The Frost School of Music launched the Frost Music Masters series with legendary jazz pianist Keith Jarrett’s famed composition "Last Solo Final Impromptu." Jarrett is known for his wonderful and improbable melodic improvisational jazz performances and this song is no exception. It is “all about improvisation and confoundedly difficult to perform,” states Dean Shelly Berg.
More than 30 years ago, Keith Jarrett walked out on stage to improvise an encore using a couple of basic chords, repeated over and over, in a centuries-old chaconne form. That impromptu moment has mesmerized jazz pianists ever since. What seems easy becomes a labyrinth of difficulty for other musicians. To Jarrett it is effortless, spinning out an ever-expanding arc of creativity and brilliance.
How did he do it? How did he achieve fluidity over the left-hand ostinato, and how did he come up with so many imaginative melodic and rhythmic ideas? These are the questions our Frost Music Masters address.
Join our Frost Music Masters of Jazz as they dissect this composition, demonstrating invaluable insight and performance techniques, which showcase the Frost School of Music’s philosophy of teaching students more than one way to learn: a curricular method that leads to success for students, as they "Build Themselves" at Frost.
- "There is an effortlessness to Jarrett’s playing that is very hard to match! My advice is that mastering 'beat three' of the left-hand pattern while playing and improvising in the right hand is the key to performing this piece."
- Dean Shelton G. (Shelly) Berg: Steinway piano artist and five-time Grammy-nominated arranger, orchestrator, and producer
- "Keith Jarrett’s solo playing can be a bit of an enigma, and, thus, a daunting task to try and emulate. However, often simply making a few corrections in how you physically and technically are approaching the material can make all the difference!"
- Martin Bejerano: Grammy-nominated Associate Professor of Jazz Piano
- "One note is enough to start the improvisation. We shouldn't repeat what we see, but rather interpret what we see."
- Gonzalo Rubalcaba: Two-time Grammy and Latin Grammy winner
- "One ostinato line, with independence, and improvisation combined with the right intent of rhythms and notes, will create the magic of this piece."
- Dafnis Prieto: MacArthur Genius Fellow and Grammy-winning Assistant Professor of Practice (Drums) of Studio Music and Jazz
Courtesy of https://www.keithjarrett.org
