Articles

Keith Tippett: 100 Best Foots Forward

By Duncan Heining

From the Albert Hall at twenty-two with a fifty-piece band to picking potatoes to make ends meet a decade later, Keith Tippett's life in music could sum up many a jazz career. After a grim '80s, things now look better for the composer, pianist and bandleader. “What I'm about to say is ridiculous but it was a marvellous coincidence that when Thatcher was ousted my career kicked in again," he says laughing. There are obviously more Tory jazz fans than ...

Keith Tippett: R.I.P.

By Duncan Heining

Keith Tippett's death on Sunday, 14th June 2020 robbed British and European music of one of its finest talents. The death on any musician of even minor significance often leads many critics reaching for the Thesaurus and tripping over their adjectives in a head-rush of hyperbole. In Keith's case, the simple phrase--"one of music's finest talents"--cuts through the exaggeration and elevation of those less gifted like a blade. The sheer breadth and quality of Keith's work is astounding. I have ...

Keith Tippett: The Unlonely Raindancer

By Matt Parker

Some people find that solo piano albums, no matter how highly regarded they may be, struggle to hold their attention for a full listen. This can often be attributed to the relatively small timbral palette apparently available to pianists. However, nothing could be further from the truth regarding the extraordinary performances of Keith Tippett documented in this beautiful reissue of the seminal album The Unlonely Raindancer (Universe Productions, 1980). Tippett draws a seemingly limitless supply of hitherto unimaginable sounds from ...

Keith Tippett Octet: Nine Dances Of Patrick O’Gonogon

By Duncan Heining

The Nine Dances of Patrick O'Gonogon is a solid gold delight. I have no idea, who Paddy O'Gonogon is or even if he exists outside the minds of Keith Tippett and Julie Tippett but I'd love to have a drink or eight with him. Seems like he knows how to have a good time. The record was inspired by Tippett's memories of Irish folk music and song, albeit filtered through jazz and improvisation. I had never thought of ...

Keith Tippett: Mujician Solo IV – Live in Piacenza

By Duncan Heining

From its opening notes, it is apparent that Keith Tippett's first solo recording in fifteen years is something very special indeed. Tippett has always been a player with a talent for musical pyrotechnics, cascades of notes--triplets, trills, mordants and arpeggios-colliding with mighty tone clusters. But equally, he has also been an artist of great emotional subtlety and depth. Both these qualities are in evidence here. For much of the record, the sense is less that of Rachmaninov, more that of ...

Keith Tippett Octet: From Granite To Wind

By Roger Farbey

Rarely does an album receive the plaudit of being considered essential, but for Keith Tippett fans and non-fans alike, From Granite To Wind is such a recording. The pianist departed from the more rock-influenced aspects of his writing, on albums like Dedicated To You But You Weren't Listening (Vertigo, 1971) and the Centipede big band extravaganza Septober Energy (Neon/RCA, 1971), many years ago. He has, in subsequent years, devoted himself to the freer improvisational areas of jazz, although even these ...

Keith Tippett at the London Jazz Festival

By John Sharpe

Keith Tippett Purcell Room London, England November 14, 2008

Navigating a multi-venued festival with concurrent concerts can make for some difficult choices: Keith Tippett and Stan Tracey? Or Ken Vandermark and Barry Guy? This was just one of the conundrums posed by the ten day, 237-event London Jazz Festival. Perversely living in the UK, more chances to catch American reedman Vandermark had presented themselves than for the esteemed pianist Tippett, so the choice for ...