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Rating: A piano, or rather a Steinway, a double bass, a drum kit, and a stove... to warm up a brilliant artist, of course, but full of vices, vanities, and obsessions.
On the evening of July 11, I too was present at Arena Santa Giuliana, and before the concert, I was anxious because I knew that soon I would be facing one of the best contemporary jazz musicians. But after that unnecessary, rude outburst directed at the audience because of the usual flashes, thrown out there at the start of the concert, all that feeling of joy, of emotion suddenly disappeared. First of all, the concert was not perfect at all. In the first two pieces, Jarrett couldn't find his place between the double bass and drum kit, often going off time and playing, moreover, apathetically. After that, he managed to sustain, reluctantly, a concert that wasn't particularly exciting, in which the notes flowed across the piano without depth, bare, and the music was played just like an eight or nine-year-old student performs the homework assigned by his teacher.
This was Keith Jarrett in Perugia. A mere performer of music, a pianist playing on commission, a jazz craftsman who did not go beyond his duty. Gary Peacock and Jack De Johnette still have class to spare while Keith Jarrett "the tyrant", despite trying to hide behind his obsessions, is tired and childish, not only in his behavior but also in playing the piano (despite his superb technique). Jarrett is like those hitmen who kill on commission, do their dirty work, and leave without even too many compliments (and using a few too many "fucking offs"). We want to respect his obsessions, his egocentrism, his presumption but we also want him to respect the paying audience, something he, unfortunately, almost never does.
On Keith Jarrett, by now, everything and nothing has been written, he has moved us and we will continue to be moved by listening to the "Paris Concert" or the standards performed with the Trio, but he must understand that his career is over. After the dis-concert in Perugia, the myth of Jarrett collapsed (at least for me). Believe me, seeing a great artist in a state of decay is not pleasant, especially if in front of you there's a musician of his caliber. The evening of July 11 in the Perugia Arena, I almost felt like crying, for the sadness that subdued music conveyed to me. I almost felt like crying, as if I were at the funeral of a dear relative. A young man sitting next to me (God bless him) had the courage to leave, exhausted, after the second piece (remarkably botched), another repeatedly said, "What a lousy concert". Like them, many others, leaving the concert, felt the same sad feeling, leaving with a bitter taste as when one loses life's opportunity.
Who knows if Jarrett has realized he has failed as a man and an artist, but at this point, I no longer care to know anything. Surely there will be many "fans" who will continue to follow their master on his tours and make him an idol... Jarrett now lives his music as a profitable business, earning a lot and can afford, from the height of his arrogance, to offend (both verbally and musically) a respectable audience. And the only revenge the audience can put into action is to no longer attend his concerts.
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