2003, the 20th anniversary year of the Keith Jarrett/Gary Peacock/Jack DeJohnette trio, begins with the announcement that Keith Jarrett has won the prestigious Polar Music Prize. Jarrett is the sole prize-winner this year as, for the first time, the Polar jury sets aside its habitual “popular" and “serious" categorization. The pianist has resolutely ignored such criteria throughout his career, and the terms can have little meaning when applied to the work of this perennially popular and eminently serious jazz improviser and classical interpreter.

“The Polar Music Prize for 2003 is being awarded to the American musician, Keith Jarrett, pianist, composer and master of the field of improvisational music. Keith Jarrett's musical artistry is characterised by his ability to effortlessly cross boundaries in the world of music." (Extract from the Citation)

Presented in Stockholm by His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and administered by the Royal Swedish Academy of Music, the Polar Music Prize (instigated 1992) has come to be recognised as one of the world's more significant music awards. The Polar Music Prize - awarded in the amount of one million Swedish Crowns - is given to individuals, groups or institutions in recognition of exceptional achievement in the creation and advancement of music. Past winners have included Pierre Boulez, Bob Dylan, Ravi Shankar, Iannis Xenakis, Joni Mitchell, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Witold Lutoslawski, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Dizzy Gillespie, Paul McCartney, Mstislav Rostropovich, Sofia Gubaidulina, Quincy Jones, Miriam Makeba, Stevie Wonder, Robert Moog, and Isaac Stern.

Keith Jarrett will receive his prize from His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden at a gala ceremony at Berwaldhallen in Stockholm to be followed by a celebratory banquet at Grand Hôtel on Monday the 12th of May. Her Majesty Queen Silvia and Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Victoria will be amongst the many other dignitaries attending.

Five days earlier, on May 7th, the trio of Keith Jarrett/Gary Peacock/Jack DeJohnette - currently celebrating its 20th anniversary as a working band - plays the Stockholm Konserthuset as the conclusion of a brief Spring Tour which also takes in dates in Paris (Olympia Theatre, April 27), Warsaw (Palace of Culture, April 30th), London (Royal Festival Hall, May 3rd), and Brussells (Palais des Beaux Arts, May 5).

The trio's current release is the critically-acclaimed live double album of spontaneous improvisations, “Always Let Me Go", released on ECM, the label which has documented Keith Jarrett's music since 1971. Jarrett's many ECM recordings include “The Köln Concert", the best selling solo piano recording of all time, and other prize-winning jazz discs including “Sun Bear Concerts", “My Song", “Belonging", “The Survivors' Suite", “Keith Jarrett at the Blue Note", “Whisper Not" and “The Melody At Night With You". His ECM 'classical' recordings - ranging from Bach and Handel to Shostakovich and Pärt, and including collaborations with Kim Kashkashian, Gidon Kremer and Dennis Russell Davies - have also been widely praised.