Bristol Beacon honours legendary Bristol musician Keith Tippett

Bristol Beacon News

Wednesday 20 Nov 2024

On 9 November 2024, we were pleased to welcome over forty family members of the late musician Keith Tippett, for a special ceremony to mark the official naming of the Tippett Room in our transformed Cellars space.

A jazz pianist and composer, Keith Tippett was celebrated internationally for his unique approach to improvisation and prepared piano. Born in Southmead, Keith was a proud Bristolian and over the course of his long career, he performed at Bristol Beacon many times.

In a speech at the intimate ceremony, Bristol Beacon’s Communications and Special Projects Director Sarah Robertson said, “Bristol Beacon is proud to name this education space in memory of Keith Tippett – and in perpetual recognition of the music he gave to Bristol and to the whole world.”

Friend and collaborator Nod Knowles expanded on the breadth and depth of Keith Tippett’s career and influence around the world but also on his lasting impact on music in Bristol.

A plaque now permanently installed on the wall of the Tippett Room explains the significance of Keith’s work.

Nod Knowles and Julie Tippett at BB - Photo by Tim Dickeson — Nod Knowles and Julie Tippett

Keith Tippett – Bristolian born and bred – was a complete musician. Pianist, composer, improviser, arranger, educator – his rare, unique genius excelled in all these fields of music and his spirit lives on with everyone who worked with him and heard him perform, from solo piano improvisations, in small and large groups and in big bands from his 22 piece Tapestry Orchestra to the legendary 50 piece Centipede.

As a jazz musician Keith was constantly creative, his work an uncompromising mixture of freedom and discipline, unmistakably individual and continually collaborative. Whilst internationally renowned and admired for a lifetime’s work in performance, composition and recording, his generosity towards young musicians in workshops and as a mentor, in Bristol, in the UK and as far afield as Australia and South Africa, has created a legacy of influence and encouragement that befits the dedication of this room – in his memory and as a permanent inspiration to all those who play music here.

Inscription of the dedication plaque for the Tippett room, written by Tim Dickenson