Umbria Jazz Festival confirmed Keith Jarrett‘s performance at this year’s festival edition.
This American pianist, composer and one of today’s most significant improvisers will perform on 7 July at the Italian festival together with his trio members, drummer Jack DeJohnette and doublebass player Gary Peacock.
This will be his first concert after the 2007 scandal, when Jarrett, before he started playing, insulted the audience and the city where the festival is being held with swearing language because of aggressive usage of photo cameras and flash lights.
The incident was not without consequences, the director of this prestigious festival declared Jarrett persona non grata forbidding him to perform at the festival and asking for an apology to the audience and the city.
Keith Jarrett’s management send a letter of apology in Jarrett’s name to the festival director, but the festival management didn’t hide their disappointment about Jarrett not apologizing personally to the mayor of Perugia.
Umbria Jazz Festival released a statement at the beginning of the month emphasizing that the strained relations between the pianist and the festival are cleared, and that Jarrett’s trio will be part of program Umbria Jazz Festival is celebrating it’s 40th anniversary with.