At the start of his busy career Keith Jarrett spent seven years carrying out all manner of crazy experiments with his American Quartet. Between the years of 1971 and 1976, the pianist, alongside Charlie Haden, Paul Motian and Dewey Redman ran some kind of mad laboratory in which the genres of hard bop, free-jazz, world and avant-garde would all come together. A spontaneous and interesting time worth rediscovering.

Keith Jarrett did actually have a life before his abundant solo projects and brilliant trio with Jack DeJohnette and Gary Peacock, Charles Lloyd and Miles Davis being some notable figures. This part of his life included electric keyboards and a wide range of musical influences. This musical richness seems to have fallen into the archives of oblivion, away from the limelight that his solo and trio albums have received over the years. At the heart of this first life were works produced with his American Quartet. The time spent with the group between 1971 and 1976 was a turning point in the Allentown pianist’s career. Jarrett’s quartet was among the most original and influential of the 70s jazz scene.

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