Keith Tippett

An experimental jazz pianist, Keith Tippett (born Keith Graham Tippetts in Bristol on August 25, 1947) formed a septet in his teens, then collaborated with saxophonist Elton Dean's sextet. After marrying singer Julie Driscoll, a collaborator of Brian Auger, he played with Shelagh McDonald and formed the big band Centipede, which recorded the album Septober Energy (1970), produced by Robert Fripp. Fripp then recruited him as a member of his group King Crimson, for the albums In the Wake of Poseidon, Lizard and Islands, and the beginnings of a prolific solo career that included some fifty recordings of improvised music, most of them live. The two Keith Tippett Group albums, You Are Here... I Am There (1969) and Dedicated for You But You Weren't Listening (1970), highlight his taste for experimentation between rock and jazz. Keith Tippett went on to collaborate with his wife Julie Tippett, Hugh Hopper, Howard Riley, Joe Gallivan, Michael Giles, George Burt and Raymond McDonald, Stan Tracey and Loui Moholo. In 1981, he formed the group Mujician, which recorded four volumes in ten years, alongside other productions across Europe or in the studio such as Une Croix Dans L'Océan (1994), often featuring a single improvised keyboard piece, solo or in a group. He also contributed to albums by Arthur Brown, Keith Christmas, Ian Matthews, Harold McNair, Pete Sinfield, Louis Moholo, David Sylvian, Toyah, Weekend and Working Week. Victim of a heart attack followed by pneumonia in 2018, Keith Tippett returned to the stage the following year. He died shortly afterwards, on June 14, 2020, at the age of 72.

Please enable Javascript to view this page competely.