Keith Jarrett, by public consensus, is equal parts jazz legend and conceited jackass. That is, his stage antics have come to precede him, and he doesn't do much in the way of damage control either.
His undeniable acts of vanity and crassitude have affected the quality of his shows.
Some of these acts of non-discretion include playing in near darkness at Umbria's 40th Anniversary, punishing a crowd of 4,000 for what maybe a handful of audience members did to piss him off.
But it doesn't stop there. San Francisco, 2010: Jarrett interrupts his performance to call out various "coughers" in the audience for their audacity to, while being an involuntary bodily reaction, keep the disruption going.
Carnegie Hall, 2011: Jarrett storms off in a tiff because of coughers and photographers, what is commonplace for most (if not all) audiences there.
Paris, 2008: Jarrett demands a new piano and, again, abandons his performance.
It seems that Jarrett's biggest disruption is himself; his problems are his own constructs, not the other way around.
Perhaps he's getting what's coming to him, as Japanese fans (much like Todd Barkan, owner of Keystone Korner in the '70s, who put a baby bottle with warm milk on top of his piano) have produced quite the mockery of his stage antics.
This time, the jazz superstar walks off mid-concert. And you don't need to know much Japanese to understand that.
It's a shame that such a unique talent reacts with such selfish incentive.
Plenty of artists are wretched bastards, and yet they continue to create works of genius.
Regardless, here's the video for your viewing pleasure. It surely would ruffle my feathers.
