SWEDEN: Master of musical improvisation Keith Jarrett has been awarded the Polar Music Prize for 2003. At a lavish ceremony in Stockholm yesterday, the 58-year-old American musician and pianist accepted the award worth €110,00 from King Carl XVI.
The prize was founded by the late Stig Anderson, the manager of ABBA.
According to the Royal Swedish Academy of Music in Stockholm, which administers the award, it is bestowed upon individuals, groups or institutions in recognition of exceptional achievements in the creation and advancement of music. The aim is to break down musical boundaries by bringing together people from all the different worlds of music.
Mr Jarrett, who began playing piano at three, was already touring with classical works and his own compositions while still a child.
His early recordings combine the musical influences of gospel, ragtime, folk, pop and art music.
By the late 1960s, he was already breaking down the barriers between jazz and rock music through his pioneering work with the Charles Lloyd Quartet. He was a member of Miles Davis's band.
Mr Jarrett is renowned for lifting piano improvisation to a new art form with his brilliant solo performances and recordings.