2 part 3
25
36
I
48
37
Phrase No. II a /-Phrase No. II b
49
60
/--Phrase No. I c--- --Phrase No. II dpart 1
61
72
Figur
by
R
124 Gernot Blume
part 2 part 3 Concluding Phrase No. II e
73
85
84
90
Notation Devices:
= notes are devoid of Western time value (such as

quarter note, eighth note.) The speed of the note is
determined by its placement in the time scale below
the staff.
I = time measurement, per second

o = featured, sustained note within a phrase.
= indication of even pulsing, establishment of a

e.g. of the drone instruments or during the
'Concluding Phrases.'
-IE = fast grace notes

(0) = approximated pitch, unemphasized
= accent, emphasis (not necessarily attack of s

= stopped string (by mizrab, the plectrum on
/7 player's right index finger)
x = stroke of the chikkari strings, rhythmic drone
strings of the sitar, which are tuned to Sa (first
scale degree.)
= stroke on main playing string.
= phrase ending after the sound of the last melodic

note has faded away.
= andolin, slow, wavering vibrato (width of wave
indicates speed of vibrato)
= meend, bending of notes created by lateral pulling
of strings along the curved frets of the instrument.
This sign also symbolizes gamaka, which is a fast

meend, gliding between two notes.
Figure 2. Continued.

rounds off both phrases, filling roughly fourteen seconds each time (from seconds
38 to 52 and from seconds 77 to 91). The main body of the phrases preceding these
conclusions takes at first seventeen seconds (from 20 to 37), then twenty-four (from
53 to 77). This time span certainly may shorten and expand during the alap performance, but abrupt changes from very long to very short phrases are avoided. The
subtleties of balancing stretches of time in the alap further extend to the internal
structuring of phrases.
The first two primary melodic statements, in the transcription of Raga Malkauns referred to as 'Phrase No. I a' and 'Phrase No. I b', last roughly six seconds
each, subdivided into three seconds of sound and three seconds of silence. The
following 'Phrase No. I c' is a much denser statement. Subdivided into three parts,
altogether more than five seconds without pause, 'Phrase No. I c' leads into a 'Concluding Phrase', referred to as mohra, which is a conventionalised way of approaching and stating the scale's fundamental note as the punctuation of a larger musical
thought.
A principle of tension and release is apparent in the interaction between

aspects of note density and timing. The melodic density of 'Phrase No. I c' with its
variety of notes is resolved in the longer 'Concluding Phrase', equally busy in terms
of note frequency, but with a more stabilising effect, because the fundamental pitch
is repeated.
On a local scale, balanced timing is at work in the equal lengths of 'Phrases
No. I a, No. I b, and No. I c'. The concluding statement, 'Phrase No. I d', is almost
as long as 'No. I a, No. I b, and No. I c' combined. Moreover, essentially the same
structure is repeated in the second major phrase. The length of 'Phrase No. I a' is
mirrored in 'Phrases No. II a and No. II b', also roughly six seconds each. 'Phrase
No. II c' lasts only four seconds but, like 'No. I c', picks up in intensity. 'Phrase No.
II c' precedes and prepares 'Phrase No. II d', also six seconds, which corresponds
more directly to 'Phrase No. I c'. 'Phrase No. II d' is also subdivided into three
parts and increases the sense of musical tension leading to a repeat of the 'Concluding Phrase' which is again fourteen seconds long. The graph of timing and intensity
for 'Phrases No. I and II' shown in Figure 3 reveals a remarkably formalised structure, spontaneously devised in a freely improvised performance without the use of
pulse or metre.
This entire process represents ninety seconds of music. The underlying structure seems too complex and multi-layered to be executed so precisely without the
aid of a metronomic beat. Yet, judging from my studies with one of Shankar's
disciples, I am convinced that at no point did Shankar plan for the phrasing to be
six seconds long, to repeat the time structure of 'Phrase No. I a, No. I b, No. I c',
and so forth. The sense of timing is one of the many aspects that a performer learns
through repetition and imitation of the guru or teacher.
Timing may vary dramatically between performers or stylistic schools,

depending on the aesthetics upheld by the guru. Manipulating the rules of formal
construction while also maintaining them is an aspect of individual artistry. In other
Raga Malkauns performances, Ravi Shankar may play shorter or longer phrases, but
a specific sense of time will be applied.'1 A concern with equilibrium and proportion
is also evident in Shankar's overall structuring of his alap. Figure 4 outlines timing
and symmetry throughout this performance.
A prevalence of phrases between thirty-two and forty-eight seconds is apparent. The alap proper and the jor each outline a similar curve in terms of register.
126 Gernot Blume
Phrase Length in the Alap Excerpt of "Raga Malkauns," by Ravi

Shankar
Phrase No. I a No. I b No. I c No. I d (Concluding Phrase)

Timing
in
seconds
14
Intensity
Phrase
No.
II
No.
II
Timing
in seconds 6 6(+ 2 pause) 4 6 14
Intensity
Figure 3. Summary of phrase length in the performance of alap in Ra

World Pacific Records 21434.
Each time, at the moment of exploring the lowest register

a gradual ascent in register. Both sections consist of twelv
breaks down into two even halves as well, each five minu
notes reached at the end of Phrase VI.
A total performance time of 20:44 minutes has been organised by way of a

complex system of structural principles, which altogether emphasises concern with
balance and proportion, to a degree that to the uninitiated seems nearly impossibl
in an improvisation not guided by fixed metric or rhythmic units. Beyond the rule
applying to note choices, ascending and descending structures characteristic of a
given raga, an accomplished classical Indian musician, at least in Shankar's gharana
or musical lineage, must have internalised such structural codes, on the level o
phrasing as well as the overall shaping of an alap performance.
My own studies of North Indian sitar with Shankar's disciple Amiya Dasgupta
at the California Institute of the Arts from 1988 to 1994 confirm the value placed on
an internalised sense of timing. Whenever we dealt with alap in our lessons, Amiya
would talk about issues of timing, proportion, flow and pacing as the dominan
paradigm by which the student's progress was judged. He would indicate that a
certain note or register deserved more elaboration, or that it was time to move on to
the next phrase or segment, implicitly in order to abide by the culturally anchored
normative codes that regulate temporal balance and the 'proper' structuring of an
improvisation.

Phrase / Section Duration Defining Characteristics
Alap proper:
Prelude 20 seconds tambura drones, flourish of taraf or resonating strings
Phrase I 32 seconds focus on low komal Dha (Bb), Concluding Phrase on

tonic Sa (Mohra)
Phrase II 37 seconds focus on low komal Dha (Bb, 6th scale degree), repeat
of Concluding Phrase (Mohra) on tonic Sa
Phrase III 37 seconds targeting Ma (G, 4th scale degree) below middle
register tonic
Phrase IV 39 seconds targeting Sa one octave below middle Sa

Phrase V 48 seconds targeting Ma one and a half octaves below middle
register Sa, lowest register peak
Phrase VI 61 seconds targeting Sa one octave below middle Sa
Tuning 23 seconds finishes with flourish on taraf or resonating strings

Phrase VII 46 seconds rise in register, return to middle register Sa after
focusing on Ma, one fifth below middle register Sa
Phrase VIII 65 seconds focus on Ma above middle register Sa, then targeting
middle register Sa
Phrase IX 44 seconds rising above middle register Sa

Phrase X 55 seconds focus on komal Ni (C, seventh scale degree), and
komal Dha (Bb, 6" scale degree) above middle register Sa
Phrase XI 40 seconds centering on high Sa, one octave above middle

register Sa
Phrase XII 45 seconds rapid note successions in highest octave, beyond one
octave above middle register Sa
Conclusion 10 seconds final return to middle register Sa

10 minutes total time of alap proper (absence of meter and pulse)
Jor (onset of pulse):
Phrase I
Phrase II
Phrase III
Phrase IV
47
41
37
48
seconds focus on middle register Sa

seconds focus on Ma below middle register Sa
seconds targeting Sa one octave below middle register Sa
seconds emphasis beyond one octave below middle register
Sa, lowest register peak of Jor section
Tuning 12 seconds
Phrase V 41 seconds rise in register, return to middle register Sa
Phrase VI 51 seconds traversing wider range, increased note activity
Phrase VII 48 seconds exploring the higher register
Phrase VIII 35 seconds acceleration of pulse
Phrase IX 54 seconds next level of pulse acceleration
Phrase X 48 seconds increased note repetitiveness
Phrase XI 66 seconds Jhala section, characterized by fast repetitive striking
of high register chikkari drone strings
Phrase XII 96 seconds climax of speed, register, and intensity

Conclusion 19 seconds final affirmation of middle register Sa, cadential
phrase
10:44 minutes total time of Jor
20:44 minutes of total performance time, Alap and Jor/Jhala
Figure 4. Timing and symmetry in the construction of Ravi Shankar's alap in Raga Malkauns.
Structural principles in Keith Jarrett's solo improvisations: The Kciln Concert and beyond
Keith Jarrett's sense of timing mirrors the phenomenon observed in Ravi Shankar's
performance of alap. Like the North Indian sitarist, the improvising jazz musician
faces the challenge of conveying a sense of form and coherent structure in the
moment. Analysing the length of phrases of Jarrett's Kdiln Concert, 'Part I' reveals
128 Gernot Blume
an approach to proportion equivalent to that in Shankar's improvisation

investigates Jarrett's phrasing throughout the first extended rubato sect
Kidln Concert, 'Part I', 2:53 minutes to 7:15 minutes of performance, a se
reminiscent of free-metred alap.
In an excerpt lasting 4:22 minutes, the high level of frequency wit
Jarrett constructs phrases lasting either six or seven seconds is unlikely t
dental. These phrases are framed with occasional longer statements, bet
Phrase Timeline Duration Intensity
1
2:53
3:02
seconds
calm
seconds
3:08
seconds
3:15
seconds
3:22
seconds
6 3:30 7 seconds slight increase, note frequency, pulse

7
3:37
10
3:47
seconds
calm
seconds
9 3:55 7 seconds increase: flourish, wide register

10
11
4:02
4:07
seconds
calm
seconds
12 4:14 6 seconds fastest runs so far
13 4:20 7 seconds steady energy increase

14
4:27
seconds
15
4:33
seconds
16
4:40
17
4:51
11
6
seconds
seconds
calm
18 4:57 7 seconds dramatic leaps, disjunct phrasing

19
5:04
15
seconds
calm
20 5:19 6 seconds continue large interval leaps

21
22
5:25
5:30
seconds
seconds
calm
23 5:37 6 seconds longest run of constant fast pulse
24 5:43 6 seconds continue steady energy increase

25 5:49 10 seconds overall intensity peak
26
5:59
seconds
27 6:03 7 seconds slow rhythmic intensity, steady beat

28
29
6:10
6:16
seconds
seconds
calm
30 6:23 7 seconds temporary beat established

31
6:30
seconds
32
6:38
seconds
33 6:44 10 seconds cadential figure

34
6:54
seconds
calm
35 7:00 7 seconds final wave of energy

36
7:07
Figure
(ECM
seconds
5.
Phrase
1064/65).
calm
length
in
the
first
ext

and eleven seconds. The parallels between Jarrett and Shankar are never direct
transplants from one musical system to another. Obviously, the pianist's use of
shifting harmonic constructs puts the musical result at a great distance to the sitar-
ist's modal improvisations. Nonetheless, both improvisers emphasise symmetry,

balance, repetition and proportion in the structuring of musical time. Jarrett uses
decidedly Western and specifically pianistic tools toward this end, and his timing
is co-generated by harmonic considerations, which are absent in Indian raga. Nonetheless, the idea of applying an internalised sense of timing as a form-giving procedure is present in both musical examples.
Jarrett's left-hand accompaniment of gradual, openly spaced, layered chordal
arpeggios in this section, rhythmically and dynamically obscured by the dominating, soaring melodic lines, is reminiscent of the textural background created by the
drones of the tambura in a traditional raga performance. That these arpeggios occur
in the pianist's improvisations over shifting tonalities foreign to Indian music is
again a manifestation of Jarrett's characteristic practice of 'blurring' references to
other musics. Jarrett's aesthetic operates with subtle implications, possible allusions,
rather than explicit quotations.
Finally, Jarrett's improvising is permeated by repetitive cadential figures,
loosely paralleling Shankar's use of the 'Concluding Phrase', or mohra. An Indian
mohra introduces a temporary sense of pulse in the midst of free-metred improvising, and emphasises the tonic, by way of repeated note attack. Figure 6 depicts two
different segments, occurring at 5:30 minutes and 6:03 minutes in the 'Koln Concert', respectively.
Both examples are characterised by a strong sense of pulse and the repeated
attention given to two notes, B in the first, G in the second sample, which fulfil the
crucial function of establishing this section's prevalent tonal centre. In the manner
of disguised allusions these textures can be understood as possible equivalents to
Shankar's mohra. Paralleling the traditional use of a mohra at the end of an alap, the
entire 'Rubato 1' section of Jarrett's K'iln Concert 'Part I' finishes with a temporarily
r-3--i,
5--5
'-
. . _ _l
"o, o-3~ J j.... !
"- -----------
Figure 6. Excerpts from Koln Concert, 'Part I', at 5:30 minutes
time.
130 Gernot Blume
pulsed segment, which slows down the rhythmic intensity level of the p
runs. Jarrett reuses motivic material from the segments shown in Figur
brings the section to a conclusion on G, the section's tonic.
Similarly to Shankar, Jarrett's overall construction of his piece also
an underlying emphasis given to principles of creating proportion in th
free-metred improvisation. Kiln Concert, 'Part I' can be divided into ten
subsections. The introductory section lasts two minutes and fourteen seco
It is pulsed, but melodies appear as floating lines over a sustaining bass.
repetitious bass figure establishes 'Groove 1' which continues for th
seconds before yielding to a longer stretch of non-metred playing in th

labelled 'Rubato 1'. Sustaining bass notes provide a backdrop at this point
mated scalar passages in the right hand.
The piece continues with melodic lines over rhythmic ostinatos inte
with sections of lyrical rubato. I will refer to these different sections as
'Rubato 2', 'Groove 3', and 'Rubato 3'. This sequence leads into a long sect
Rubato', followed by a brief transition featuring 'Chordal Arpeggios in A
The last section, again based on repetitive rhythmic motion, builds to a
ending. The diagram given in Figure 7 summarises symmetric elements
and intensity, shaped by note density, speed, rhythmic activity and volum
ten subdivisions of the Koln Concert, 'Part I'.12

Figure 7 shows that sections approximately one minute and four minu
predominate in this piece, establishing two archetypes of timing. The re
between timing and intensity is characterised by symmetry. These two el
Jarrett's playing are as interrelated as in the Shankar excerpt, with the l
tions, 'Rubato 1' (4:22), 'Groove 3' (4:28), 'Slow Rubato' (4:53), and 'Groove
containing the highest peaks of intensity. Jarrett's improvisation alternat

rubato and groove textures creating a balance of rhythmic tension and r
The opening 'Intro', and 'Rubato 1' (sections one and three) have
proportional relationship as 'Groove 1' and 'Groove 2' (sections two and f
former section of each pair being roughly half as long as the latter. The n
sections form another symmetric time structure. The middle section, 'G
approximately the same length as 'Rubato 1', and is similarly framed by
segments. The framing sections, 'Rubato 2' and 'Rubato 3' are remarkably
1:07 and 1:00.
Another well-proportioned sequence of musical thoughts begins with th

'Slow Rubato' of section eight. This section, which lasts almost five minutes
together with section ten, more than four minutes long, frame the shorter sectio
nine, lasting only one minute. The 'Chordal Arpeggios' of section nine and 'Groo
4, Finale' of section ten, are almost equal to section eight in combined duration. Th
longest component of the piece, 'Slow Rubato' begins calmly, developing toward
peak of intensity with dense chordal structures in the highest register of the pian
This passage pushes the factors of volume, register, note density, and rhythmic
activity toward the performance's climactic peak of intensity.
Underscoring the skilled improviser's ability to measure musical time intuit
ively is the fact that Jarrett gives particular emphasis to the mid-way point of pe
formance, as did Shankar in his alap performance. The moment that is marked i
Shankar's alap by the beginning of jor is characterised in Jarrett's K'ln Concert, 'P
I' by the beginning of harmonic explorations deviating from the A minor/G majo
centredness of the first half. At exactly thirteen minutes of performance, Jarret
Timing and Symmetry in the Construction of Keith Jarrett's

Koln Concert, "Part I"
Section
#:
Section: Intro Groove 1 Rubato 1 Groove 2
Timing: I I _1I I I I I
in minutes: 2:14 0:39 4:17 1:24
Intensity -_ I L
_
Section
#:
Section: Rubato 2 Groove 3 Rubato 3
Timing: I . I I I I
in minutes: 1:03 4:13 1:00
I L
Intensity _I I T" I_ __ _
Section
#:
10
Section: Slow Rubato Chordal Arpeggios Groove 4, Finale

in "A major," Rubato
Timing: 1 I 1...._._ I I
in
minutes:
5:02
1:00
4:03
1_
Intensity:
Figure
7.
Timing
_I
i_
and
symmetry
in
Jarr
132 Gernot Blume
,__
.
.......
L-3--J---
Figure 8. Excerpt from Jarrett's K61ln Concert, 'Part I', at 4:42 minutes of performa
leaves the initial tonal and modal plateaus with the first statements of
inflected harmonies. The next seven minutes feature a range of key si
harmonic centres foreign to the preceding centre on A and G. The f
matic reaffirmation of A as a key centre, occurring at 20:07 minutes i
by repeated quickly paced arpeggios in A major. While falling short of
cal reference to a specific musical genre, the resulting texture could b
as reminiscent of the rapid strumming of the taraf or resonating strings o
which in classical Indian music often occurs at structurally important

performance.
Furthermore, Jarrett's treatment of motivic cells is at times stron
of North Indian classical music. The above-discussed first extended rubato section
of the Kdln Concert, 'Part I', which featured tambura-like drones and frequent mohra-
like cadential figures, also displays Jarrett's sense of manipulating small cells of
melodic material, as though he were transporting the characteristic pitch-bendi
embellishments possible on Indian instruments onto the piano. Figure 8 illustrat
a moment, at 4:42 minutes of performance time, when Jarrett oscillates betwee
three pitches, C, B and A, in a manner clearly paralleling the fluid embellishmen
that most Indian instruments can easily produce.
Comparable pitch successions are apparent in Shankar's Raga Malkauns al
excerpt (see transcription, for instance at 33 seconds of performance time). Jarre
focuses attention on the detail of micro-motivic development, rather than produc
a clearly singable, widely arched melodic curve. As Jarrett's touch de-emphasise
sharp rhythmic note attacks in such moments of performance, not much imagi
ation is required to hear this line as a distant correlate to Shankar's application
meends, the characteristic pitch-bending glissandos of the sitar.
Ostinato figures, vamps, and rhythmically intensified textures typical in Ja
rett's performances relate to the Indian concept of jhala. In Indian music, the jh
concludes the jor, the middle part of the alap in which an underlying metronom
pulse is introduced after the non-metred alap proper. The last four minutes of
Kdln Concert, 'Part I' suggest a parallel to the North Indian concept of jhala. Jarre
fast and repetitive chords texturally recall Shankar's characteristic rapid striking
drone strings, a patterned intensification of the alap's climactic finale. Figure 9 c
trasts a segment of the finale of Kiln Concert, 'Part I' with a typical phrase fro
the jhala in Shankar's performance. Both examples feature repetitious rhythms th
reiterate either a particular chord on the piano or a particular note on the sitar
Together with speed and volume, these reiterations bring about the sense of
heightened intensity that characterises the peak statement of each piece.

I do not believe that Jarrett conceptualised playing sitar-like embellishmen
on the piano, thought about breaking his performance into two even but distin
halves, intended to improvise successive strands of one-minute and four-minute

Jarrett: Koln Concert (Jarrett 1991, p. 36).
Ravi Shankar: Jhala pattern.
Figure 9. Comparison between excerpts from Jarrett's K61n Concert, 'Part I' and Shankar's perform-
ance of alap in Raga Malkauns.
rubatos and grooves, or that he planned to imitate tambura drones or the flourishes
of the sitar's resonating strings. Jarrett's references are internalised and perhaps
even unconscious. As is true for Shankar, form for Jarrett is the result of an
internalised sense of structure.
It is important to note obvious differences between Jarrett's improvisations

and North Indian music. Jarrett is not attempting to play a raga on the piano. He
does not restrict his improvisations to one mode or a selected set of pitches. The
piano produces harmonic structures of a decidedly Western character. Nonetheless,
large segments of Jarrett's right hand excursions suggest an affinity to the moda
approach of Indian music. Much of Kiln Concert, 'Part I' is marked by Jarrett's
predilection for unchanging motivic plateaus and an absence of dense harmonic
progressions. Large stretches of the performance feature pedal points over A and G,
most obviously in sections two through six. Only the section 'Slow Rubato' departs
significantly from this tonal basis.
The Kdln Concert is certainly not the only work in Jarrett's output of solo impro-
visations that suggests an India connection. Comparable to the alap, Jarrett's improvisations often begin with non-metred, rubato phrases signifying a sense of quietude
and meditation. Jarrett frequently uses quasi-baroque textures for this purpose, such
as in the opening of the Paris Concert (ECM 1401) or the La Scala concert (ECM 1640)
Opening phrases typically circle around a selection of pitch material before gradually
expanding in range and rhythmic intensity, also similar to typical alap development.
The construction of jor-like pulsed textures following non-metred improvisations finds a reflection in Jarrett's La Scala concert (ECM 1640). 'Part 1' of this
performance retains a free floating rubato feel throughout its entire forty-five
minutes, ending with a systematic reduction of musical activity into silence. 'Part
II' begins immediately with a rhythmically and melodically dense motive, just as
the conclusion of alap proper is followed by the beginning of the pulsating intensity
of the jor during a raga performance.
The opening of the 'Kyoto' concert (ECM 1100) underscores the fact that North
Indian paradigms of improvisation can find their correlates in Jarrett's improvis-
134 Gernot Blume
ations. Exemplary procedures are a certain treatment of pitch material

structuring upward and downward progressions of notes, an emphasis o
central notes as points of arrival, and the mandatory repetition of char
melodic patterns.
Figure 10 gives a transcription by Jim Aikin of the opening of the
concert, 5 November 1976, one of the five solo performances issued unde
Sun Bear Concerts (ECM 1100). The main melodic pitches dominating th
GL, F, E, D and C outline a gradual scalar descent, remotely reminis
North Indian principle of introducing the raga's pitch material gradual
step-wise fashion. The melodic notes from the 'Kyoto' introduction are
sustaining, as are Shankar's introductory pitches. Jarrett presents his ex
simple motive until coming to rest at the fermata of m.17, only to begi
sequence again in m.18. This time the motive is broken up into smaller
that return to the opening Gk in m.21 and m.28. Finally, in m.32 the m
rendered in faster spurts of notes with increasingly intense rhythms. Ev
Very freely d -120
6
timesti
55s
is
__
_
__
_
i
itp7
.
11.
IP
.L
4-
'
ft ___ Ir __________________
4I44
44
4J41
fAL
times.
termata
-----------------------,
ii
as
repeats.
44
19
Figure
10.
O
by
Jim
Aik
11
24
9
8
.
i
..
8
6 times
S --- ---- ,7" ,
AP
gm
!a0
---1--
-*,-- - - -- ', *A "

238 13
8
Figure 10. continued.
textural change, however, the relatively narrow span of register that characterises
the section is maintained. This compares to Shankar's above-described alap improvisation, which dwells on limited pitch material for an extended period of time,
featuring cyclic repetitions of small melodic elements.
In the Jarrett excerpt, melodies govern harmonic progressions and flexible
metric structures. While Shankar's phrases are not to be conceived within an
metric grid, the emphasis on atmosphere is equally stylised both in Jarrett's impro
visations and in North Indian ragas. The ambiance of a single musician gradually
building musical intensity draws the listener into the music, conveying a sense o
concentration and meditative abandon.
Both North Indian alap and Jarrett's music employ extended solo improvis
ations of undetermined length using similar strategies of formal structuring.
comparison shows that improvisers in different musical systems are challenged
a similar necessity to produce order within the transitory moment of improvisat
136 Gernot Blume
Jarrett uses techniques to this end that resemble those codified by t

tradition of alap.
Although Jarrett does not situate his musical universe within t
of any one musical heritage, he applies unmistakable formulae that
found their expression in other traditional systems featuring impr
primary musical process. Improvisatory systems usually operate wit
and patterns that guide the player across the potential hazards of w
would be unrestricted freedom. When contrasting Western music wi
music, Jarrett aligns the essence of his own work with the latter: 'T
improvising is ... that whatever you play has to lead to something e
erased. There is no editing out of real time. I think Western music in
to distract us from real time. North Indian music, for example, wan
ence it, get into [the flow of time]. The idea [in Indian music] is
architecture and superimpose it on a flow, and that's what Western m
does' (personal communication).

The improviser gives shape to the flow of musical lines by cont
length of time in developing ideas and motives, maintaining a sense
contrast. Through this process the musician articulates a flexible ye
sense of form in a freely improvised system. Timing in this context

device that channels the flow of ideas into a specific and repeatable s
intuitively measured timing Jarrett provides elements of inner log
and structure in his music, crucial ingredients for reconciling wide
soundscapes.
I do not claim that the above-identified principles of phrasing an

of alap apply to all of North Indian classical music, nor that parallel
be generalised for all of Jarrett's solo concerts. Shankar's playing is c
particular idiosyncrasies, such as his frequent repetition of the mohr
cadential figure, which I have labelled 'Concluding Phrase' in my
Similarly, Jarrett's playing is highly individual and cannot be reduce

concept of borrowing from Indian music. However, the evidence pr
clearly suggests conceptual similarities, especially given the fact th
aware of Indian music and Shankar's performance styles in particul
It is Shankar who is widely acknowledged as a crucial figure in
North Indian classical music throughout the Western world. Jarrett
helped but to take notice, for instance, of Ravi Shankar's seminal p
the Monterey international pop festival in 1967 and the Woodstock f
(see discography). These cultural events were at the centre of public
helped propel Shankar to international superstar status. At that time
with the Charles Lloyd Quartet, an ensemble which, like Shankar, b
of the flower-power generation. Lloyd's cross-stylistic aesthetic, heav
the ensemble's young star-pianist, conquered global audiences be

munity of jazz aficionados. Thus, Jarrett moved in the same cult
Shankar, played in fact for similar audiences, performed at festival
by the atmosphere and attitudes that Woodstock had come to ep
most in his generation, Jarrett knew about Indian music first and fo
the charismatic performances of Ravi Shankar.
Asked to address the criticism that much of his philosophy cou
a perpetuation of flower-power ideas, Jarrett said: 'There were a lot
about that movement and that time' (personal communication). How

rett's horizon was informed by the formative environment of his youth is also
apparent in the following report. In 1969 'Jarrett's reply to the question of what jazz
records he would take on a desert island was to say that currently he was listening
not to jazz, but to the latest Beatles LP, which at the time was ... Abbey road' (Carr
1991, pp. 43-4). The Beatles, of course, were a crucial vehicle for the spreading
awareness of Indian music in the West, and Beatle George Harrison studied sitar
with Ravi Shankar. In conversation with Edward Strickland, Jarrett remembered: 'I
talked to Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin. I was going to write some ragtime pieces
for Janis and collaborate with Jimi. Then they both died' (Strickland 1987, p. 325).
Hendrix and Joplin were stars of equal allure to Shankar's, and central characters
of the Woodstock festival.
Jarrett may not have consciously borrowed from Indian music the concept of
organising free improvisation through intuited timing principles, but in the context
of his exposure to raga performance, this approach minimally resonated with him,
because of its compatibility with his own aesthetic persuasions. His solo piano
improvisations and the spread of Indian music took place in a shared socio-cultural
climate, which reverberated throughout the Western world during Jarrett's formative years. In this climate, Indian music occupied a particularly prominent place.
Conceptual affinities in Jarrett's and North Indian music

Apart from using improvisational structures resembling those found in the North
Indian alap, Jarrett displays a deeper aesthetic and philosophic proximity to the
world of Indian music. Jarrett's infamous vocalisations which accompany the melodic lines of the piano, for instance, can be understood as an effect that derives
from Jarrett's interest in imitating the human voice when playing the piano: 'What
I want to do now with my piano is to make it sing. I want the notes to fly naturally,
to float in the air together, in an elegant manner, like a voice. That's the only thing
that interests me' (Postif 1969, p. 18).'3 While Indian instrumentalists are taught
never to hum along with their melodic lines in performances, they are commonly
required to sing melodic lines before attempting to play them. Students memorise
the pitches with the aid of a solfeggio system called sargam. Moreover, Indian melodic instruments and their playing techniques are designed to recreate the expressive capacities of the human voice. Claiming the voice as the archetypal model for
instrumental styles further explains a sense of timing: breathing dictates a certain
rhythm in a musical system that emphasises the primacy of the voice as the paradigmatic instrument of music making.
Informed Indian audiences frequently dialogue with the performers through
brief calls of praise and support after particularly beautiful or well-executed passages. Jarrett frequently responds to his own playing with pronounced vocal, albeit
non-verbal, interjections, often after the ends of phrases or sections. Both Jarrett and
Indian musicians affirm a performance aesthetic in which vocalisations beyond the

actual musical material are acceptable, even important, as they signify the intensity
of improvisatory creation. That Jarrett is the only one allowed in his concerts to
pronounce such interjections shows his simultaneous connection to decidedly Western performance codes.
Another concept that resonates strongly throughout Jarrett's work with a particularly Indian flavour is the approach to music as spiritual exercise. My teacher
of North Indian sitar, Amiya Dasgupta, explained Indian music frequently as 'an
138 Gernot Blume
attempt to reach God' (Dasgupta 1991). He considered the freely im
to be the essential place within the raga performance that presents m

of meditation and prayer. His teacher, Ravi Shankar writes in My M
'Our tradition teaches us that sound is God - Nada Brahma. That is, m
and the musical experience are steps to the realisation of the self. W
as a kind of spiritual discipline that raises one's inner being to divin
and bliss' (Shankar 1968, p. 17).
This metaphysical doctrine could as well have been articulated by
self, who emphasises music as a system for spiritual self-realisation
would call prayer' (Strickland 1987, p. 330). 'If I could call everything
it would be appropriate ... If it does not connect with a greater ... po
do not surrender to it, nothing happens. In that sense everything fee
(Lange 1984, p. 19). This attitude loosely echoes Shankar's notion of t
between music and the divine. As alap is the primary stage for the m
this consciousness within the system of Indian music, so Jarrett posi
free improvisation as the most personal, most immediate experience o
ible. 'Improvisation is really the deepest way of dealing with momen
reality in music. There is no deeper way, personally deeper' (Jarrett i
p. 17).
Jim Aikin has observed that 'Jarrett's style of free association, with nothing
pre-conceived, may have much to do with his informal study of Eastern philosophies' (Aikin 1979, p. 39). In Jarrett's fascination with the East, North Indian music
has been a specific point of reference. The observance of a sitar performance once
had been a revelatory experience for him (see Carr 1991, p. 157). At a time when
he was intensely practising Western classical repertoire, the memory of this 'juxtaposition of musical extremes' (ibid.) reinforced his criticism of the classical music
world and his commitment to improvised music.14
The description of Jarrett's relationship with North Indian music suggests that
his format of freely improvised solo concerts was developed in part through a conceptual borrowing from classical Indian traditions. However, Jarrett also claims that
he owes nothing to other cultures (see Strickland 1987), instead emphasising his
work as sui generis. If he brings out something Indian in his music it is because he
believes he has tapped into the source from which any music supposedly springs.
Jarrett's perspective implies that there is a realm that is musical, but beyond any
particular kind of music. His tendency to see spiritual universals manifested in
music is a phenomenon that I have heard similarly expressed by several Indian

musicians, who may be inclined to understand their cultural heritage as the sublime
embodiment of spiritual truths. There is one tradition Jarrett does claim as his: the
tradition of all music that stems from a spiritual perspective, all music that agrees
with his notion of the source of art. That is the perspective that underlies his invocation of North Indian music. According to Jarrett his music emanates from an
impersonal and supra-individual spiritual essence.
Like Jarrett himself, the audience may or may not make a connection between
his improvisations and North Indian raga. Jarrett's music typically offers various
intercultural relationships without acknowledging specific stylistic ingredients. He
implies many musics but avoids naming any one music directly. Other analyses
could be made tracing components of Arabic, Middle Eastern, or African musics in
Jarrett's improvisatory vocabulary. Each time the allusions would be vague enough
to fall short of direct and unmistakable citations, yet strong enough to trigger the

Western listener's imaginings of distant places and exotic sounds. This ambiguity
increases the disparity with which Jarrett's products are interpreted.
When Edward Strickland mentioned that he was reminded of a multitude of
musical styles in listening to Spirits, he asked Jarrett whether there was 'any ef
to aim for this universal music'. Jarrett answered: 'None at all. There was if anyt
a profound unawareness of anything except what was coming out - as is also tr
of the prototype solo concert' (Strickland 1987, p. 26). Jarrett is not attempting
imitate a specific non-Western musical system. At the same time, however, Jarr
claims a common origin for all music he considers good. 'All music that is impor
and valuable comes from exactly the same source' (Klee 1972, p. 36). This axiom
Jarrett's thinking justifies a relationship between his solo concerts and Indian m
despite his insistence on their conceptual independence. If all 'good' music come
from one source, then structural features can also be seen as correlates. Des
Jarrett's proclaimed unawareness in the act of creation, his experiences with Ind
music strongly permeate his solo piano improvisations.
Personal epilogue
My own connection with Indian raga and Jarrett's improvisations, shared by m

in my generation, suggests the overlap of these two musical worlds. The conditio
ing of my aesthetic perceptions led me to North Indian music and to Jarrett's w
at the same time. Both Shankar and Jarrett have projected the image of artists
pull their music out of the innermost sanctuary of the human heart, like a sac
offering. In this near-priestly function, the artist seems to hold 'the keys to t
cosmos' (Gilmore 1979, p. 13), a phrase once applied to Jarrett because of the mu
stylistic, global horizon within which he situates his music. As a teenager I ide
ified with this artistic image, not only because it opened up other worlds, but
because the spirituality of these artists simultaneously validated their identity
symbols of cultural critique, as prophets of a non-Eurocentric and multicultur
awareness of the world.
Unlike the Beatles, for instance, Jarrett and Shankar were figures I could con
sciously uphold as representatives of accomplished artistry and profound spiritu
persuasions in the Catholic, German, middle-class environment of my yout
Within the cultural context of my own formative years, the spiritual element I
sought in my musical influences immunised them against a flat dismissal of the
art as counter-cultural excess. Any criticism of their obvious 'otherness' had
wrestle with their priestly image as a provocative but implicitly positive trait. Sh
kar's and Jarrett's devotion to their art, their craftsmanship, their discipline, a
their spiritual references resonated with everything that Goethe, Schiller and Bac
signified within my own backyard.
Since musicians like Jarrett and Shankar were to be looked upon as serio
artists, criticism extended instead to aspects of form and musical content. One fr
quent criticism of Jarrett's solo concerts has been that the lack of formal construction
leads to an endless and allegedly arbitrary stream of consciousness in which o
cliche follows another without apparent logic. Interestingly, the perception that t
music starts nowhere and ends nowhere is also a value judgement I have oft
heard Westerners express about raga upon initial confrontation with North Indi
music.
As this research shows, there is visible and audible form in Jarrett'
140 Gernot Blume
ations. Indeed it is the repetitious and highly formulaic approach to

music - not the absence of form - which makes one Jarrett concert
another to some critics. This impression is comparable to the uninform
ferentiated Western stereotype of Indian music as always soundi
Believing that such criticism is based on a lack of understanding of

aesthetic codes of other musical systems allowed me, as a teenager, t
Jarrett and Shankar parallel examples of 'otherness' vis-d-vis the cla
norms of my upbringing. At that time, however, I was unaware of J
interest in Indian music. Only much later, after years of studying bot
music and jazz improvisation, was I to discover that the musical proc
two seemingly disconnected artists were indeed similar, and how bei
one of them predisposed me to being drawn as well to the other.
Acknowledgements
Copyright permission for the excerpts of Keith Jarrett's music cont

article has been granted by the copyright holder, Keith Jarrett, and C
Endnotes
improvising solo pianist. His propensity for
oboe solo' from 1969 may serve as one

example of an experiment in transferring
stylistic diversity, however, is not only apparent within this particular setting Jarrett's over-
twentieth century Western composition.
1. This article focuses on Jarrett's work as an
aspects of North Indian classical music to
all output mirrors his concern with boundary- 4. The idea of 'world music' carried particular
prestige within the European view of stylistic
crossing, which so strongly informs the solo
developments in jazz. Germany's best known
improvisations. Jarrett has recorded classical
keyboard repertoire from Bach to Mozart,

interpreted twentieth century literature by
such composers as Shostakovitch and Harrison, composed his own work in the tradition
of European concert music, and championed
standard jazz material in a trio formation with
drums and bass (see Discography) That multistylism is apparent both within one particular
aspect of Jarrett's work, and in the trajectory
of his entire career evidences the importance
he attaches to a pan-musical perspective,

aimed at transcending the established boundaries of any genre, style, culture and tradition.
jazz critic, Joachim Ernst Berendt, not only

wrote extensively about this phenomenon, but
since the early 1960s also provided concert

venues and recording opportunities for intercultural encounters between improvising jazz
musicians. That the American Don Cherry, who
considered himself to be a 'world musician',
lived in Europe from 1964 until his death in 1995
is perhaps as significant m this context as the
fact that Jarrett consolidated his success

through a German record label, ECM. Jarrett
has acknowledged the importance of the label's

founder, Manfred Eicher, on his career (see
2. The long list of jazz musicians who have been
Palmer 1974, p. 17). Eicher's philosophy has
engaged in this pursuit ranges from Yusef

Lateef to the ensemble Oregon, Don Cherry,
and Jan Garbarek (see Discography). Perhaps
the key figure to develop a musical aesthetic
been to give his musicians great independence
in the development of their artistic vision

emphasising, like Jarrett, the process of creativity rather than the products of that pursuit. This
that looked eastward was John Coltrane. J.E.
approach in turn is imbued with notions of
Berendt reports 'a conversation in 1956 in

which Coltrane pronounced Indian ragas a
music-making that reflect Western perceptions
of values held in Asian, and in particular in

Indian, musical systems.
model of improvisational technique' (Berendt
1979, p. 270). On a personal level, the depth of 5. All of these performers were, like Jarrett, predominantly patronised by European audiences,
the impression that Indian music had made on
Coltrane is evident in that he named one of his
a parallel, which attests to the fact that a jazz
sons, Ravi, in homage to sitarist Ravi Shankar. 'world music' connection was an important
3. Luciano Berlo's composition 'Sequenza VII per contributor to Jarrett's international success.

6. This perspective on the identity of the jazz
11. An analysis of the opening of Nikhli Banerjee's
idiom is not unique to Jarrett. Ethnomusicolo-
gist Paul Berliner assumes it as a defining

characteristic of jazz: 'Just as jazz was born
from the amalgam of African, European and
African American musical elements, it has
continued the practice of absorbing different
musical influences. Jazz remains a characteristically open music system capable of absorbing
new traits without sacrificing its identity'
(Berliner 1994, p. 589). However, Jarrett
exemplifies a brand of musician who emphasises this trait over any traditional definition
of form, swing, rhythmic feel, or harmonic
content.
performance in Raga Malkauns on The Sitar

Genius of Nzkhil Banerjee (Capitol ST 10502),
exemplifies that such procedures are not

exclusively Shankar's prerogative, but are
instead common elements of alap construction

The opening section of Banerjee's performance
features a strikingly even distribution of

phrase length: Prelude: 4 seconds: tambura
opening, 5 seconds: flourish of taraf strings,
Part I: 5 seconds, 3 seconds, 3 seconds; Part II:

4 seconds, 3 seconds, 3 seconds, 4 seconds;
Part III: 4 seconds, 4 seconds, 5 seconds; Part
IV: 5 seconds, 5 seconds, 3 seconds; Part V:4
seconds, 3 seconds; Part VI: 9 seconds. All sub-
7. Peter Elsdon, in his dissertation, has analysed

phrases last between three and five seconds,
the specifics of Jarrett's stylistic vocabulary
in
except
for the final statement, nine seconds
chapter six, 'Hearing the solo concerts: toward
long, which re-affirms the tonic Sa.
an analytical approach' (Elsdon 2001, 12.

pp.140Koln Concert, 'Part I' is a complete self72). For my purposes the detailed identificontained piece, not an excerpt of one larger
cation of Jarrett's stylistic references ispiece,
not as the title might suggest.
paramount, since the referenced styles
13. may
Translated from the original French text: 'Ce
vary from solo to solo. Large scale structural
que je veux faire, aujourd'hul, avec mon piano,
procedures, not Jarrett's allusions to specific
c'est de le fair chanter: je veux que les notes
naturellement, et flottent ensemble

musical genres, are the musical parameter s'envolent
that
best illustrates his connection to Indian music.
dans l'air, d'une faqon elegante, comme une
8. Jarrett's familiarity with Indian music was cen- voix. C'est la seule chose qui m'interesse'
trally shaped by the rising popularity of the (Positf 1969, p. 18). Jarrett has made similar
sitar, which became emblematic for Indian
statements throughout his career, more
music in general during the 1960s, and by the

fame of its main protagonist, sitar virtuoso
Ravi Shankar. In My Music, My Life, Shankar
14.
speaks of a 'sitar explosion' (Shankar 1968, p.
recently for instance m 'Keith Jarrett: focus and

finesse' (Rosenthal 1997).
93) regarding the instrument's connection with
another direct reference to Indian music:
In 1993, Jarrett illuminated his philosophic

concept about not possessing music with
the Woodstock generation and the frequent 'When I ask Indian musicians, North Indian
incorporation of the sitar in pop and rock raga players, what they are playing, they
music of the time.
want to make clear to me that they are not
9. This procedure can be heard, for instance, in even playing their music. They say, we are
Nikhil Banerjee's rendition of Raga Malkauns not playing our music. This is Indian music.
on The Sitar Genius of Nzkhil Banerjee (see We are not making this up. This is a traDiscography).
dition that we consider incredibly important'
10. The term alap has two uses. It refers to the first
(Ullman 1993, p.117).
of three sections (alap, jor, jhala) in the solo
introduction of a classical raga and as pars pro
toto, to the prelude as a whole.
References
Aikin, J. 1979. 'Keith Jarrett', in Contemporary Keyboard, September 1979, pp. 38-54
Berendt, J.E. 1982. Das Grooe Jazzbuch (Frankfurt am Main: Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag)
Berliner, P.F. 1994. Thinking in Jazz (Chicago/London: University Press of Chicago)
Carr, I. 1991. Keith Jarrett, The Man and His Music (London: Grafton Books)
Dasgupta, A. 1988-1994. Lessons and Conversations wzth Gernot Blume (Valencia, CA: Cahfornia Institute
of the Arts), unpublished
Elsdon, P.S. 2001. Keith Jarrett's Solo Concerts and the Aesthetics of Free Improvisation 1960-1973. Ph.D
Dissertation, University of Southampton
Gilmore, M. 1979. 'Keith Jarrett's keys to the cosmos', in Rolling Stone, 283 (25 January), pp. 13, 20,
22, 24
142 Gernot Blume
Jarrett, K. 1996. 'The virtual jazz age, a survival manual', in Musician, 208 (March), pp
1991. Keith Jarrett - The Koln Concert (Score) (Mainz/Tokyo: Schott Japan Company, L
Klee, J.H. 1972. 'Keith Jarrett: spontaneous composer', in Down Beat (Chicago), 39/1,
Lange, A. 1984. 'The Keith Jarrett interview', in Down Beat (Chicago), 51/6, pp. 16-19
Laverne, A. 1988. 'Inside Keith Jarrett's "In Front"', in Keyboard Magazine, March, pp
Meer, W. van der. 1977. Hindustani Music in the Twentieth Century (Utrecht: University
The Netherlands)
Palmer, R. 1974. 'The inner octaves of Keith Jarrett', in Down Beat (Chicago), 41/17, pp. 16-19, 63
Postif, F. 1969. 'Keith Jarrett', in Jazz Hot (Paris), 256 (December), pp. 18-20
Rosenthal, T. 1997. 'Keith Jarrett, focus and finesse', in Piano and Keyboard, 184 (January/February),
pp. 28-34
Shankar, R. 1968. My Music, My Life (Los Angeles: Vikas Publications, Kinnara School of Indian
Music)
[n.d.] Music Memory (Bombay. Klnnara School of Indian Music)

Strickland, E. 1987. 'In the house of spirits: an interview with Keith Jarrett', in Fanfare, 10/4, pp.
321-30; 10/5, pp. 20-42
Ullman, M. 1993. 'The shimmer in the motion of things: an interview with Keith Jarrett', in Fanfare,
16/5, pp. 102-17
Woodard, J. 1989. 'Keith Jarrett - in search of the perfect E-minor chord', in Down Beat (Chicago),
56/2, pp. 16-19
Discography
Nikhil Banerjee, The Sitar Genius of Nikhil Banerjee. Capitol Records ST 10502. [n.d.]
Don Cherry, Codona. ECM 1132. 1978

Jan Garbarek, Nusrat Fateh Ah Khan & Musicians from Pakistan, Ragas and Sagas. ECM 1442. 1990
Keith Jarrett, Facing You. ECM 1017 ST. 1972
The Koln Concert. ECM 1064/65. 1975
The Sun Bear Concerts. ECM 1100. 1977
Standards Live. ECM 1317. 1985
J.S. Bach - Das Wohltemperierte Klavier, Buch 1. ECM 1362/3. 1987

Parts Concert. ECM 1401. 1990
Dmitri Shostakovitch - 24 Preludes and Fugues op 8. ECM 1669/70. 1991

Mozart - Piano Concertos, Masonic Funeral Music, Symphony in G Minor. ECM 1565. 1995
La Scala. ECM 1640 1997
Keith Jarrett / Lou Harrison, Works by Lou Harrison. New World Records NWR 366-1.
Yusef Lateef, Eastern Sounds. Prestige / OJC, 612. 1961
Oregon, The Essential Oregon. Vanguard VSD 109/10. 1981
Ravi Shankar, The Sound of the Sitar. World Pacific WP 21434. [n.d ]
Ravz Shankar at the Monterey International Pop Festival. World Pacific WP 1442. 1967
RavZ Shankar at the Woodstock Festival. World Pacific WP 21467. 1969

Blurred Affinities Tracing The Influence of North Indian Classical Music in Keith Jarrett's Solo Piano Improvisations

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Blurred Affinities Tracing The Influence of North Indian Classical Music in Keith Jarrett's Solo Piano Improvisations

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Blurred Affinities: Tracing the Influence of North Indian Classical Music in Keith

Jarrett's Solo Piano Improvisations

Blurred affinities: tracing the

classical music in Keith Jarrett'

reputation in multiple stylistic directions, which include improvisational solo pia

piano concerts beginning in the 1970s stretched the traditional scheme of

118 Gernot Blume

Jarrett's investment in 'world music' styles in general, and Indian

the breaking up of tonal centres, and the abandoning of repeating

gressions, in a cultural climate of global influences. Therein, perhaps, l

musical traditions outside the Western world.

In this article I demonstrate how explicit and implicit references to classic

'Inventing' a musical genre: the evolution of Jarrett's solo concerts

As Jarrett's solo concert format developed out of gradually expanding performan

frame of reference accompanied the rising interest in the extemporised creation

grounds from which Jarrett's music draws.

Blurred affinities 119

Changing textures follow each other quickly in 'Lalene', whereas a similar

120 Gernot Blume

Jarrett's approach to shaping time in turn distinguishes his excursio

By itself, this formula seems simple and transparent. Jarrett's i

idea of gradually unfolding musical energy a stable shape, as if

composed. This aspect of timing is one of the central form-producin

lishes form in Jarrett's improvisations (Elsdon 2001, pp. 168-72). As

However, as this 'unknown' becomes incarnate through ever-

nations of stylistically recognisable material, Jarrett's intuitive sens

Form in Jarrett's piano improvisations and North Indian ala

Blurred affinities 121

Excerpt 3. Rhythmic intensification of melodic runs (Jarrett 1991, p. 15).

Excerpt 4. Emergence of new motivic ideas (Jarrett 1991, p. 17).

122 Gernot Blume

North Indian raga performance as a conceptual counterpoint to Jarrett

the improvisational process, a nexus of improvisation and composition. 'Er-

improvisieren' evokes the interactivity of the artist's immediate expression and a

This approach also applies to Jarrett's piano improvisations in which he draws

Similarly, the structuring of time in alap can be underst

lation of time in the ... "alap" should be used to create a

Structural principles in Ravi Shankar's alap of 'Raga Malkauns'

Blurred affinities 123

Transcribed by Gernot Blume, 1994 repeated cycle

Tambura 1(drone Instrument) Tambura 2 (similarly throughout)

r strings /- open main strings \ , *

Phrase No. I b Phrase No. I

part 1 part 2 part 3

Phrase No. II a /-Phrase No. II b

/--Phrase No. I c--- --Phrase No. II dpart 1

124 Gernot Blume

part 2 part 3 Concluding Phrase No. II e

= notes are devoid of Western time value (such as

determined by its placement in the time scale below

I = time measurement, per second

= indication of even pulsing, establishment of a

-IE = fast grace notes

= accent, emphasis (not necessarily attack of s

/7 player's right index finger)

x = stroke of the chikkari strings, rhythmic drone

strings of the sitar, which are tuned to Sa (first

= stroke on main playing string.

= phrase ending after the sound of the last melodic

= meend, bending of notes created by lateral pulling

of strings along the curved frets of the instrument.

This sign also symbolizes gamaka, which is a fast

Blurred affinities 125

-,-- - - -- ', A "