Pianist Keith Jarrett Discusses Previously Unreported Strokes

  I  
Image

Pianist Keith Jarrett is set to release the archival Budapest Concert on Oct. 30 through the ECM imprint.

(Photo: Rose Anne Colavito)

Renowned pianist Keith Jarrett, whose 1975 ECM album The Köln Concert remains one of the most recognizable jazz albums ever released, discussed previously unreported health issues in a story published early Wednesday on The New York Times website.

“I was paralyzed,” the pianist, who turned 75 in May, said about a pair of 2018 strokes. “My left side is still partially paralyzed. I’m able to try to walk with a cane, but it took a long time for that, took a year or more. And I’m not getting around this house at all, really.”

His most recent public performance reportedly was at Carnegie Hall on Feb. 15, 2017.

As the Nate Chinen piece—which is headlined “Keith Jarrett Confronts A Future Without The Piano”—indicates, Jarrett’s performing career at this point is uncertain. The pianist, though, has steadily been releasing archival live albums through ECM, including the 2018 disc La Fenice and the 2019 album Munich 2016. Budapest Concert, recorded two weeks prior to the Munich date, is set for release on Oct. 30. DB



  • Cassandra_Wilson_%40_2026_Mark_Sheldon-2_copy_2.jpg

    Wilson’s ability to connect to audiences helped her to win two Grammy awards and multiple other accolades. She was named an NEA Jazz Master in 2022.

  • GB_Headshot_copy.jpg

    Bertoncini was a specialist and advocate for the nylon-string acoustic guitar, turning down high-profile opportunities that were unsuited to the sound and techniques that he used with that instrument.

  • DB26_Joshua_Redman_Courtesy_Joshua_Redman.jpg

    A solo concert by saxophonist Joshua Redman will close the first night of the Hyde Park Jazz Festival on Sept. 26.

  • Coltrane_John_by_Joe_Alper_copy.jpeg

    “It was just that suddenly … I could hear it,” Ravi Coltrane said of an epiphany he experienced during his late teens regarding his father’s music. “And it was almost like a calling, like something saying, ‘Hey, man, come on. It’s time to get serious.’ And the first time you really tune in and dial in and focus like that, it can be very life-changing.”

  • Thurman_copy.jpeg

    Camille Thurman took to the stage alongside bassist Kenny Davis and drummer Tommy Campbell for a rendition of Johnny Mercer’s “I’m An Old Cowhand” that recalled Rollins’ epochal 1957 trio outing Way Out West.