Keith Tippett
Musician whose work took in both jazz and progressive rock
KEITH TIPPETT, who has died aged 72, was a pianist and composer whose work encompassed jazz, free improvisation and, in his early career, progressive rock.
Tippett was one of the remarkable crop of young jazz composers who appeared in the late 1960s, launching a new and distinctively British approach. A brilliant performer, he never failed to captivate an audience.
Keith Graham Tippetts (he later dropped the final s) was born in Bristol on August 25 1947, the son of a policeman. A childhood chorister, he went on to study the piano and church organ, and also to play cornet and tenor horn in the Bristol Youth Band.
While still at secondary school he formed his own traditional-style jazz band, and later a modern jazz trio, which played at a local club. In 1967 he moved to London, intent on making a career in music.
After a few difficult months, he gained a bursary to attend the jazz summer school at Barry in South Wales and began forming a new band from among the musicians he met there. That band, a sextet including Marc Charig on cornet and Elton Dean on alto saxophone, made its appearance on the London jazz scene towards the end of that year and its debut album, I Am Here … You Are There, was released in January 1970 to critical applause in the music press.
A far greater stir, however, was caused a few months later by Tippett’s marriage to Julie Driscoll, whose 1968 Top Five hit, This Wheel’s On Fire (which she recorded again in the 1990s as the theme to the BBC comedy series Absolutely Fabulous), coupled with her insouciant good looks, had made her a “face”, on a par with Twiggy or Jean Shrimpton.
Unlike them, she hated all the attention and what she called “the lack of anonymity”. She was more interested in music than in being a star. She changed her name to Julie Tippetts (the original spelling) on marriage and enjoyed a busy creative life, often in partnership with Keith.
Also in 1970, Tippett made a substantial contribution to In The Wake Of Poseidon, by the progressive rock band King Crimson, playing both conventional and electric pianos. The album reached No 4 in the British album charts and Tippett was invited to become a full-time band member. He turned the offer down, but remained within the orbit of King Crimson for some time, playing on their next two albums and even playing one gig.
By 1970 Tippett’s name had become so well known that he was able to find backing for virtually any project he could dream up. Even so, a 50-piece orchestra, Centipede, including an amplified string section, playing a two-hour composition (Septober Energ y) was judged a bit over the top by the critics, even for the exuberant early 1970s.
More impressive was the 22-piece band, the Ark, with a changing cast of British and European players, for which Tippett wrote Music For An Imaginary Film in 1978. He re-formed the Ark from time to time in subsequent years.
With time, following these remarkable opening salvos, Tippett’s true qualities came through – his gift for developing wayward strands of melody, his bold harmonic transitions and his apparently effortless technique.
He was a marvellously sensitive ensemble player, too, a characteristic which emerged strongly in the quartet Ovary Lodge, which also featured his wife Julie. Duets became something of a speciality over the years, notably with fellow pianist Stan Tracey (under the joint name of “TNT”), with saxophonist Andy Sheppard and, of course, with Julie.
These and his solo piano recordings, especially Mujician (1981) and The Dartington Concert (1990) exemplify the classic Keith Tippett.
In 2018 he suffered a heart attack which kept him away from music for a year. On his return he joined forces with fellow pianist Matthew Bourne for a series of concerts.
Keith Tippett, born August 25 1947, died June 14 2020