Keith Jarrett’s The Magician In You as a jazz piano solo

Hey Improvisers!

Keith Jarrett’s tune “The Magician In You” is one of his greatest. It features a fun rock groove and it takes us on a harmonic path full of delightful twists and turns.

One aspect of the tune which intrigues me is that it features a short introductory vamp, which briefly returns at the end of each chorus. Since historical hindsight shows us that Jarrett eventually became famous by improvising over long vamps, we can see the seeds of this type of modal improvising contained in the short vamps int his tune. Seen in this light, we can have fun by extending the vamps in The Magician In You longer than Jarrett himself did on his recording!

Check out this video I made to help you understand the musical and historical contexts of the tune:

The Magician In You: Journey Through The Real Book #221

As always, enjoy the journey and “let the music flow!”

Ron

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