Keith Jarrett minus the "vocalizations"?

[mikelz777]

I don't know if this has been discussed before but if it has, I couldn't find it.

I had no Keith Jarrett in my collection so I picked up a copy of "The Out Of Towners" very cheap via BMG to see what all the fuss was about. My impressions? His playing is fantastic but he's guilty of the carnal sin for piano players in my book by audibly vocalizing while he plays. I hate it and always have regardless of who the player is. It's kind of like a dripping faucet or something. Once I hear it it seems that it is all I can hear. It ruins the song for me.

I have no interest in discussing the merits or lack thereof of vocalizing because I hate it and don't anticipating ever growing to tolerate it. My jazz tastes have grown and broadened a lot since I started listening but I've hated the vocalizing from the start and still do. Anyway, are there any of his recordings that do not have the audible vocalizations? I'd be interested in hearing more of him if all that is heard from him is his playing.

[GregK]

Oh, this has been discussed before. Seems no one can talk about Jarrett's music without complaining about the vocals.

[RDK]

The "vocals" don't bother me in the least, but it seems less apparent on his earlier discs. Try his Impulses.

[Claude]

Anyway, are there any of his recordings that do not have the audible vocalizations? I'd be interested in hearing more of him if all that is heard from him is his playing.

Too bad you won't appreciate this: http://www.planetcanadice.com/Skits/KJOffer.mp3

Maybe the Zenph robot will re-record the Köln Concert one day

http://zenph.com/index.html

[Kyo]

The "vocals" don't bother me in the least, but it seems less apparent on his earlier discs. Try his Impulses.

So it gets even worse on the later stuff? I'd better stay away from that, then.

The music of his that I have is interesting, but I really wish he'd just shut up.

[7/4]

The "vocals" don't bother me in the least, but it seems less apparent on his earlier discs. Try his Impulses.

So it gets even worse on the later stuff? I'd better stay away from that, then.

The music of his that I have is interesting, but I really wish he'd just shut up.

I feel the same way, but I hardly notice the noise any more.

Keeping that in mind, the music of his that I have is interesting, but I really wish he'd just shut up.

[Ken Dryden]

Just don't take a picture of him before a concert, or you'll really hear some loud "vocals...."

[Alexander]

I don't know if this has been discussed before but if it has, I couldn't find it.

I had no Keith Jarrett in my collection so I picked up a copy of "The Out Of Towners" very cheap via BMG to see what all the fuss was about. My impressions? His playing is fantastic but he's guilty of the carnal sin for piano players in my book by audibly vocalizing while he plays. I hate it and always have regardless of who the player is. It's kind of like a dripping faucet or something. Once I hear it it seems that it is all I can hear. It ruins the song for me.

I have no interest in discussing the merits or lack thereof of vocalizing because I hate it and don't anticipating ever growing to tolerate it. My jazz tastes have grown and broadened a lot since I started listening but I've hated the vocalizing from the start and still do. Anyway, are there any of his recordings that do not have the audible vocalizations? I'd be interested in hearing more of him if all that is heard from him is his playing.

How do you feel about Monk and Powell? Both of them could get quite loud...

[Shawn]

I think it's funny because the vocalization thing really doesn't bother me at all. (Jarrett himself bothers me, but not the mumbling).

Mose Allison does it alot but it's usually not audible on the recordings. One exception is V8 Ford Blues where Mose mentions in the liner notes that the engineer forgot to turn off the vocal mic when he wasn't singing, so it's quite loud on that album...but to me, it just adds to the hipness because even Mose's mumbling is "in the pocket".

[BeBop]

Perhaps someone could invent a 'noise' reduction system, a la Dolby or CEDAR or dbx.

Edited May 11, 2008 by BeBop

[Shawn]

Now for sale....

MUMBLIN' REMOVER 9000 - Guaranteed to remove all unwanted grunts, groans and other bodily noises from your favorite jazz recordings! (Warning: Don't use this around Clark Terry or he may be transported to another dimension)

coming soon...

SQUEAK REMOVER 9000 - This breakthrough device will remove squeaky high-hats and as a special bonus will rectify squeaky chairs from Miles Davis recordings.

[Guest Bill Barton]

Perhaps someone could invent a 'noise' reduction system, a la Dolby or CEDAR or dbx.

Now for sale....

MUMBLIN' REMOVER 9000 - Guaranteed to remove all unwanted grunts, groans and other bodily noises from your favorite jazz recordings! (Warning: Don't use this around Clark Terry or he may be transported to another dimension)

coming soon...

SQUEAK REMOVER 9000 - This breakthrough device will remove squeaky high-hats and as a special bonus will rectify squeaky chairs from Miles Davis recordings.

Now if somebody could only invent Noise Reduction that would remove extraneous arpeggios from piano recordings. Let it loose on Bobby Enriquez and Dorothy Donegan recordings and see what's left...

Edited May 11, 2008 by Bill Barton

[jlhoots]

I don't know if this has been discussed before but if it has, I couldn't find it.

I had no Keith Jarrett in my collection so I picked up a copy of "The Out Of Towners" very cheap via BMG to see what all the fuss was about. My impressions? His playing is fantastic but he's guilty of the carnal sin for piano players in my book by audibly vocalizing while he plays. I hate it and always have regardless of who the player is. It's kind of like a dripping faucet or something. Once I hear it it seems that it is all I can hear. It ruins the song for me.

I have no interest in discussing the merits or lack thereof of vocalizing because I hate it and don't anticipating ever growing to tolerate it. My jazz tastes have grown and broadened a lot since I started listening but I've hated the vocalizing from the start and still do. Anyway, are there any of his recordings that do not have the audible vocalizations? I'd be interested in hearing more of him if all that is heard from him is his playing.

How do you feel about Monk and Powell? Both of them could get quite loud...

Exactly what my question would have been. None of them bother me.

There are a bunch of others as well - Garner, O.P. (who I know most of you didn't like anyway), etc..

Just comes with the territory I guess.

[Shawn]

Exactly what my question would have been. None of them bother me.

There are a bunch of others as well - Garner, O.P. (who I know most of you didn't like anyway), etc..

Just comes with the territory I guess.

Bobby Timmons as well, you can really hear it on the Jazz Icons DVD.

[aparxa]

French pianist Pierre-Alain Goualch is vocalizing so loud that you barely hear his piano, which is however very inspired and innovative. As I can't get focused on smthg else while listening to this music, I tend to avoid it no matter good the music is.

[mikelz777]

I don't know if this has been discussed before but if it has, I couldn't find it.

I had no Keith Jarrett in my collection so I picked up a copy of "The Out Of Towners" very cheap via BMG to see what all the fuss was about. My impressions? His playing is fantastic but he's guilty of the carnal sin for piano players in my book by audibly vocalizing while he plays. I hate it and always have regardless of who the player is. It's kind of like a dripping faucet or something. Once I hear it it seems that it is all I can hear. It ruins the song for me.

I have no interest in discussing the merits or lack thereof of vocalizing because I hate it and don't anticipating ever growing to tolerate it. My jazz tastes have grown and broadened a lot since I started listening but I've hated the vocalizing from the start and still do. Anyway, are there any of his recordings that do not have the audible vocalizations? I'd be interested in hearing more of him if all that is heard from him is his playing.

How do you feel about Monk and Powell? Both of them could get quite loud...

Whatever Bud Powell I had was sold years ago. I don't recall specifically why I sold them but I trust my decision that I didn't enjoy listening to them enough to keep them. Now that you mention it, I do seem to recall his moaning behind the music. It may have had a lot to do with the selling decision. I've actually just gotten into Monk in the last month or so and of the 5 discs I have, I don't recall his vocalizing to be that prevalent to where it bothered me though I do recall hearing it. If you have to listen closely to hear it or if it's not especially notable is one thing but with Jarrett, his vocalizing is out there, prevalent, competing with the music. Jarrett's ego may not allow it but if I were the engineer on the recording I would do everything I could to bury or eliminate the vocalizing which mars what would otherwise be wonderful recordings. I guess I envy those of you who can listen to it without being bothered. I can't get past it.

[Christiern]

If it were possible to vocalize with your lips wrapped around a mouthpiece, you would hear a lot more--it is for some musicians a natural thing. Sensible microphone placement can at least reduce it. When I produced a session with Earl Hines in a Chicago, we used a club (The Bird House, closed for the occasion) rather than a studio (Riverside was on a tight budget). Earl wanted to include a couple of vocals, so we had a mic set up for that. Unfortunately, the clowns who engineered the session left the microphone open throughout, so the solos--and he rendered a particularly interesting one on "A Monday Date"--contained utterances that otherwise would not have been heard. Unfortunately, our control room was a converted Greyhound bus, parked outside, so I did not catch this until I heard the playback and it was too late to redo it.

As I recall, Erroll Garner also grunted. It can be annoying, but it need not be as obvious as it sometimes is on recordings.

[Nate Dorward]

Whatever Bud Powell I had was sold years ago. I don't recall specifically why I sold them but I trust my decision that I didn't enjoy listening to them enough to keep them.

!!! Can't imagine dumping Bud's (best) stuff--the best tracks on the early Roost, Blue Note & Verve dates are as close to out-of-body-experiences as you can get in jazz. The concentrated invention on Jazz Giant makes just about every other pianist sound half-asleep.

I've always liked having a little extraneous vocalizing & background noise round the fringes of recordings--doesn't bother me, the human element's nice. (Like the weird rasping noises on some Art Tatum discs--I couldn't figure out what that was till I read an annotator who mentioned that it was the sound of his rings scraping the keys during glisses.) Mose's vocalizing is quite charming, for instance. My problems with Jarrett are entirely with what's coming out of the piano not his mouth (either during his performance or during his extramusical rants).

[andybleaden]

do not notice it any more....after i watched play on tv once from back in the 70's and 80'syou can see when and where he is making 'noises'...

When i listened to the tracks on cd...they noises seemed to blend in with what he plays and the way he plays it.....the guy does not sit still and strains throughout ...not the only one ..either

Admission of the week is that sometimes I hum along with him as I listen ....

[clifford_thornton]

I've always liked having a little extraneous vocalizing & background noise round the fringes of recordings--doesn't bother me, the human element's nice. (Like the weird rasping noises on some Art Tatum discs--I couldn't figure out what that was till I read an annotator who mentioned that it was the sound of his rings scraping the keys during glisses.) Mose's vocalizing is quite charming, for instance. My problems with Jarrett are entirely with what's coming out of the piano not his mouth (either during his performance or during his extramusical rants).

For once, I'm with you Nate!

[connoisseur series500]

I wish Jarrett would STFU too! But the music is so good that it's still worth listening.

[WorldB3]

Most of his work with Charles Lloyd he keeps quiet. Try Forest Sundflower

Another with him as a sideman where he doesn't open his mouth and a classic is Kenny Wheeler - Gnu High

For some reason it didn't bother me as much on his latest releases, I must be getting use to it.

[randyhersom]

The pragmatic approach would include Frank Kimbrough, Myra Melford, Mike Nock, Geri Allen and Brad Mehldau.

[CJ Shearn]

most of Jarrett's work since "Whisper Not" has had far less audible vocalizing, but that sorta thing never bothered me anyway. Herbie sounds like hes on the toilet when he plays but I never have heard complaints about that, or when Hank and Jackie Mac make breath/grunt noises between phrases, but I always thought maybe Hank did that b/c he smoked a lot, and got out of breath real quick. Of course, when guys like Johnny Griffin and Arnett Cobb took breaths between phrases it just sounds like what they just played felt really good to them and they let out a grunt.

Edited May 13, 2008 by CJ Shearn

[Chuck Nessa]

Have not listened to him for years so it ain't an issue.