PERUGIA, Italy, July 11 (UPI) -- American jazz pianist Keith Jarrett won't be invited back to the Umbria Jazz Festival, organizers say, after he insulted the Italian city when he was heckled.
Jarrett refused to perform an encore because spectators took pictures after he asked them to stop, then called the festival locale Perugia a "damn city," Italian news agency ANSA reported Wednesday.
"I can understand everything, even being obsessed about the cameras but you cannot insult an audience and even an entire city just because of a few flashes," Carlo Pagnotta, festival artistic director.
The concert Tuesday began with Jarrett telling the audience not to take pictures or he and his trio would leave. Organizers said the public often is asked not to take photos but the request rarely comes from performers.
Jarrett, 62, started his career playing with jazz greats Art Blakey, Charles Lloyd and Miles Davis.
"People came here from far away and spent a lot of money to see him and did not deserve to be treated like that," Pagnotta said. "Of course, the insults from the audience are to be condemned, too, but by that time Jarrett had already spoiled the atmosphere."
