Biography Keith Tippett

Keith Tippett (born Keith Graham Tippetts on 25 August 1947; died 14 June 2020) was a British jazz pianist, composer, bandleader, and musical educator in the fields of jazz and other improvisational music. Tippett appeared and recorded in many settings, including a duet with Stan Tracey, duets with his wife Julie Tippetts (née Driscoll) as Keith and Julie Tippett, solo performances, and as a bandleader (The Keith Tippett Group, Keith Tippett's Ark, Keith Tippett Septet, Keith Tippett Tapestry Orchestra), and appeared on three King Crimson albums.

Tippett’s work ranged from his free improvisation as a solo pianist and with duos and small groups such as the quartet Mujician, to compositions for, and performances with, contemporary classical groups (including the Composers’ Ensemble, Kokoro, and the Kreutzer String Quartet) and large-scale works for jazz orchestra.

As an educator, Tippett worked with junior schoolchildren in artist-in-education projects and in extended workshops with aspiring jazz musicians in Britain and other countries, including Germany, Italy, Soviet Georgia, and South Africa. He was co-director of the Dartington International Summer School jazz course for a decade, was awarded Honorary Fellowships at both Dartington College of Arts and the Welsh College of Music and Drama, where he was a visiting tutor in piano and improvisation and director of the College’s Jazz Ensemble.

He gave improvisation workshops at the University of Bristol Music Department and relaunched the Rare Music Club. Besides regular solo and small-group work, 2002 saw the world premiere of Dance of the Dragonfly, commissioned and performed by percussion group Ensemble Bash, composer-in-residence on a new music course in Aldeburgh with Joanna Macgregor, and (following a Festival appearance in Victoriaville, Canada, in May), a further performance in Lisbon, Portugal with his twenty-one piece jazz orchestra Keith Tippett Tapestry Orchestra.

Tippett continued to record and to tour in Britain and Europe with various ensembles. He also worked with musicians Andy Sheppard, as well as with his frequent collaborators Elton Dean, Louis Moholo, Howard Riley and others.

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