The mercurial and undeniably brilliant pianist Keith Jarrett turns 80 years old today and the rest of us, of course, are fortunate to reap the sonic benefits of his unflinching creativity and artistic integrity. It’s interesting to me that due to the comparable depth of numerous facets and phases of his career, I know people who mark themselves as Keith Jarrett mega-fans and yet have significantly different music that is the basis of their fandom. Not so different that it lacks continuity, mind you – his expressive essence is distinctive no matter what, and hopefully I succeeded in populating this list in a manner that, in addition to honoring personal favorites, touches on a broad swath of his music. In chronological order, here are ten noteworthy tracks:  

1 ) “The Theme” from Buttercorn Lady by Art Blakey (1966)

While Keith himself is less than laudatory in his depiction of his time as a Jazz Messenger, this record (also featuring Chuck Mangione on trumpet) is a fascinating document. This brief piano feature offers an illuminating glimpse into Keith’s early straight-ahead playing.

2 ) “Love Song to a Baby” from Charles Lloyd in the Soviet Union by Charles Lloyd (1967)

What a difference a year (and a few months) makes, as we go from textbook straight-ahead to the innovative shape-shifting of Keith and drummer Jack DeJohnette, one of the most enduring and cutting-edge tandems in modern jazz history, here alongside bassist Ron McClure (having recently replaced Cecil McBee) providing restless and creative work with Charles Lloyd. Tempting though it was to pick “Days and Nights Waiting” (Keith’s contribution to the album’s repertoire), this is perhaps the landmark version of an important vehicle for Lloyd’s influential quartet.

3 ) “Funky Tonk” from Live/Evil by Miles Davis (1970)

Music just doesn’t get nastier than this. Gary Bartz on saxophone, John McLauglin on guitar, Michael Henderson on bass, DeJohnette on drums, and Airto Moreira on percussion join Keith (on electric piano) to flank Miles on this incendiary electric funk jam. 

4 ) “Lucky Southern” from Free by Airto (1972)

Is it a squandering of resources to have a small-group recording with Ron Carter, George Benson, and Hubert Laws as non-soloists? Possibly, but that is mitigated by the pure perfection that is Keith Jarrett’s succinct solo on this irresistible samba tune he composed for Airto, who in this instance is playing drum set.

5 ) “Long As You Know You’re Living Yours” from Belonging (1974)

I only allowed myself one example of Keith’s “European Quartet,” with Jan Garbarek, Palle Danielsson, and Jon Christensen, and this was the one that won me over to that group. One can’t really call this fully acoustic music “fusion,” but the sly backbeat, the gospel-infused melody and chord progression, and Garbarek’s and Jarrett’s soulful improvisations are as accessible as they are gnarly. 

6 ) “Part IIa” from The Koln Concert (1975)

Picking just one segment from this truly landmark recording is borderline arbitrary, but so it goes. We’ll forgive Keith for all the cheesy new age music that was debatably spawned by this album and its popularity and instead choose to focus on how stunning it is that somebody could not only improvise and entire concert alone at the piano, but with a level of intention and continuity that would be impressive even if meticulously pre-planned. 

7 ) “Pocket Full of Cherry” from Bop-Be (1976)

I’m a little ambivalent about my representation of the “American Quartet” (with Dewey Redman, Paul Motian, and Charlie Haden, the composer of this tune in tribute to his frequent collaborator Don Cherry) being one on which he doesn’t even piano, but not enough so to keep from shining a light on this loopy yet swinging performance that highlights Jarrett’s playing on soprano saxophone.

8 ) “All the Things You Are” from Standards Vol. 1 (1983)

Though this trio with DeJohnette and bassist Gary Peacock had recorded an album under Gary’s name six years prior (and Keith and Jack had recorded over a dozen times together by this point), this is the album that launched the “Standards Trio” in earnest. This track, the first one by the group that really caught my ear as a teenager, is a clinic in finding the balance between straight-ahead swinging and asymmetrical (“over the barlines” in music lingo) phrasing.

9 ) “No Lonely Nights” from At the Blue Note (1994)

Fast forward eleven years and the well-oiled machine that was the Standards Trio offers this achingly beautiful rendition of an original ballad by Keith. The sensitivity of the interplay and the level of restraint (knowing what fire they’re capable of) is remarkable.  

10 ) “Riot” from Inside Out (2000)

Continuity, ingenuity, sensitivity, all on abundant display on this energized performance by the Standards Trio. That the piece is entirely improvised would be difficult to believe or comprehend if we were talking about virtually anyone else, but in their hands it’s another day in the office, albeit a rather inspired day.