Mujician pianist Keith Tippetts embarked on his first solo tour in 1979, capturing these concert recordings that were originally released in 1980 on vinyl on the Universe Label; long out of print, Discus has revived these extraordinary recordings, showing the incredible technical abilities, endurance, and quick-witted creative powers of this legendary improviser.
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Personnel:
Keith Tippett-piano, prepared piano, zither
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UPC: 5051078967929
Label: Discus
Catalog ID: 81CD
Squidco Product Code: 27412
Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2019
Country: UK
Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold 3 Panels
Recorded in the Netherlands in April, 1979 at various theatres and jazz clubs. Originally released in 1980 on vinyl as a 2-LP set on the Universe Productions label with catalog code of 2 LS 48.
"A re-issue of Keith's first solo piano double LP from 1980, originally released on the Universal Productions label.The Unlonely Raindancer is undoubtedly a beginning, it is also an enigma. More than its means. The seminal first solo album by Keith Tippett released by Universal Productions in 1980 is a live recording from the previous year's short tour of the Netherlands. The audience applause was edited out, leaving the listener with the intensity of one lone musician literally improvising into composition.The word 'unlonely' could be described as uneven grammatically, but given nuance by juxtaposing the reality of a man 'on the road' vs no family or friends to accompany him (except producer, engineer and driver Rob Sötemann). The title of track 3, Thank God For My Wife And Children bears witness to the yin and yang of loneliness turned under, celebrating being 'unlonely'. Forty years on, it returns as a circle dance of choreography; in 2016 Discus Music released Keith Tippett Octet's The Nine Dances Of Patrick O'Gonogon.Mr Tippett recently told me he believes Raindancer "set the template" for all his later solo performances. The two Tortworth Oak performances are probably the most explicit evidence. The 1980's trilogy of lone Mujician performances are classics within his portfolio. They were followed by three other key solo sessions, The Dartington Concert (1990), Une Croix Dans L'Ocean (1994) and the 'jazz art' wonder that is Friday the 13th (1997). Then came 2012's poignant, Mujician Solo IV Live In Piacenza.Aspects of all these recordings have their roots in what took place on that 'unlonely' Netherlands tour in 1979. No money to pay for his usual sidekicks, instead a road trip into Europe where Keith Tippett connected with the solo strength of his own psyche (or if you prefer - soul). For any artist/musician who takes that journey it's a distance longer than any list of one nite-stands. Ride the speed of The Muted Melody; discovery is dizzy.Thinking back I must have bought my double vinyl copy of The Unlonely Raindancer around the end of 1980. Trying to recapture that first earful forty years on is not easy. In the preceding decades I've travelled to many concerts, hung in on the recordings, watched as well as listened to the Dancer. Now I steer the ears to a unique miniature, The Pool. Under five minutes, it was the first track on the final side of the double LP. I distinctly remember every time the track completed taking up the hi-fi arm and placing it back on the edge of black vinyl. I couldn't let it pass, something to do with the lyrical repetition being periodically bombed at that deep bottom end. Listening again, it still holds a terrible beauty for me and why I believe it is important that Martin Archer has now produced Raindancer in a digital format. The Unlonely Raindancer is not being re-released to complete a piece of the past. Tomorrow will forever be our history and dance is our beyond."-Discus
Artist Biographies
• Show Bio for Keith Tippett "Keith Tippett (born Keith Graham Tippetts; 25 August 1947) is a British jazz pianist and composer. Tippett was born in Southmead, Bristol. The son of an English father who was a policeman and an Irish mother name of Kitty. Keith wrote music dedicated to her after she died. Keith was the oldest of three siblings and had Clive and Thomas as brothers. Tippett went to Greenway Secondary Modern school in Southmead, Bristol. He formed his first band when he was fourteen with school friends, such as Richard Murch, Mike Milton, Terry Pratt and Bob Chard. They were called the KT Trad Lads performing Traditional jazz. Later Keith formed a modern jazz trio in Bristol and played regularly at the Dugout Club in Park Row, Bristol. He studied Piano and Church Organ, was a chorister and played with the school and Bristol youth brass bands. He moved to London in 1967, to pursue a musical life. In the late 1960s, Tippett led a sextet featuring Elton Dean on saxophone, Mark Charig on trumpet and Nick Evans on trombone. Tippett married singer Julie Driscoll and wrote scores for TV. In the early 1970s, his big band Centipede brought together much of a generation of young British jazz and rock musicians. As well as performing some concerts (limited economically by the size of the band), they recorded one double-album, Septober Energy. He formed, with Harry Miller and Louis Moholo a formidable rhythm section at the centre of some the most exciting combinations in the country, including the Elton Dean quartet, and Elton Dean's Ninesense. Around the same time, he was also in the vicinity of King Crimson, contributing piano to several of their records including "Cat Food" (and even appearing with them on Top of the Pops). His own groups, such as Ovary Lodge tended towards a more contemplative form of European free improvisation. He continues to perform with the improvising ensemble Mujician and more recently (2006) Work in Progress. Tippett has appeared and recorded in a wide variety of settings, including a duet with Stan Tracey, duets with his wife Julie Tippetts, solo performances, and appeared on three King Crimson albums." ^ Hide Bio for Keith Tippett
10/6/2026
Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.
Track Listing:
1. Tortworth Oak (first version) 11:18
2. The Unlonely Raindancer 10:47
3. Thank You God for My Wife and Children 8:06
4. The Muted Melody 8:50
5. Steel Yourself / The Bell, the Gong, the Voice 19:17
6. Dear Ireland 2:27
7. The Pool 3:20
8. Tortworth Oak (second version) 13:34
9. Midnight Snow Walk 1:16
Improvised Music
Free Improvisation
Rock and Related
Improvised Rock
London & UK Improv & Related Scenes
Piano & Keyboards
Solo Artist Recordings
Instruments with Preparations
Jazz Reissues
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Discus.
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| Dunmall, Paul / Keith Tippett / Philip Gibbs / Pete Fairclough Onosante (577 Records) |
| A 4-track collective improvisation project performed by Paul Dunmall (saxophones, fife & bagpipes), pianist Keith Tippett, guitarist Philip Gibbs and drummer Pete Fairclough, recorded at Victoria Rooms at the University of Bristol, UK in 2000 and originally issued on Dunmall's own DUNS label, here reissued 20 years later in the memory of Keith Tippett. |
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| Tippett, Keith Octet The Nine Dances Of Patrick O'Gonogon (Discus) |
| Superlative large group jazz from UK pianist/composer Keith Tippett, presenting a series of lyrical and accessible compositions inspired by themes from Irish folk music, in a new Octet with alumni of the Royal Academy of Music's jazz programme and long-time Tippett collaborators. |
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| Grew, Stephen Pianoply (Discus) |
| Stephen Grew performs a completely improvised solo piano session on Sansom Studios' bright-toned Yamaha, recorded in three unedited sections divided only by tea breaks, using the studio setting to explore a different acoustic focus from his church and concert recordings, balancing clarity, momentum, lyric fracture and spontaneous structure, with the closing piece offered in tribute to drummer Tony Bianco. |
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| Westbrook, Mike The Piano In The Room And The Blues (ALAY) |
| Recorded on a Steinway in the gallery of Falmouth Arts Centre, pianist Mike Westbrook delivers an introspective solo exploration of the blues, revisiting its forms — eight, twelve, sixteen, and extended bar structures — through spontaneous variations that blur improvisation and instant composition, blending traditional feeling with modern harmonic invention and the ambient sounds around him. |
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| Stabbins, Larry / Keith Tippett / Louis Moholo-Moholo Live In Foggia (Ogun) |
| The formidable trio of Larry Stabbins (saxophones, flute), Keith Tippett (piano, voice), and Louis Moholo-Moholo (drums, voice, bass) ignite with ferocious intensity and explosive interplay, unleashing torrents of fiery improvisation that surge with wit, lyricism, and raw power, captured live in Foggia, Italy in 1985 when each was at the peak of their artistry. |
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| Tippett, Keith / Julie Tippett Couple In Spirit: Sound on Sound (Discus) |
| Planning a duo album since 2019, this was to be pianist Keith Tippett & vocalist Julie Tippett first new studio album in 30 years, but tragically pandemic and Keith Tippett's passing prevented that, Julie instead turning to unreleased live solo piano recordings from 1979 through 1996 to which she added new vocal performances in the studio, creating eight impressive virtual duos. |
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| Riley, Howard / Keith Tippett Journal Four (NoBusiness) |
| Having collaborated as a duo first at Goldsmiths College in 1981, UK pianists Howard Riley and Keith Tippett met for this spectacular 2016 concert as part of The Steinway Spirio Two-Piano Festival in Soho, London, each bringing decades of experience as lyrical and inventive players, together complementing each other in merging disparate forms from Joplin to Debussy to Mujician. |
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| Tippett, Keith / Julie Tippetts / Philip Gibbs / Paul Dunmall Mahogany Rain (577 Records) |
| Originally recorded in 2005 for a small 100-copy release, the single extended track on Mahogany Rain offers an hour of mesmerizing improvisational sound, sparsely composed and deeply experimental and performed by Keith Tippett on piano & percussion, Julie Tippetts on xylophone & voice, Philip Gibbs on guitars, and Paul Dunmall on soprano & tenor saxophones. |
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| Tippett, Keith / Matthew Bourne Aeolian [2 CDs] (Discus) |
| Two generations of remarkable pianists--Keith Tippets and Matthew Bourne--performed a series of two-piano concerts between 2017 and 2019, also recording in the studio, as heard in this 2-CD release, the first a set of consequential piano duos recorded at Leeds Conservatoire in 2019, the 2nd disc a live performance at Daylight Music at Union Chapel, London, Tippetts' final public performance. |
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| Taylor, Cecil / Tony Oxley Being Astral And All Registers - Power Of Two (Discus) |
| Taken from the personal archives of UK drummer/percussionist Tony Oxley, this extremely well recorded duo session with frequent collaborator, iconoclastic NY pianist Cecil Taylor, are heard in a live performance at the Ulrichsberg Festival, Austria in 2002 for a brilliantly frenetic and masterfully controlled, creative set of two jaw-dropping extended dialogs. |
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| Tippett, Keith The Monk Watches The Eagle (Discus) |
| As though an elegy for the departed pianist and composer, Keith Tippett does not perform on this work, which was commissioned for the 2004 Norwich and Norfolk Festival, but conducts an ensemble that includes Julie Tippetts on voice, a saxophone octet that includes long-time collaborator Paul Dunmall, and the polyphonic choir of the BBC Singers; an exquisite and stirring work. |
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| Tippett, Keith Musician Supreme [4 CD BOX SET] (FMR) |
| Collecting 4 albums with pianist Keith Tippetts: The Bern Concert, a 1993 live duo with Howard Riley; Linückea, a 2000 studio album with The Kreutzer String Quartet plus a narrated work; The Dartington Trio of Keith Tippett, Julie Tippetts & Paul Dunmall live in 2003; and The Dartington Trio Live at The Priory at the Southend International Jazz Festival. |
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| Cole, Laura Enough [2 CDs] (Discus) |
| Pianist Laura Cole's first solo album presents 2 CDs; the first a collection of arrangements of pieces given to Cole for the album from friends and colleagues, including Robert Mitchell, Alex Wilson, Nikki Iles, Jason Yarde and Corey Mwamba; the 2nd disc, "As Warm As The Sun" is a collection of compositions and improvisations by Cole herself. |
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| Orchestra Of The Upper Atmosphere Theta Four (Discus) |
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| Tippett, Keith Une Croix Dans L'Ocean (Les Disques Victo) |
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