Keith Tippett Dedicated to You, But You Should Be Listening

When Keith Tippett died on June 14th we lost a British Jazz hero.  His music was quite different for it's time, but was also different because it fit in quite well with the music of King Crimson, Soft Machine and Ian Carr.  His album Dedicated to You, But You Weren't Listening is amazing piece of work. I was happy back in early 2000's to pay close to $100 for an album that to me had all the elements of free Jazz, but also had a feel of Progressive Rock.  Keith Tippett was an amazing piano player and when he made this album he made an album that would define his musical worth in the world.

I'm not sure how I stumbled upon it, but Dedicated to You, But You Weren't Listening had an interesting feel it it.  The cover art by Roger Dean I bet had to do with it as well.  I loved the oddness of it.  It was not the characteristic Science Fiction artwork he was famous for when he did albums for Yes and other artist.  I remember one thing about the album that it was featured in Wire magazine about albums I should listen to in a feature about British Jazz of the 1960's and 1970's.  I thought it was kinda odd that they only did that period, but they made a top ten as it were of essential listening and this album was the one that stood out.  The other album they mentioned was Ian Carr's Nucleus Elastic Rock (another Roger Dean artwork).  Both these albums today still make my head spin with awe.

When I had a digital copy from an on-line file sharing network I wanted to explore more and more about what Keith Tippett had done.  His name showed up on a King Crimson album called In The Wake of Poseidon and also showed up on a quite jumpy and piano percussive song called "Cat Food." It was different then the long songs I was used by King Crimson.  It was humor with a bit of Avant-Garde and a bit child like. Keith's piano playing stood out first and foremost.  During the solo part and was like controlled chaos.  I loved it and wanted to hear more of his playing. All through the album he peppered the album with notes punching like swords in each song that he was featured.  Robert Fripp saw something in his piano player because he was on one other King Crimson album called Lizard.

At first listen Dedicated to You, But You Weren't Listening sounds chaotic, but it's not.  It's a group of musicians who knew their instruments and the pieces of music they played.  Once in a while the music sounds like they are not reading what they are playing.  The musicians get a little out there, but then they reel themselves in and make a song worthy of listening to again.  This is what makes the music so engaging.  Af first listen the song is just that a song, but a second or third listen you hear the interplay with the musicians.

Most of the musicians on the album are very familiar to us because they are part of the Canterbury sound and are also familiar to the experimental music of the time.  Musicians like Roy Babbington, Robert Wyatt, Nick Evans, and Elton Dean are all Soft Machine alumni.  They know the music that they do is going to be unique and different.  Keith Tippett knows this and uses their ideas.  I can see also why King Crimson used some of these musicians in future King Crimson ideas. This eleven piece band works so well together I'm really surprised they did not make another album together.  There are sometimes two drummers and percussionist, that really make it.  They work so well with the rest of the band.

Dedicated to You, But You Weren't Listening is an amazing album of some very experienced Jazz musicians and a very talented piano player named Keith Tippett.  Ever since I listened to it for the first time I knew I was going to be fan of his music for life.  I will admit trying to find his other music was quite hard, but if you like this, then You Are Here...I Am Here would be the next step. He has a few others, but Dedicated to You, But You Weren't Listening is the crown jewel.  It not only shows how well Keith Tippett's playing is so good that it also shows his strong compositional skills and working well with an awesome group.  In future releases you can see you where Keith's signature playing throughout. "In sum, this is an adventurous kind of jazz that still swings very hard despite its dissonance and regards a written chart as something more than a constraint to creative expression. Brilliant."(AMG) Take an adventure with Keith Tippett and you might never come back.  This is the best start to it.