KUER Music

The Biggest Jazz Riff Ever Written

By Tristin Tabish

Published November 19, 2013 at 3:46 PM MST

Eric Thayer, NPR Music

Pianist Jeremy Denk was awarded a MacArthur "genius" grant in September. Weekends on All Things Considered host Arun Rath invited the pianist to talk about his new recording of the iconic Goldberg Variations, a nearly 90-minute masterwork that Denk has referred to as "the biggest jazz riff ever written."