This article is about Keyboard instruments. For keyboards on musical instruments see Musical keyboards

The piano, a common keyboard instrument

A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments. In common language, it is mostly used to refer to keyboard-style synthesizers.

History[link]

Among the very earliest keyboard instruments are the pipe organ, hurdy gurdy, clavichord and harpsichord. The organ is without doubt the oldest of these, appearing in the 3rd century BC, though this early instrument—called hydraulis—did not use a keyboard in the modern sense. From its invention until the 14th century, the organ remained the only keyboard instrument. Often, the organ did not feature a keyboard at all, rather buttons or large levers which were operated by a whole hand. Almost every keyboard until the 15th century had naturals to each octave.

The clavichord and the harpsichord appeared during the 14th century, the clavichord probably being the earlier. The harpsichord and the clavichord were both very common until the widespread adoption of the piano in the 18th century, after which their popularity decreased. The piano was revolutionary because a pianist could vary the volume (or dynamics) of the sound by varying the vigor with which each key was struck. The piano's full name is "gravicèmbalo con piano e forte" meaning "harpsichord with soft and loud" but can be shortened to "piano-forte", which means "soft-loud" in Italian.

Keyboard instruments were further developed in the early 20th century. Early electromechanical instruments, such as the Ondes Martenot, appeared early in the century. This was a very important contribution to the keyboard's history.

Construction[link]

The keys were traditionally made of wood materials. The white tangents were made of ivory, the black of ebony, but now artificial materials like plastic are used to cover the wooden keys. Cheaper materials like oak, walnut and soft wood are used now. The flat for another, for example C♯ and D♭ are the same note.^[1]

The five accidentals written as sharps are: C♯, D♯, F♯, G♯, and A♯.

Modern keyboards[link]

Much effort has gone into finding an instrument which sounds like the piano but lacks its size and weight. The electric piano and electronic piano were early efforts that, while being useful instruments in their own right, were not successful in convincingly reproducing the timbre of the piano. Electric and electronic organs were developed during the same period.

List of keyboard instruments[link]

Chordophones[link]

• Bowed clavier
• Clavichord
• Electric piano
  • Clavinet
  • Pianet
  • Rhodes piano
  • Wurlitzer electric piano
• Harpsichord
  • Archicembalo
  • Lautenwerck
  • Spinet
  • Virginal
• Hurdy gurdy
  • Keyed fiddle
• Piano
  • Fortepiano
  • Tangent piano

Aerophones[link]

• Accordion
• Calliope
• Harmonium/Reed organ
• Melodeon
• Melodica
• Pipe organ
• Regal

Idiophones[link]

• Carillon
• Celesta
• Dulcitone
• Glasschord
• Keyboard glockenspiel
• Toy piano

Electrophones[link]

• Digital piano
• Electronic keyboard
• Electronic organ
• Electronic piano
• Keytar
• Mellotron
• Optigan
• Synthesizer

See also[link]

• Orchestrina di camera
• Piano
• Symphony
• Instrument

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Keyboard instruments

References[link]

• Learn to play on piano
• The general keyboard in the age of MIDI
• Renaissance Keyboards on the Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
• The Pianofortes of Bartolomeo Cristofori on the Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (June 2010)

Keith Emerson
Keith Emerson performing in St. Petersburg, September 2008
Background information
Birth name	Keith Noel Emerson
Born	(1944-11-02) 2 November 1944 (age 67) Todmorden, England
Genres	Progressive rock, Classic rock, Jazz, Jazz Fusion, European Classical music
Occupations	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Keyboards, piano, Synthesiser, Organ
Years active	1967–present
Labels	Edel Records Victor Entertainment Shout! Factory Varèse Sarabande Rhino Entertainment Manticore Records J!MCO Records Sanctuary Records EMI Marquee Inc. Charly Records Gunslinger Records Cinevox Records
Associated acts	Gary Farr & The T-Bones, The V.I.P.'s, P.P. Arnold, The Nice, Free Creek, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Emerson, Lake & Powell, 3, Keith Emerson Band
Website	Official website

Keith Noel Emerson (born 2 November 1944, Todmorden, West Yorkshire) is an English keyboard player and composer. Formerly a member of the Keith Emerson Trio, John Brown's Bodies, The T-Bones, The V.I.P.'s, P.P. Arnold's backing band, and The Nice (which evolved from P.P. Arnold's band), he was a founder of Emerson, Lake & Palmer (ELP), one of the early supergroups, in 1970. Following the breakup of ELP, circa 1979, Emerson had modest success with Emerson, Lake & Powell in the 1980s as well as with 3, with the album To the Power of Three. ELP reunited during the early 1990s, releasing the album Black Moon. Emerson also reunited The Nice in 2002 for a tour. His latest album, Keith Emerson Band featuring Marc Bonilla, was released in 2008.

Along with contemporaries Richard Wright of Pink Floyd, Tony Banks of Genesis, and Rick Wakeman of Yes, Emerson is widely regarded as one of the top keyboard players of the progressive rock era.^[1][2][3][4] Allmusic refers to Emerson as "perhaps the greatest, most technically accomplished keyboardist in rock history".^[5]

Biography[link]

This section may contain original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding references. Statements consisting only of original research may be removed. More details may be available on the talk page. (September 2007)

Emerson performing in concert with ELP in 1977

Emerson grew up in the seaside resort of Worthing, West Sussex, England. As a child, he learned western classical music, from which he derived a lot of inspiration to create his own style, combining classical music, jazz, and rock themes. Emerson became intrigued with the Hammond organ after hearing jazz organist Jack McDuff perform "Rock Candy" and it subsequently became his instrument of choice for performing in the late 1960s. This blending of elements is illustrated in his participation in the 1969 Music From Free Creek "supersession" project, where Emerson performs with drummer Mitch Mitchell and bassist Chuck Rainey covering, among other tracks, the Eddie Harris instrumental "Freedom Jazz Dance".

Emerson acquired his first Hammond organ when he was 15 or 16, an L-100, on "hire purchase," also known as rent-to-own.^[6]

The flamboyance that Emerson came to be known for began by chance when a fight broke out during a V.I.P.s performance in France. The band told him to keep playing so he made some explosion and machine gun sounds with his Hammond organ, which stopped the fight; everyone looked on with amazement. The other band members told him to do it at the next concert, which he did with success.^[7]

Emerson first heard the Moog when a record shop owner played Switched-On Bach for him. Emerson said: "My God that's incredible, what is that played on?" The owner then showed him the album cover. So I said, "What is that?" And he said, "That's the Moog synthesizer." My first impression was that it looked a bit like electronic skiffle."^[7]

Without one of his own, Emerson borrowed Mike Vickers' Moog for an upcoming Nice concert at the Royal Festival Hall, London with the Royal Philharmonic. Mike helped patch the Moog and the concert was a great success. Emerson's performance of Also sprach Zarathustra from the recently released 2001: A Space Odyssey was a show stopper. Emerson: "I thought this was great. I've got to have one of these."^[7]

With ELP's record deal with Atlantic came funds to buy the Moog. Keith: "It cost a lot of money and it arrived and I excitedly got it out of the box stuck it on the table and thought, 'Wow That's Great! a Moog synthesizer [pause] How do you switch it on?...There were all these leads and stuff, there was no instruction manual." Mike Vickers came through by patching it to produce six sounds and those six sounds became the foundation of ELP's sound.^[7]

In 1969, Emerson incorporated the Moog modular synthesizer into his battery of keyboards. While other artists such as The Beatles and The Rolling Stones had used the Moog in studio recordings, Emerson was the first artist to tour with one. Emerson's use of the Moog was so important to the development of new models that he was given prototypes, such as the Constellation he took on one tour^[7] and the Apollo, which had its debut on the opening track of Brain Salad Surgery, "Jerusalem."

The Moog was a temperamental device; the oscillators went out of tune with temperature change. Emerson: "I had my faithful roady Rocky tune the instrument to A 440 just prior to the audience coming in, but once the audience came into the auditorium and the temperature rose up then everything went out of tune."^[7]

Emerson with the Moog.

His willingness to experiment with the Moog led to unexpected results, such as the time he stumbled into the signature sound for Hoedown, one of ELP's most popular tunes. Emerson: "We'd started working on that arrangement and then I hit, I don't know what, I switched a blue button and I put a patch cord in there, but anyway 'whoooeee.'"^[7]

The so-called "Monster Moog," built from numerous modules, weighed in at a whopping 550 pounds, stood 10 feet tall and took 4 roadies to move. Even with its unpredictability, it became an indispensable component of not only ELP's concerts but also Emerson's.^[8]

He is known for his technical skill and for his live antics, including using knives to wedge down specific keys of his Hammond organ during solos, playing the organ upside down while having it lie over him and backwards while standing behind it, and has cited guitarist Jimi Hendrix and English organist Don Shinn as his chief theatrical influences. He also employed a special rig to rotate his piano end-over-end while he was playing it, though this of course is purely for visual effect, as a piano cannot operate as an instrument while upside down.

Emerson has performed several notable rock arrangements of classical compositions, ranging from J. S. Bach via Modest Mussorgsky to 20th century composers such as Béla Bartók, Aaron Copland, Leoš Janáček and Alberto Ginastera. Occasionally Emerson has quoted from classical and jazz works without giving credit, particularly early in his career, from the late 1960s until 1972. The song "Rondo" by The Nice is a 4/4 interpretation of "Blue Rondo à la Turk" by the Dave Brubeck Quartet, originally in 9/8 time signature. The piece is introduced by an extensive quote from Bach's Italian Concerto, third movement. In fact, considering the Bach and Emerson's own improvisations, the Brubeck contribution is merely the anchoring theme.

On ELP's eponymous first album, Emerson's classical quotes went largely uncredited. "The Barbarian" is heavily influenced by "Allegro barbaro" by Bartók, and "Knife Edge" was virtually a note-for-note restatement of "Sinfonietta" by Janáček. Note-for-note extracts were taken from pieces by Bartók, Janáček and Bach, mixed in with some original material, and credited completely to Emerson, Lake, Palmer and roadie Richard Fraser. By 1971, with the releases Pictures at an Exhibition and Trilogy, Emerson began to fully credit classical composers, Modest Mussorgsky for the piano piece which inspired the first album, and Aaron Copland for "Hoedown" on the second. Emerson was adamant that he did not use Maurice Ravel's orchestration of Pictures at an Exhibition in developing his own version.

Emerson, photographed in the mid-1980s.

Emerson provided music for a number of films since 1980, including Dario Argento's Inferno and World of Horror, the 1981 thriller Nighthawks and, more recently, Godzilla: Final Wars. He was also the composer for the short-lived 1994 animated television series Iron Man.

In 1990 Emerson toured with The Best, a short-lived supergroup which also included John Entwistle, Joe Walsh, Jeff "Skunk" Baxter and Simon Phillips.

In 2002 Emerson re-formed and toured with The Nice, though performing a longer set of ELP music using a backing band including guitarist/vocalist Dave Kilminster.

In 2004, Emerson published his autobiography entitled Pictures of an Exhibitionist, which dealt with his entire career, particularly focusing on his early days with The Nice, and his nearly career-ending nerve-graft surgery in 1993. Emerson was the headliner of both the first and third Moogfest, a festival held in honour of Robert Moog at the B.B. King Blues Club & Grill in New York City in 2004 and 2006 respectively.^[9][10]

Emerson opened the Led Zeppelin reunion/Ahmet Ertegun tribute concert at the O2 Arena in London on 10 December 2007, along with Chris Squire and Alan White (Yes) and Simon Kirke (Bad Company/Free). The supergroup played the new arrangement of "Fanfare for the Common Man".

The album Keith Emerson Band Featuring Marc Bonilla was released in August 2008. He toured with his own band in Russia, the Baltic States and Japan between August and October 2008. The tour band members were Marc Bonilla, Travis Davis and Tony Pia. On 30 June 2009, Emerson appeared as a guest during Spinal Tap's 'One Night Only World Tour' at Wembley Arena, during the songs "Short And Sweet" and "Heavy Duty".

In March 2010, Emerson received a Frankfurt Music Prize from the city of Frankfurt. In the same month, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra made a premier performance of "Tarkus" arranged by a renowned Japanese composer Takashi Yoshimatsu.

Keith Emerson & Monster Moog synthesizer, May 2010

Emerson toured with Greg Lake in the US and Canada during spring of 2010, doing a series of "An Intimate Evening with Emerson and Lake" duo shows in which they performed newly arranged versions of the music of Emerson, Lake & Palmer, The Nice, and King Crimson as well as Emerson's new original composition.

On 25 July 2010, a one-off Emerson, Lake & Palmer reunion concert closed the High Voltage Festival as the main act in Victoria Park, East London to commemorate the band's 40th anniversary.

In September 2010, Emerson released a message stating "During a routine medical examination, a colonoscopy revealed a rather dangerous polyp in my lower colon. It is of the conclusion of the doctors here in London that I must undergo surgery immediately. Unfortunately, the timing of this urgent surgery does not allow me to start touring in early October because of the required period of hospitalization and recuperation. I must remain optimistic that all will turn out well".

In September 2011, Emerson began working with the renowned conductor Terje Mikkelsen, along with the Keith Emerson Band featuring Marc Bonilla and The Munich Radio Orchestra on new orchestral renditions of ELP classics and their new compositions. In recent years, several notable classic music composers, conductors and musicians have been performing various orchestral versions of Emerson’s compositions, such as “Tarkus” and “Piano Concerto No.1”, around the world. As of 2011, the documentary film about Emerson is in production. He occasionally sits in with jazz orchestras performing new arrangements of ELP pieces as well as standard jazz pieces.

Instrumentation and playing style[link]

This section may contain original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding references. Statements consisting only of original research may be removed. More details may be available on the talk page. (February 2011)

On stage Emerson started out on Hammond organ, with a grand piano toward the back of the stage. By the end of his time with The Nice, the standard arrangement was two Hammond organs, a C-3 (only cosmetically different than a B-3) and an L-100, placed facing each other with the C-3 to the left from the audience point of view. The L-100 took plenty of abuse during the stage act and was usually reinforced, to the point where it weighed so much that, on at least one occasion, Emerson became trapped beneath it and had to be rescued by a roadie. At any given time Emerson is said to have owned several L-100 models, in various stages of repair, to support his act. The C-3, in contrast, seems to have lasted for years.

Although the Hammond L-100 with its shorter manuals is considered a "poor man's" Hammond, Emerson not only played much of the early Nice music on his L-100, but also made good use of some of its unique features which his bigger Hammond C-3 does not provide. The L-100 has a self-starting motor, which - if turned off and on in short intervals - renders the whole organ into a wailing howl while the note generator, which is tied to a synchronous motor, tries to recover to pitch. The L-100 also features a spring-loaded reverb tank, which produces bomb-like noises if shaken. Both effects can be heard in abundance on "Rondo 69". On "Ars Longa Vita Brevis" Emerson even uses the reverb tank as a musical instrument, tapping the internal spring against the tank bottom in an effort to create a chromatic scale of "boings".

With ELP, Emerson added the Moog synthesiser behind the C-3 with the keyboard and ribbon controller stacked on the top of the organ. The ribbon controller allowed Emerson to vary pitch, volume or timbre of the output from the Moog by moving his finger up and down the length of a touch-sensitive strip. It also could be used as a phallic symbol, which quickly became a feature of the act. When the Minimoog entered the act it was placed where needed, such as on top of the grand piano. The same location was also used for an electric Clavinet keyboard, used almost exclusively for the encore piece "Nut Rocker".

During the Brain Salad Surgery tour of 1974 (one show of which was documented on the 3-LP set, Welcome Back My Friends, to the Show That Never Ends), Emerson's keyboard setup included the Hammond C-3 organ, run through multiple Leslie speakers driven by HiWatt guitar amplifiers, the Moog 3C modular synthesiser (modified by addition of various modules and an oscilloscope) with ribbon controller, a Steinway concert grand piano with a Moog Minimoog synthesiser on top of it (used for the steel drum part on Karn Evil 9, 2nd Impression), an upright acoustic-electric piano that was used for honky-tonk piano sounds, a Hohner Clavinet and another Moog Minimoog synthesiser. Emerson also used a prototype polyphonic synthesiser produced by Moog, which was the test bed for the Moog Polymoog polyphonic synthesiser. The original synthesiser setup as envisioned by Moog was called the Constellation, and consisted of three instruments - the polyphonic synthesiser, called the Apollo, a monophonic lead synthesizer called the Lyra, and a bass-pedal synthesiser, called the Taurus. Moog eventually produced the Moog Taurus bass pedal synthesiser as a separate instrument, as well as the Polymoog Synthesiser and Polymoog Keyboard. The Apollo polyphonic synthesiser is currently at a keyboard museum in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Emerson still owns the Lyra synthesiser.

Occasionally Emerson used a pipe organ, when available. In particular, at the Newcastle City Hall he used the Harrison & Harrison pipe organ for the introductory section of Pictures at an Exhibition. The organ is located at the rear above the stage, at the top of a series of steps where choirs can stand. The end of the introductory passage is followed by a drum roll, covering the time while Emerson descended the steps. While all went well for the recording used to produce the album, the debut tour performance at the same venue ground to a halt as the power failed, just as Emerson arrived at the Hammond organ to open the next part of the piece. After a lengthy delay the performance continued with only the Hammond L-100 functioning.

Emerson also used the organ at the Royal Festival Hall for "The Three Fates" from the eponymous debut album by the group. He also used another pipe organ for "The Only Way (Hymn)" from Tarkus. It is not known if he used it in a live context outside of the aforementioned Pictures.

Amplifiers and speakers behind Emerson became more elaborate, including a Leslie unit. There was also a board attached to the front of the stack, intended as a target for his knife throwing. He was given his trademark knife, an authentic Nazi dagger, by Lemmy, who was a roadie for The Nice in his earlier days.^[11] During the Brain Salad Surgery tour, at the end of the show, a sequencer in the Moog Modular synthesiser was set running at an increasing rate, with the Moog Synthesiser pivoting to face the audience while a large pair of silver bat wings was deployed at the back of the synthesiser.

As the technology of electronic keyboard instruments became more sophisticated, Emerson was quick to adopt new instruments, such as the Yamaha GX1 polyphonic synthesiser, one of which can be seen on the video promoting "Fanfare for the Common Man". Emerson was reported to have spent $50,000 to buy the Yamaha GX-1 synthesiser at the time of the Works Volume 1 album. Emerson later bought a 2nd GX-1 from John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin, to use to repair his GX-1, which was damaged by a tractor crash into Emerson's home studio. At the time that Emerson left England in the early 1990s to move to Santa Monica, California, he sold the majority of his keyboard equipment, though not the modular Moog. The original Yamaha GX-1 was bought by Hans Zimmer of movie soundtrack fame, while the John Paul Jones GX-1 was bought by a collector in Italy.

In 1978, Emerson became the official endorser of the world's first fully polyphonic synthesisers, the Korg PS-3300 and PS-3100. He started recording with them around this time too and the Korg PS-3300 was heavily used on the ELP album Love Beach. He carried on using it into the 1980s, the instrument dominating the 1981 film soundtrack for Nighthawks which starred Sylvester Stallone.

On the grand piano, Emerson refused to limit his technique. He would sometimes reach into the interior and hit, pluck or strum the strings with his hand. The introduction to "Take a Pebble" included chords and arpeggios played by pressing down on keys, to raise the dampers from the strings, and playing the strings inside the piano as one might play the autoharp. In the live performance of "Hang On to A Dream" with the Nice, recorded for the post-breakup album Elegy, he performed a cadenza of sorts hitting the piano strings with a small hammer, followed by a lengthy wind-down, returning to the song in which he alternated keyboard arpeggios with blows directly on the bass strings. The standard finale to the song has him reaching into the piano with fingers spread on both hands to pluck the final chord, presumably depressing the sustain pedal at the same time to lift all the string dampers. This can be clearly seen on a performance filmed for the television programme, Beat Club.

Discography[link]

Solo[link]

• Inferno - soundtrack (1980)
• Nighthawks - soundtrack (1981)
• Honky (1982)
• Best Revenge - soundtrack (1985)
• Murder Rock - soundtrack (1986)
• The Emerson Collection (1986)
• Harmageddon/China Free Fall (1987)
• The Christmas Album (1988)
• Changing States (aka Cream of Emerson Soup) (1995)
• Emerson Plays Emerson (2002)
• La Chiesa - soundtrack (2002)
• Godzilla: Final Wars - soundtrack (2004)
• At the Movies (2005)
• Hammer It Out (anthology) (2005)
• Off the Shelf (2006)
• Keith Emerson Band featuring Marc Bonilla (2008)
• "Moscow" - live album CD & DVD (2010)

As part of a group[link]

For Emerson's work with The Nice, see The Nice Discography. For Emerson's work with Emerson, Lake & Palmer, see Emerson, Lake & Palmer discography. For Emerson's work with Emerson, Lake & Powell, see Emerson, Lake & Powell Discography. For Emerson's work with 3, see 3 Discography.

Emerson also appeared with the short-lived group Aliens of Extraordinary Ability with Stuart Smith, Richie Onori, Marvin Sperling and Robbie Wykoff.^[12]

Partial list of pieces based on other composers' works[link]

Note that lack of credit does not imply plagiarism. It is certain that, where required, royalties were paid to composers or their estates. Permission to use pieces was sometimes denied by the composer's family or estate, as for instance with Gustav Holst's Mars, the Bringer of War. Aaron Copland was said to be somewhat puzzled by Emerson's take on Fanfare For the Common Man, but approved its use. Alberto Ginastera, on the other hand, was thrilled by Emerson's electronic realization of his first piano concerto, the fourth movement of which appeared on their album Brain Salad Surgery under the title "Toccata," and declared that he wished he could have done it in that fashion.

With the Nice[link]

• "America, 2nd Amendment", from West Side Story's "America", by Leonard Bernstein, credited, quoting Antonín Dvořák's symphony No. 9, From the New World, uncredited.
• "Rondo", derived from Dave Brubeck's "Blue Rondo à la Turk", uncredited, quoting Bach, Italian Concerto third movement, uncredited.
• "Diary of an Empty Day", from Symphonie Espagnole by Édouard Lalo, credited.
• "Azrael Revisited", quoting Sergei Rachmaninoff's Prelude in C-sharp minor, credited, and Lennie Tristano's Turkish Mambo, uncredited.
• "Ars Longa Vita Brevis" - Bach, the third Brandenburg Concerto, Allegro, credited.
• "Intermezzo from the Karelia Suite" - Sibelius, credited.
• "Pathetique", Symphony No. 6 by Tchaikovsky, credited.
• "Hang on to a Dream", from "How Can We Hang On To A Dream?" by Tim Hardin, credited, quoting (during a live recording) "Summertime", from Porgy and Bess by George Gershwin, uncredited.
• "She Belongs to Me", by Bob Dylan, credited, quoting Bach, uncredited, and fragments of the theme from The Magnificent Seven, by Elmer Bernstein, uncredited.
• "Country Pie", by Bob Dylan, credited, lyrics partly set to Bach, the sixth Brandenburg Concerto, credited.

With ELP[link]

• "The Barbarian", based on Allegro barbaro, Sz. 49, BB 63 by Béla Bartók, uncredited on US release of Emerson Lake & Palmer (credited on the British Manticore re-pressing of the original LP, on the back cover of the LP jacket).
• "Knife Edge", based on Sinfonietta by Leoš Janáček, uncredited on US release (credited on the British Manticore re-pressing of the original LP, on the back cover of the LP jacket); middle section based on French Suites by J.S. Bach, uncredited.
• "The Only Way (Hymn)", incorporating (in the song's introduction and bridge) J.S. Bach's Toccata in F and Prelude VI, credited on Tarkus.
• "Are You Ready Eddy?", based on the tune of Bobby Troup's song "The Girl Can't Help It" and including a quote from the Assembly bugle call, both uncredited (on Tarkus).
• Pictures at an Exhibition, by Modest Mussorgsky, credited.
• "Blues Variation" from Pictures at an Exhibition also contains an uncredited quote of the 'head' of Bill Evans' minor blues piece "Interplay", during Keith Emerson's Hammond Organ solo.
• "Nutrocker", adapted by Kim Fowley (credited) from Tchaikovsky's "March of the Wooden Soldiers" (uncredited).
• "Hoedown", from Rodeo by Aaron Copland, credited, quoting "Shortenin' Bread" and "Turkey in the Straw"", both traditional.
• "Abaddon's Bolero", quoting "The Girl I Left Behind", traditional.
• "Jerusalem", by C. Hubert H. Parry, credited.
• "Toccata", from a piano concerto by Alberto Ginastera, endorsed by the composer, credited.
• "Karn Evil 9, 2nd Impression", quoting "St. Thomas", a Caribbean melody sometimes attributed to Sonny Rollins, uncredited.
• "Fanfare for the Common Man", by Aaron Copland, credited.
• Carmina Burana, by Carl Orff, quoted in an extended solo in live recordings from Poland.
• With Emerson, Lake & Powell, the main theme to "Touch & Go" is identical to the English folk song "Lovely Joan", better known as the counterpoint tune in Ralph Vaughan Williams Fantasia on Greensleeves Not credited.^[13]
• "Romeo & Juliet" from Romeo and Juliet suite by Sergei Prokofiev, credited.
• "Love at First Sight" intro, 12 Etudes Op.10 (a son ami Franz Liszst) - No.1 in C major, allegro, by Frederic Chopin, uncredited.

With Billy Sherwood[link]

• "In The Flesh" (and Steve Porcaro + Vinnie Colaiuta, on Back Against The Wall) (2005)
• "Black Dog" (and Alan White, on Led box The ultimate Led Zeppelin tribute) (2008)

Contemporary usage[link]

The surreal comedy series, Big Train, featured Emerson portrayed by Kevin Eldon, as a Roman slave fighting his enemies with progressive rock.^[14]

See also[link]

• List of Hammond organ players
• List of Moog synthesizer players

References[link]

• Forrester, George, Martyn Hanson and Frank Askew. Emerson, Lake & Palmer, The Show That Never Ends, A Musical Biography. (2001) Helter Skelter Publishing ISBN 1-900924-17-X.
• Keith Emerson, Pictures of an Exhibitionist. (2004) ISBN 1-84454-053-7

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Keith Emerson

• Official website
• Keith Emerson at Allmusic
• Keith Emerson at the Internet Movie Database
• Official ELP website

Chris Broderick
Chris Broderick offstage in Kiev, Ukraine, in March 2011
Background information
Birth name	Christopher Broderick
Born	(1970-03-06) March 6, 1970 (age 42) Lakewood, Colorado, USA
Genres	Heavy metal, thrash metal, hard rock, speed metal, power metal, progressive metal, classical music
Occupations	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Guitar, keyboards, vocals, bass, violin, piano
Years active	1989–present
Associated acts	Megadeth, Jag Panzer, Nevermore
Website	www.chrisbroderick.com
Notable instruments
Ibanez RG1527 Prestige 7 String Jackson Guitars

Christopher Broderick (born March 6, 1970) is the lead and rhythm guitarist of the American thrash metal band Megadeth. He currently resides in Sherman Oaks, California. Formerly the lead guitarist and keyboardist for Jag Panzer, he appeared on four of Jag Panzer's albums The Age of Mastery, Thane to the Throne (a concept album about Shakespeare's Macbeth), Mechanized Warfare and Casting the Stones before moving on to Megadeth, replacing Glen Drover. Before joining Megadeth and while still in Jag Panzer, he was also a touring guitarist for Nevermore between 2001 and 2003 and then again between 2006 and 2007.

Biography[link]

Early years[link]

Broderick started playing guitar when he was 11 years old. His playing styles range from metal, classical, neoclassical, and jazz. Broderick has been said to have practiced 14 hours a day during his summers as a teen. He practiced electric guitar, classical guitar, piano, and violin under a strict daily routine. He has said that at that time it seemed more like a "chore" than for entertainment.^[1] He was a standout player in the Denver music scene from 1988 on in bands Grey Haven, Industrial Eden (guitarist/lead vocalist) and Killing Time.

He also has a degree in classical guitar music performance at the University of Denver's Lamont School of Music.^[2] He is also interested in flamenco guitar and rates Paco de Lucia as his favourite guitarist.^[3]

Jag Panzer (1997-2008)[link]

In 1997, guitarist Joey Tafolla left Jag Panzer for the second and final time, citing a lack of interest in playing heavy metal. For the band, this was a huge problem. Tafolla's guitar work was complex and technical, and as far as they knew few guitarists could comprehend it. This is when Chris was brought into the fold of Jag Panzer and stayed with them for almost a decade. He played on four of the band's albums. 1998's The Age of Mastery, 2000's Thane to the Throne (a concept album about William Shakespeare's play Macbeth), 2001's Mechanized Warfare, and 2004's Casting the Stones.

Nevermore (2001-2003, 2006-2007)[link]

During the time period of 2000 - 2003 and some of 2004 Chris was taking part in the live shows of heavy metal band Nevermore. After the release of the album, This Godless Endeavor, he began once again to tour with Nevermore until his recent joining in with Megadeth.

Megadeth (2008-present)[link]

Broderick performing live with Megadeth.

In late 2007, rumors had been circulating that Megadeth guitarist Glen Drover had left the band. This was proved to be true after statements released from both Glen and Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine. The night after the statements were released, Megadeth drummer Shawn Drover brought up Chris as a possible replacement. Shawn then proceeded to show Dave a video of Chris playing both classical and electric guitar. Dave was immediately won over and soon managed to get in contact with Chris. Two weeks later, Broderick was officially declared the new guitarist for Megadeth. He made his live debut with the band on February 4, 2008 in Finland and toured with them on Gigantour 2008 and also recorded guitar parts on their 12th album Endgame. He has stated due to extensive touring with Megadeth he will no longer be able to collaborate with Jag Panzer and Nevermore. Dave Mustaine said that when he partnered up with Broderick, he said that it reminded him of when "Ozzy Osbourne met Randy Rhoads". On March 8, 2009, Dave commented that he thought Chris was the greatest guitarist Megadeth has ever had. In the current line up of the band, he is the youngest member in Megadeth.^[4] He said in a interview with Total Guitar he will stay with Megadeth as long as they are happy to have him.

Equipment[link]

Chris was endorsed by Ibanez guitars and DiMarzio Pickups (A Pair of D Activator 7's neck and bridge models) along with ENGL amplifiers and Ernie Ball Slinky strings. Before using Ibanez Guitars, he used Schecter Guitars with Seymour Duncan pickups. In the past he has also used Bare Knuckle Pickups, mainly the coldsweat models.

Despite an ENGL endorsement, both he and Dave used Marshall JVM amplifiers to record Endgame. Mustaine prefers the sound of Marshall amps in Megadeth and thus would not allow Broderick to use ENGL.

In January 2011, Chris Broderick left Ibanez and is now endorsing Jackson Guitars. He is playing a custom shop archtop soloist produced to his personal demands, featuring 24 frets, 12" radius, custom DiMarzio pickups (tentatively called the Fundamental) and is available in a 6 or 7 string configuration.^[5] Chris uses Dunlop Tortex Sharp picks in 1.35mm. Chris uses a pick holder that keeps the pick in place on his thumb, which he has patented with hopes to be in retail production, as stated in his June 2010 Chaos Theory lesson for Guitar World.

Bands[link]

• Jag Panzer 1997–2008
• Nevermore 2001–2003, 2006–2007 (only was live member)
• Megadeth 2008–Present

Discography[link]

Megadeth[link]

• Blood in the Water: Live in San Diego (2008)
• Endgame (2009)
• Rust in Peace Live (2010)
• The Big 4 Live from Sofia, Bulgaria (2010)
• Thirteen (2011)

Jag Panzer[link]

• The Age of Mastery (1998)
• Thane to the Throne (2000)
• Mechanized Warfare (2001)
• The Era of Kings and Conflict (2002)
• Casting the Stones (2004)

Nevermore[link]

• The Year of the Voyager (2008)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Chris Broderick

• Chris Broderick's official website
• Jag Panzer's official website
• Megadeth's official website
• Skill Showcase

Jordan Rudess
Jordan Rudess with Dream Theater 2007
Background information
Birth name	Jordan Charles Rudes
Also known as	The Keyboard Wizard[citation needed]
Born	(1956-11-04) November 4, 1956 (age 55)
Origin	Great Neck, New York, USA
Genres	Progressive rock, progressive metal, instrumental rock, jazz fusion, New Age, electronic music
Occupations	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Keyboards, lap steel guitar, Morphwiz on iPad, electric guitar, vocals, continuum, keytar, Bassoon Tablet PC, Harpejji
Years active	1981–present
Associated acts	Dream Theater, Dixie Dregs, Liquid Tension Experiment, John Petrucci, Rod Morgenstein, David Bowie, Vinnie Moore, Tom Coster, Kip Winger, Nóirín Ní Riain, Rhonda Larson, Paul Winter, Scott McGill, Steven Wilson, Prefab Sprout, Jupiter, Neal Morse, Daniel J, Neil Zaza, Annie Haslam, John-Luke Addison, Behold... The Arctopus, Liquid Trio Experiment, Enrique Iglesias, Mr. Fastfinger, Ricky Garcia, Frost*
Website	http://www.jordanrudess.com

Jordan Rudess (born Jordan Charles^[1][2] Rudes on November 4, 1956) is an American keyboardist best known as a member of the progressive metal band Dream Theater and the progressive rock supergroup Liquid Tension Experiment.

Biography[link]

Rudess was born in 1956 into a Jewish family. He was recognized by his 2nd grade teacher for his piano playing and was immediately given professional tuition. At nine, he entered the Juilliard School of Music Pre-College Division for classical piano training, but by his late teens he had grown increasingly interested in synthesizers and progressive rock music. Against the counsel of his parents and tutors, he turned away from classical piano and tried his hand as a solo progressive rock keyboardist.^[3]

After performing in various projects during the 1980s, he gained international attention in 1994 when he was voted "Best New Talent" in the Keyboard Magazine readers' poll after the release of his Listen solo album. Two of the bands who took notice of Rudess were The Dixie Dregs and Dream Theater, both of whom invited him to join. Rudess chose the Dregs, primarily as being a part time member of the band would have less of an impact on his young family, a choice he was not given with Dream Theater.

During his time with the Dregs, Rudess formed a "power duo" with drummer Rod Morgenstein. The genesis of this pairing occurred when a power outage caused all of the Dregs' instruments to fail except Rudess', so he and Morgenstein improvised with each other until power was restored and the concert could continue. The chemistry between the two was so strong during this jam that they decided to perform together on a regular basis (under the name Rudess/Morgenstein Project or later RMP) and have since released a studio and a live record.

Rudess encountered Dream Theater once again when he and Morgenstein secured the support slot on one of Dream Theater's North American tours.

In 1997, when Mike Portnoy was asked to form a supergroup by Magna Carta Records, Rudess was chosen to fill the keyboardist spot in the band, which also consisted of Tony Levin and Portnoy's Dream Theater colleague John Petrucci. During the recording of Liquid Tension Experiment's two albums, it became evident to Portnoy and Petrucci that Rudess was what Dream Theater needed. They asked Rudess to join the band, and when he accepted they released their then-keyboardist Derek Sherinian to make way for him.

Rudess has been the full-time keyboardist in Dream Theater since the recording of 1999's Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory. He has recorded six other studio albums with the group: 2002's Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, 2003's Train of Thought, 2005's Octavarium, 2007's Systematic Chaos, 2009's Black Clouds & Silver Linings and 2011's A Dramatic Turn of Events. In addition, he has appeared on the live albums Live Scenes From New York, Live at Budokan, Score and Chaos in Motion.

In addition to working with Dream Theater he occasionally records and performs in other contexts, such as a 2001 one-off duo performance with Petrucci (released as the CD An Evening With John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess), as well as backing up Blackfield on their first short US tour in 2005 and playing a solo opening slot for them on their second in 2007. He also contributed to Steven Wilson's 2011 album, Grace for Drowning.^[4]

In 2010, Rudess composed "Explorations for Keyboard and Orchestra," his first classical composition. It was premiered in Venezuela on November 19, 2010 by the Chacao Youth Symphony Orchestra and guest conductor Eren Başbuğ. Rudess played all of the keyboard and synthesizer parts.

On July 28, 2011, in a poll conducted by MusicRadar, Rudess was voted the best keyboardist of all time.^[5]

Rudess says his influences as a keyboardist are Keith Emerson, Tony Banks, Rick Wakeman and Patrick Moraz.^[6] His favorite musical artists and groups include Gentle Giant, Yes, Genesis, Pink Floyd, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, King Crimson, Jimi Hendrix, Autechre, and Aphex Twin.^[7]

Use of technology[link]

While many keyboard players in progressive rock tend towards bringing numerous keyboards on stage, creating large racks of keyboards, Rudess took full advantage of the possibilities offered by the Kurzweil K2600xs during his live usage of the keyboard from the 1990s to 2004. Often sampling sounds from other keyboards he owned, Rudess creates a series of "setups", each of which maps different sounds to different layers and key ranges of the keyboard controller; these setups are then arranged in the order they will be required for a gig, and cycled through one at a time with a foot-switch (a control pedal placed on the floor underneath his keyboard). He often maps sounds to exact notes on the keyboard to avoid playing chords on sounds that are meant to be monophonic and to create realistic percussion sounds under the pitched sounds he is playing.

While Rudess' physical method of changing live setups will more than likely remain the same, his choice of hardware to implement this changed as of 2005. Citing a need for better tour support and more current technologies (his Kurzweil K2600XS's maximum sample memory of 128 MB had become insufficient for his touring needs), Rudess switched keyboard endorsements from Kurzweil to Korg's new flagship Korg Oasys workstation (which can support up to 2 GB of sample memory^[8]), which he first used on Dream Theater's 2005-2006 20th Anniversary tour, along with a Muse Receptor hardware VST and a Haken Continuum X/Y/Z-plane MIDI Instrument triggering a Roland V-Synth XT and a Synthesizers.com Modular. Rudess is the first well known keyboardist to bring a Haken Continuum on to a live stage. Rudess still uses the Kurzweil for studio recordings and some of his most well known sounds, such as "the pig", one of his signature sounds which is often played in unison with the guitar or bass guitar, were sounds from the K2600xs. In 2011 Jordan switched from the Oasys to the new flagship Korg Kronos. So on the concerts with Dream Theater now he uses the Korg Kronos together with a Haken Continuum, a lap steel guitar and a Harpejji and an iPad.

Since 2001, Rudess uses custom made rotating keyboard stands on stage for both Dream Theater and his solo career, which are built by Patrick Slaats from the Netherlands.^[3] On Dream Theater's 2007-2008 "Chaos in Motion" world tour, Rudess expanded his live setup with the addition of a Korg RADIAS, a Manikin Memotron,^[9] and a Zen Riffer keytar. Rudess stopped using his Synthesizers.com modular after the European leg of the tour due to its size and weight. Rudess still owns the synthesizer and keeps it inactive in his home studio. During the Progressive Nation 2008 tour, he introduced on the stage a Kaoss Pad 3 for the closing medley.

For the 2009-2010 tour, in support of Black Clouds & Silver Linings, Jordan introduced the Apple iPod Touch on stage, running an application called Bebot Robot Synth.^[10] He plays it during A Rite of Passage - both studio album and live versions of the song - and frequently uses it for improvised solos, like in Hollow Years' intro and during a new instrumental section on Solitary Shell.

On September 24, 2010, Rudess released the song "Krump," which was an electronica "single" released on iTunes. It featured the use of the new Roland Gaia, Roland's more recent keyboard.

Equipment[link]

Studio equipment[link]

• Korg Kronos (88 keys)
• Korg OASYS (88 keys)
• Korg Triton Extreme (88 keys)
• Korg RADIAS
• Haken Audio Continuum Fingerboard_{Rudess uses the upgraded half size model, which comes with inbuilt sounds as well as being used as a MIDI controller keyboard}
• Eigenharp Alpha
• Muse Research Receptor
• Kurzweil K2600X/S (88 keys)
• Kurzweil K2000VP
• Kurzweil K2600R
• Kurzweil PC2R
• Kurzweil K2661
• Roland Fantom-X8
• Roland Fantom G8
• Manikin Memotron
• Minimoog Voyager
• Roland V-Synth XT
• Roland V-Synth GT
• Roland VP-550
• Roland SH-01 GAIA
• Roland SH-201
• Synthesizers.com Modular synthesizer
• Dave Smith Instruments Evolver Keyboard
• A custom built lap steel guitar
• Harpejji by Marcodi Musical Products, LLC
• Clavia Nord Wave
• Dave Smith Instruments Prophet 08
• Novation Supernova
• Moog Little Phatty
• Moogfooger Freq Box
• Stylophone 350S
• Yamaha Tenori-On
• Apple Inc. iPod Touch
• Apple Inc. iPad
• PRS 6 string guitar
• A bass guitar (manufacturer unknown)
• A Music Man John Petrucci 6 string guitar (this particular guitar being the original prototype of Petrucci's signature model)
• Steinway & Sons model D Grand Piano

Virtual instruments[link]

• MOTU MachFive
• MOTU MX4 Soft Synth
• Korg Legacy Collection
• Spectrasonics Omnisphere^[11]
• Spectrasonics Atmosphere
• Spectrasonics Trilogy
• Spectrasonics Stylus
• Native Instruments Komplete 2
• Native Instruments Absynth
• Native Instruments B4 Organ
• Native Instruments Guitar Rig
• Native Instruments FM7
• Native Instruments Pro 53
• Synthogy Ivory
• Bebot Robot Synth for iPhone
• Korg iElectribe for iPad
• Looptastic for iPad
• Magic Piano for iPad
• JR Hexatone Pro for iPhone/iPod Touch
• ThumbJam for iPhone/iPod Touch
• Sampletoy for iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad
• MorphWiz for iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad
• SampleWiz for iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad

Live Rig[link]

• Korg Kronos (88 keys) _{Dream Theater}
• Korg Triton Extreme (88 keys) _{solo project}
• Korg KARMA _{solo project}
• Steinway grand piano _{solo project}
• Roland Fantom-G8 _{Liquid Tension Experiment and occasionally for Dream Theater's studio work}
• Freehand Systems Music Pad Pro _{Often known to fans as the "scratch pad", as he uses it to write down musical ideas. The sheet music for the entire live set is displayed on the pad for Rudess to refer to as he plays.}
• 3x Roland V-Synth XT
• Custom made rotating keyboardstands, by Patrick Slaats^[4]
• Lap steel guitar
• Haken Continuum Fingerboard _{controls one Roland V-Synth XT and also controlled his modular synth.}
• Zen Riffer ZR2 keytar, which controls a Roland V-Synth XT like his continuum.
• Apple Inc. iPod Touch
• Apple Inc. iPad
• Mackie 1604VLZ Pro Mixer
• APS Power backup
• Glyph and Iomega Hard drives
• Korg Kaoss Pad 3
• Muse Research Receptor
• Synthesizers.com Custom Modular Synth _{currently retired, was used to play "On the run" and was also controlled by his continuum}

Discography[link]

Rudess has participated in 59 albums.

Solo albums[link]

• Arrival (Cassette) (1988)
• Listen (CD) (1993)
• Secrets of the Muse (CD) (1997)
• Resonance (CD) (1999)
• Unplugged (CD) (2000)
• Feeding the Wheel (CD) (2001)
• 4NYC (CD) (2002)
• Christmas Sky (CD) (2002)
• Rhythm of Time (CD) (2004)
• Prime Cuts (CD) (2006, compilation)
• The Road Home (CD) (2007, covers album)
• Notes On a Dream (CD) (2009)

Dream Theater[link]

• Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory (CD) (1999)
• Metropolis 2000: Scenes from New York (VHS/DVD) (2001)
• Live Scenes from New York (3CD) (2001)
• Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence (2CD) (2002)
• Train of Thought (CD) (2003)
• Live at Budokan (2DVD/3CD) (2004)
• Octavarium (CD) (2005)
• Score (2DVD/3CD) (2006)
• Systematic Chaos (CD) (2007)
• Chaos in Motion (2DVD/3CD) (2008)
• Black Clouds & Silver Linings (2009)
• A Dramatic Turn Of Events (2011)

Project albums[link]

• Rudess/Morgenstein Project (CD) (1997)
• An Evening with John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess (CD) (2000)
• Rudess/Morgenstein Project - The Official Bootleg (CD) (2001)

Liquid Tension Experiment[link]

• Liquid Tension Experiment (CD) (1998)
• Liquid Tension Experiment 2 (CD) (1999)
• Spontaneous Combustion (CD) (2007, as Liquid Trio Experiment)
• When the Keyboard Breaks: Live in Chicago (CD) (2009, as Liquid Trio Experiment 2)
• Liquid Tension Experiment Live 2008 - Limited Edition Boxset (6CD/2DVD/1 Blu-ray) (2009)

Guest appearances[link]

• Vinnie Moore - Time Odyssey (1988)
• Tom Coster - Did Jah Miss Me? (1989)
• Annie Haslam - Blessing in Disguise (1994)
• Nóirín Ní Riain - Celtic Soul (1996)
• Kip Winger - This Conversation Seems Like A Dream (1997)
• Rhonda Larson - Free as a Bird (1999)
• Jupiter - Jupiter Project (1999)
• Paul Winter and The Earth Band - Journey With The Sun (2000)
• Scott McGill - Addition by Subtraction (2001)
• Prefab Sprout - The Gunman And Other Stories (2001)
• David Bowie - Heathen (2002)
• Jupiter - Echo and Art (2003)
• Neal Morse - ? (2005)
• Daniel J - Losing Time (2005)
• Neil Zaza - When Gravity Fails (2006)
• John-Luke Addison - Multiple Valences
• Behold... the Arctopus - Skullgrid (2007)
• K3 - Under A Spell (2007)
• Ricky Garcia - Let Sleeping Dogs Lie (2008)
• Steven Wilson - Insurgentes (2008–2009)
• Michel Lazaro - Vision (2010)
• Steven Wilson - Grace For Drowning (2011)
• Len & Vani Greene - Luminosity (2011)
• Affector - Harmagedon (2012)

Other[link]

• Speedway Boulevard - Speedway Boulevard (CD) (1981)
• Various Artists - Romscape (1995)
• Steinway to Heaven - Chopin's "Revolutionary Etude (Op. 10, No. 12)" (1996)

References[link]

This article uses bare URLs for citations. Please consider adding full citations so that the article remains verifiable. Several templates and the Reflinks tool are available to assist in formatting. (Reflinks documentation) (September 2011)

External links[link]

This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links, and converting useful links where appropriate into footnote references. (September 2011)

• Jordan's website
• Dream Theater's website
• Accent Magazine (Jordan's Online Magazine)
• Jordan's Online Conservatory
• Jordan Rudess performing on continuum live
• Jordan Rudess Liquid T Lead emulation tutorial on Progsounds.com
• Jordan Rudess emulated patches for various synths on Progsounds.com
• Wiki about Jordan and his equipment (French & English)
• Biography, pics, reviews and bonuses
• Jordan Rudess Youtube page

Captain Jack Sparrow is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the Pirates of the Caribbean film series created by screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, portrayed by Johnny Depp. He is first introduced in the film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003). He later appears in the sequels Dead Man's Chest (2006), At World's End (2007), and On Stranger Tides (2011). Jack Sparrow was originally conceived as a supporting character. He was brought to life by the actor Johnny Depp, who based his characterization on The Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards and cartoon character Pepé Le Pew. He tends to become rather frustrated whenever someone pronounces his name without the term "Captain".

The series Pirates of the Caribbean was inspired by a Disney theme park ride, and in 2006, when the ride was revamped, the character of Jack Sparrow was introduced to it. Jack Sparrow is also the subject of a children's book series, Pirates of the Caribbean: Jack Sparrow, which chronicles his teenage years and the character has also appeared in numerous video games.

In the context of the films, Sparrow is one of the Brethren Court, the Pirate Lords of the Seven Seas. He can be treacherous and survives mostly by using wit and negotiation rather than weapons or force, preferring to flee most dangerous situations and fight only when necessary. Sparrow is introduced seeking to regain his ship, the Black Pearl, from his mutinous first mate, Hector Barbossa, and attempts to escape his blood debt to the legendary Davy Jones while battling the East India Trading Company.

Films[link]

[edit] The Curse of the Black Pearl

Captain Jack Sparrow first appears in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, where he arrives in Port Royal looking to commandeer a ship. Despite rescuing Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley), the daughter of Governor Weatherby Swann (Jonathan Pryce) from drowning, he is jailed for piracy. That night, a cursed ship called the Black Pearl attacks Port Royal, capturing Elizabeth in the process. Its captain, Hector Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush), is trying desperately to break an ancient Aztec curse that he and the crew are under. Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), a blacksmith who loves Elizabeth, frees Sparrow to aid him in rescuing her. They steal the HMS Interceptor and acquire a crew in Tortuga before heading to Isla de Muerta, where Elizabeth is being held captive. Along the way, Will learns that Sparrow was originally captain of the Pearl, but Barbossa posed as his first mate in order to steal the ship from him – eventually leaving him marooned on a desert island eight years ago. While attempting to infiltrate Isla de Muerta, they are quickly captured, and Barbossa maroons both Sparrow and Elizabeth on the same deserted island where he left Jack years ago.

The pair are rescued by the British Royal Navy, after Elizabeth uses some rum found on the island to send off a smoke bomb signal. In order to escape hanging, Sparrow cuts a deal to deliver them the Black Pearl. During the film's final battle at Isla de Muerta, Sparrow steals a cursed coin, making himself immortal so he can fight Barbossa. He shoots his rival with the same bullet he has carried for ten years just as Will breaks the curse, killing Barbossa. Sparrow is captured and later sentenced to death.

At his scheduled execution in Port Royal, Will comes to his rescue, but they are quickly caught. Right at that moment Elizabeth shows her love for Will, and he is pardoned, while Sparrow escapes by falling off the sea wall. He is rescued by the Black Pearl crew, and made captain once more. Apparently impressed by the clever pirate, Commodore James Norrington (Jack Davenport) allows him one day's head start before giving chase.^[2]

[edit] Dead Man's Chest

In the sequel, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Sparrow searches for the Dead Man's Chest, which will help him to "control" the seas and save himself: thirteen years earlier, Sparrow bartered his soul to Captain Davy Jones (Bill Nighy) in return for Jones raising the sunken Black Pearl and making Sparrow captain. In the film, Sparrow must either serve for one hundred years aboard the Flying Dutchman, or be taken by the Kraken to Davy Jones's Locker.

The Dead Man's Chest contains Jones's heart, which Sparrow can use as leverage against Jones and end his debt. Adding to Sparrow's woes, Lord Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander) of the East India Trading Company wants to settle his own debt with Sparrow and forces Will Turner to search for him. Will finds Sparrow and his crew hiding from the Kraken on Pelegosto, where they have been captured by cannibals. They escape, but Davy Jones captures them and demands that Jack pay his debt. Jack argues that he was captain for only two years before he was mutinied by Barbossa, but Jones rejects his argument, stating that he's been calling himself "Captain" Jack Sparrow for the allotted years.

Sparrow betrays Will to Davy Jones as part of a new deal to deliver 100 souls in exchange for his own. Sparrow recruits sailors in Tortuga, where he unexpectedly encounters Elizabeth and the disgraced James Norrington, who has turned to alcohol. Convincing Elizabeth that she can free Will by finding the Chest, Sparrow and she head for Isla Cruces after she pinpoints its location with Jack's magic compass. Will also arrives, having escaped Jones's ship after stealing the key to the Chest. Will wants to stab the heart and free his father who is in Jones's service, while Norrington—who has discovered that Lord Cutler Beckett desires the heart in order to control Davy Jones and the seas—hopes to regain his career and honor by delivering the heart to Beckett. Sparrow fears that if Jones is dead, the Kraken will continue hunting him, and wants the heart as leverage.

Jones' crew arrives, and during the ensuing battle, Norrington steals the heart. Jones summons the Kraken to attack the Black Pearl. After seeing his crew get attacked by the Kraken, Jack tries to escape in the last undamaged longboat, but just as he nears an island, he is struck with remorse at abandoning his crew, and goes back to help rescue them. Once there, he helps blow up the kraken before sadly giving orders to abandon the ship; when Gibbs asks if he is sure that he wants to leave his ship behind to the Kraken, he replies, "She's only a ship, mate."

Realizing that the Kraken only wants Sparrow, Elizabeth tricks him by giving him a passionate kiss while chaining him to the mast to save the crew, with Jack looking on smirking, he calls her a pirate. The Kraken then arrives, spitting out Jack's hat, which he had lost earlier. Jack, having freed himself, resigns himself to his fate and charges the beast's mouth muttering, " 'Ello beastie." Sparrow and the ship are dragged down to Davy Jones's Locker. The crew seeks solace at the home of Tia Dalma, who surprises them by offering a captain who can help rescue Sparrow: Barbossa, brought back to life at her doing.^[3]

[edit] At World's End

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End opens with Davy Jones's heart now in Beckett's possession, and the nine pirate lords of the Brethren Court are summoned to convene at Shipwreck Cove to combat the combined threat of Beckett and Jones. Though taken to Davy Jones's Locker at the end of the previous film, Sparrow, who is a Pirate Lord of the Caribbean, must attend the meeting, as he failed to bequeath his "piece of eight", a pirate lord's identification marker, to an heir. The collective "pieces of eight" can free the sea goddess Calypso. A resurrected Barbossa leads Sparrow's crew to Davy Jones's Locker using the Singaporean pirate lord Sao Feng (Chow Yun-fat)'s navigational charts. There Sparrow has been hallucinating an entire crew of himself, each member representing a facet of his personality. After Barbossa and the crew find him, Sparrow deciphers a clue on the charts that indicates (in a clever nod to the Fata Morgana mirages attributed to the real life legend of the Flying Dutchman) they must capsize the Black Pearl to escape the Locker; at sunset, the ship upturns back into the living world. Sparrow and Barbossa journey to the Brethren Court where they encounter Elizabeth, who was traded to Sao Feng, and was made a Pirate Lord by him just before he died. At the Brethren Court, she is elected "Pirate King" after Sparrow breaks a stalemate (in all previous meetings except the first, Pirate Lords had always voted for themselves). During parley, he is traded for Will, who was captured by Jones and Beckett after Sparrow sent him overboard on the Black Pearl. The Black Pearl and the Flying Dutchman face off in battle during a maelstrom created by Calypso, during which Sparrow steals Davy Jones's heart to become immortal. During the act Jones breaks Jack's cutlass. When Jones mortally wounds Will, Sparrow instead saves Will by helping him stab the heart with his own broken sword, killing Jones and making Will the Flying Dutchman's new captain. Together, the Black Pearl and the Flying Dutchman destroy Beckett's ship. At the end of the film Barbossa again commandeers the Black Pearl and Feng's charts, and maroons Sparrow and Mr. Gibbs in Tortuga. Fortunately, Jack has already removed the chart's center, and he sets sail in a dinghy, using his compass and the chart to guide him to the Fountain of Youth.^[4]

[edit] On Stranger Tides

After reaching a dead end in his search for the Fountain of Youth, Jack Sparrow makes his way to London, where he hears of someone going by his name to gather a crew. Along the way, Sparrow poses as a judge to save the convicted Gibbs before being captured by the Royal Guards and summoned to an audience with King George the Second and Captain Hector Barbossa of the Royal Navy. By then, Jack Sparrow crosses paths with his impostor, revealed to be an old flame named Angelica (Penélope Cruz) who shanghaies him to the Queen Anne's Revenge, the ship of the horrific Blackbeard (Ian McShane) who forces Jack to help him reach the Fountain of Youth. Learning the full story behind it, Jack attempts to set up Blackbeard's demise and save the naive Angelica from her father. After some trouble with mermaids and the Spanish Navy, he succeeds by tricking Blackbeard into giving up his life to save Angelica. Jack and Angelica admit their love for one another, but Jack maroons Angelica on a stranded island, knowing that she will probably want to avenge her father's death. He then has Gibbs retrieve the shrunken Black Pearl in the hopes of finding a way to restore it to regular size. When asked about giving up his chance for immortality, Jack answers that immortality is not everything, though he admits making a name for himself as the one who found the Fountain is good enough immortality at the moment. After the credits in the film, the voodoo doll of Jack is seen drifting at sea towards the island Sparrow stranded Angelica on.^[5]

Tie-ins[link]

Outside films, Jack Sparrow first appeared as a companion character in the 2006 video game Kingdom Hearts II, where he was voiced by James Arnold Taylor in the English version and Hiroaki Hirata (who also dubbed Sparrow in the film's Japanese dubs) in the Japanese version. Sparrow has since appeared in other video games, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow where he was voiced by Johnny Depp, the adaptation of Dead Man's Chest and various game versions of At World's End, where he was voiced by Jared Butler with motion capture movements provided by Johnny Paton. The character was also voiced by Jared Butler in Pirates of the Caribbean Online, which takes place before the films.

Sparrow's backstory in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Complete Visual Guide indicates he was born on a pirate ship during a typhoon in the Indian Ocean, and that he was trained to fence by an Italian.^[6] Rob Kidd wrote an ongoing book series entitled Pirates of the Caribbean: Jack Sparrow, following a teenage Sparrow and his crew on the Barnacle as they battle sirens, mermaids and adult pirates while looking for various treasures. The first book, The Coming Storm, was published on 1 June 2006. In 2011, Ann C. Crispin wrote a novel Pirates of the Caribbean: The Price of Freedom about Jack's adventures when he worked as a merchant captain for the East India Trading Company.

A parody of him called Jack Swallows, was featured in the film Epic Movie played by Darrell Hammond

On Saturday Night Live, Andy Samberg and the rest of The Lonely Island collaborated with Michael Bolton in a Digital Short called "Jack Sparrow" about Bolton's obsession with the "Pirates" movies. In it Bolton dresses up as Jack Sparrow and the character is mentioned several times in the verses.

On the TV Show So Random! the show players of the name Jack Sparrow making Sparrow a bird in a recurring skit. He is played by Shayne Topp. The impression has become one of Topp's signature skits on the show.

Concept and creation[link]

Character creation[link]

When writing the screenplay for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio envisioned Jack Sparrow as a supporting character, citing Bugs Bunny and Groucho Marx as influences.^[7] The producers saw him as a young Burt Lancaster.^[8] Director Gore Verbinski admitted, "The first film was a movie, and then Jack was put into it almost. He doesn't have the obligations of the plot in the same ways that the other characters have. He meanders his way through, and he kind of affects everybody else."^[9] Sparrow represents an ethical pirate, with Captain Barbossa as his corrupt foil.^[7] His true motives usually remain masked, and whether he is honorable or evil depends on the audience's perspective.^[10] This acts as part of Will Turner's arc, in which Sparrow tells him a pirate can be a good man, like his father.^[7]

Following the success of The Curse of the Black Pearl, the challenge to creating a sequel was, according to Verbinski, "You don't want just the Jack Sparrow movie. It's like having a garlic milkshake. He's the spice and you need a lot of straight men ... Let's not give them too much Jack. It's like too much dessert or too much of a good thing."^[9] Although Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest was written to propel the trilogy's plot,^[11] Sparrow's state-of-mind as he is pursued by Davy Jones becomes increasingly edgy, and the writers concocted the cannibal sequence to show that he was in danger whether on land or at sea. Sparrow is also perplexed over his attraction to Elizabeth Swann, and attempts to justify it throughout the film.^[12]

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End was meant to return it tonally to a character piece. Sparrow, in particular, is tinged with madness after extended solitary confinement in Davy Jones's Locker,^[11] and now desires immortality.^[13] Sparrow struggles with what it takes to be a moral person,^[14] after his honest streak caused his doom in the second film. This is mainly shown by his increasingly erratic behaviour and Jack's hallucinations which appeared to be simply his deranged mind in the beginning where dozens of "Jack Sparrows" appeared to crew the ship in his solitary exile, but later the hallucinations grew more important and there were mainly two "Jacks" constantly arguing about which path to follow: the immortality or the mortality. The last hallucination took place while Jack was imprisoned on the Dutchman where his honest streak won (possibly due to not liking his sea creature-like "future" which comedically dropped his brain and searched for it around the Brig.^[15]By the end of At World's End Sparrow is sailing to the Fountain of Youth, an early concept for the second film.^[16] Rossio has said they may write the screenplay for a fourth film,^[17] and producer Jerry Bruckheimer has expressed interest in a spin-off.^[18] Gore Verbinski concurred that "all of the stories set in motion by the first film have been resolved. If there ever were another Pirates of the Caribbean film, I would start fresh and focus on the further adventures of Captain Jack Sparrow."^[19]

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides was first announced on 28 September 2008 during a Disney event at the Kodak Theater. On 11 September 2009 the title of the film was officially announced. Gore Verbinski did not return to direct the fourth installment, and is instead directed by Rob Marshall. The movie uses elements from Tim Powers novel On Stranger Tides, particularly Blackbeard and the Fountain of Youth but the film is not a straight adaptation of the novel.^[20]

Johnny Depp[link]

Depp with a 'goatee' similar to the one seen in the films

Johnny Depp was looking to do a family film in 2001, and was visiting the Walt Disney Studios when he heard there were plans to adapt the Pirates of the Caribbean ride into a film. Depp was excited by the possibility of reviving an old Hollywood genre,^[8] and was further delighted that the script met his quirky sensibilities: the crew of the Black Pearl were not searching for treasure, but were instead trying to return it to lift their curse. In addition, the traditional mutiny had already occurred.^[21] Depp was cast on 10 June 2002.^[22] Producer Jerry Bruckheimer felt Depp was "an edgy actor who will kind of counter the Disney Country Bears soft quality and tell an audience that an adult and teenager can go see this and have a good time with it."^[23]

At the first read-through, Depp surprised the cast and crew by portraying the character in an off-kilter manner.^[24] After researching 18th century pirates, Depp compared them to modern rock stars and decided to base his performance on Keith Richards.^[23] Verbinski and Bruckheimer had confidence in Depp, partly because Orlando Bloom would be playing the traditional Errol Flynn-type character.^[21] Depp also improvised the film's final line, "Now, bring me that horizon", which is the writer's favorite line.^[24] Disney executives were initially confused by Depp's performance, asking him whether the character was drunk or gay. Michael Eisner even proclaimed while watching rushes, "He's ruining the film!"^[24] Depp responded, "Look, these are the choices I made. You know my work. So either trust me or give me the boot."^[23] Many industry insiders also questioned Depp's casting, as he was an unconventional actor not known for working within the traditional studio system.^[25]

Depp's performance was highly acclaimed by film critics. Alan Morrison found it "Gloriously over-the-top ... In terms of physical precision and verbal delivery, it's a master-class in comedy acting."^[26] Roger Ebert also found his performance "original in its every atom. There has never been a pirate, or for that matter a human being, like this in any other movie ... his behavior shows a lifetime of rehearsal." Ebert also praised Depp for drawing away from the way the character was written.^[27] Although he disliked the film, critic Kenneth Turan enjoyed Depp's performance,^[28] but Mark Kermode wrote it was some of Depp's "worst work to date ... under [director Gore Verbinski]'s slack direction Depp defaults to an untrammelled showiness not seen since the sub-Buster Keaton antics of Benny & Joon."^[29] Depp won a Screen Actor's Guild award for his performance, and was also nominated for a Golden Globe^[30] and the Academy Award for Best Actor, the first in his career.^[31] Film School Rejects argued that because of the film, Depp became as much a movie star as he was a character actor.^[32]

Johnny Depp returned as Jack Sparrow in 2006's Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, the first time the actor ever made a sequel.^[24] Drew McWeeny noted, "Remember how cool Han Solo was in Star Wars the first time you saw it? And then remember how much cooler he seemed when Empire came out? This is that big a jump."^[33] Yet, Eric Vespe felt that "In the first movie he was playing a fool that was hiding a great pirate on the inside and in this one he's a great pirate hiding a cowardly fool."^[34] By At World's End, Peter Travers felt it proved "there can indeed be too much of a good thing."^[35] Nonetheless, Depp received an MTV Movie Award^[36] and a Teen Choice Award for Dead Man's Chest, and was also nominated for a Golden Globe, which he lost to Sacha Baron Cohen for his portrayal of Borat Sagdiev in Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. Depp was also nominated at the 2007 Empire Awards for best actor but lost to Daniel Craig for Casino Royale.^[37] For his performance in At World's End, Depp won an MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance, as well as a People's Choice Award and a Kids' Choice Award. He has signed on to reprise the role for future sequels.^[38]

Make-up and costumes[link]

Johnny Depp wore a wig to portray Sparrow's dreadlocks, an aesthetic influenced by Depp's rock n' roll approach to pirates.^[39] In addition to a red bandanna Sparrow wears numerous objects in his hair, influenced by Keith Richards' habit of collecting souvenirs from his travels;^[40] Sparrow's decorations include his "piece of eight".^[4] Sparrow wears kohl around his eyes, which was inspired by Depp's study of nomads, whom he compared to pirates,^[41] and Depp also wore contacts that acted as sunglasses.^[42] Sparrow has several gold teeth, two of which belong to Depp,^[43] although they were applied during filming. Depp forgot to have them removed after shooting The Curse of the Black Pearl,^[44] and decided to keep them throughout shooting of the sequels.^[8] Like all aspects of Depp's performance, Disney initially expressed great concern over Depp's teeth.^[12] Sparrow wears his goatee in two braids. Initially wire was used in them, but the wires were abandoned because they made the braids stick up when Depp lay down.^[45] Sparrow also has numerous tattoos,^[4] and has been branded a pirate on his right arm by Cutler Beckett,^[3] underneath a tattoo of a sparrow.^[2] In At World's End, one of the "Jack" incarnations is working stripped to the waist, and a full body tattoo of the poem Desiderata is clearly seen.

Depp collaborated with costume designer Penny Rose on his character's appearance, handpicking a tricorne as Sparrow's signature leather hat: the other characters in the series could not wear leather hats, to make Sparrow's unique. For the scene when it floats on water in Dead Man's Chest, a rubber version was used.^[46] Depp liked to stick to one costume, wearing one lightweight silk tweed frock coat throughout the series,^[47] and he had to be coaxed out of wearing his boots for a version without a sole or heel in beach scenes.^[48] The official line is that none of the costumes from The Curse of the Black Pearl survived, which allowed the opportunity to create tougher linen shirts for stunts.^[49] However, one remains which has been displayed in an exhibition of screen costumes in Worcester, England.^[50] It was a nightmare for Rose to track down the same makers of Sparrow's sash in Turkey. Rose did not want to silkscreen it, as the homewoven piece had the correct worn feel.^[51] Sparrow wears an additional belt in the sequels, because Depp liked a new buckle which did not fit with the original piece.^[52]

Sparrow's weapons are genuine 18th century pieces: his sword dates to the 1740s, while his pistol is from the 1760s. Both were made in London.^[42][53] Depp used two pistols on set, one being rubber. Both props survived after production of the first film.^[54] Sparrow's magic compass also survived into the sequels, though director Gore Verbinski had a red arrow added to the dial as it became a more prominent prop. As it does not act like a normal compass, a magnet was used to make it spin.^[55] Sparrow wears four rings, two of which belong to Depp. Depp bought the green ring in 1989, and the gold ring is a replica of a 2400-year old ring Depp gave to the crew, though the original was later stolen. The other two are props to which Depp gave backstories: the gold-and-black ring is stolen from a Spanish widow Sparrow seduced, and the green dragon ring recalls his adventures in the Far East.^[56] Among Depp's additional ideas was the necklace made of human toes that Sparrow wears as the Pelegosto prepare to eat him,^[57] and the sceptre was based on one a friend of Depp's owned.^[58]

During the course of the trilogy, Sparrow undergoes physical transformations. In The Curse of the Black Pearl Sparrow curses himself to battle the undead Barbossa. Like all the actors playing the Black Pearl crew, Depp had to shoot scenes in costume as a reference for the animators, and his shots as a skeleton were shot again without him. Depp reprised the scene again on a motion capture stage.^[42] In At World's End, Sparrow hallucinates a version of himself as a member of Davy Jones's crew, adhered to a wall and encrusted with barnacles. Director Gore Verbinski oversaw that the design retained Sparrow's distinctive look,^[59] and rejected initial designs which portrayed him as over 100 years old.^[60]

Characterization[link]

According to screen writers Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, Sparrow is a trickster who uses wit and deceit to attain his goals, preferring to end disputes verbally instead of by force.^[61]He walks with a slightly drunken swagger and has slurred speech and flailing hand gestures, which are slightly based on Tuco, from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.^[7] 

Although Barbossa does not respect him much, as evidenced by naming his monkey Jack, Sparrow is shrewd, calculating and intelligent. He fools Commodore Norrington and his entire crew to set sail on the royal ship Interceptor, which compels the admiration of Lieutenant Groves (Greg Ellis) as he concedes: 'That's got to be the best pirate I have ever seen'. Norrington himself acquiesces to this praise: 'So it would seem', in sharp contrast to what he had previously proclaimed: 'You are without doubt the worst pirate I have ever heard of'. In the third film, while he leaves Beckett's ship stranded and makes off, Lieutenant Groves asks him: "Do you think he plans it all out, or just makes it up as he goes along?".^[4]It was he who deciphered the seemingly unintelligible map in the same film while the others were still grappling with the problem of returning to the real world. When the Brethren Court convenes but the pirate lords fail to reach a consensus as to whether to fight the Armada or not (he and Elizabeth are inclined to go to war, while the others are not), Jack suggests a way out of this impasse by calling for a ritual vote whose results determine who will be the king. Every pirate lord votes only for himself or herself, but he votes for Elizabeth, resulting her being elected the 'king', after which she announces 'Prepare every vessel that floats. At dawn we are at war', which was what he had intended, and which other pirates are now bound to obey.

In combat, Sparrow is an extremely skilled swordsman (capable of quite easily holding his own against Davy Jones and also Will Turner), but uses his superior intelligence to his advantage during fights. Jack usually prefers the strategies of non-violent negotiations and turning his enemies against each other, reasoning "Why fight when you can negotiate? All one needs is the proper leverage."^[3]He will invoke parley and tempt his enemies away from their murderous intentions, encouraging them to see the bigger picture, as he does when he persuades Hector Barbossa to delay returning to mortal form so he can battle the British Royal Navy.^[2] He often uses complex wordplay and vocabulary to confound his enemies,^[2][3]and it is suggested that his pacifism may be one reason Barbossa and the Black Pearlcrew mutinied; Barbossa says in the first film, "Jack, that's exactly the attitude that lost you the Pearl. People are easier to search when they're dead."^[2]His pacifism is further indicated by the tattoo of the Desiderata on his back. Although a pirate and willing to kill his enemies in a fight, Jack has also shown a reluctance to kill people who do not actually wish himharm, as seen when he preferred to simply avoid a fight with Will Turner in their first meeting- the fight being provoked by Will's insistence-; when facing soldiers or navy officers, Jack has generally resorted to simply knocking them out or distracting them while he makes his escape. When Will is fatally wounded by Davy Jones, he relinquishes his dream of stabbing Jones' heart and becoming immortal and lets a dying Will stab it instead, thus ensuring that he lives, albeit not in the usual way. When searching for the Fountain of Youth, Jack noted that his desire for the Fountain had lessened when he learned that the Fountain would only provide someone with extra life if another died at the same time.

The character is portrayed as having created, or at least contributed to, his own reputation. When Gibbs tells Will that Sparrow escaped from a desert island by strapping two sea turtles together, Sparrow embellishes the story by claiming the rope was made from hair from his own back, while in reality, Sparrow escaped the island by bartering with rum traders. The video game Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow bases itself around these tall tales, including the sacking of Nassau port without firing a single shot.^[2] In a script draft of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest Will's guide says that he heard Sparrow escaped execution in Port Royal by grabbing two parrots and flying away.^[12] Johnny Depp has said pirates were like rock stars in that their fame preceded them, which suggests a reason for the portrayal of Sparrow as having an enormous ego.^[61] Sparrow also insists on being addressed as "Captain" Jack Sparrow^[2] and often gives the farewell, "This is the day you will always remember as the day that you almost caught Captain Jack Sparrow!," which is sometimes humorously cut off.^[2][3] When accused by Norrington as being the worst pirate he has ever heard of, Sparrow replies, "But you have heard of me."^[2] In a deleted scene from Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl Sparrow ponders being "the immortal Captain Jack Sparrow",^[62] and during the third film he seeks immortality, although his father, Captain Teague, warns it can be a terrible curse. Sparrow also ponders being "Captain Jack Sparrow, the last pirate," as the East India Trading Company purges piracy.^[4]

Despite his many heroics, Sparrow is a pirate and a morally ambiguous character.^[14] When agreeing to trade 100 souls, including Will, to Davy Jones in exchange for his freedom, Jones asks Sparrow whether he can, "condemn an innocent man—a friend—to a lifetime of servitude in your name while you roam free?" After a hesitation Sparrow merrily replies, "Yep! I'm good with it!"^[3] He carelessly runs up debts with Anamaria,^[2] Davy Jones, and the other pirate lords.^[4] Sao Feng (Chow Yun-fat), pirate lord of Singapore, is particularly hateful towards him.^[4] In a cowardly moment, Sparrow abandons his crew during the Kraken's attack, but underlying loyalty and morality compel him to return and save them.^[63] Sparrow claims to be a man of his word,^[2] and expresses surprise that people doubt his truthfulness;^[3] there is no murder on his criminal record.^[1][2]

Depp partly based the character on Pepé Le Pew, a womanizing skunk from Looney Tunes.^[8] Sparrow claims to have a "tremendous intuitive sense of the female creature",^[3] although his conquests are often left with a sour memory of him. Former flames, Scarlett and Giselle, usually slap him^[2] or anyone looking for him.^[3] His witty charm easily attracts women, and even has Elizabeth Swann questioning her feelings.^[3] Director Gore Verbinski noted phallic connotations in Sparrow's relationship with his vessel, as he grips the steering wheel.^[21] The Black Pearl is described as "the only ship which can outrun the Flying Dutchman".^[4] The Freudian overtones continue in the third film when Sparrow and Barbossa battle for captaincy of the Black Pearl, showing off the length of their telescopes, and in a deleted scene, they fight over the steering wheel.^[64] Sparrow claims his "first and only love is the sea,"^[3] and describes his ship as representing freedom.^[2] Davy Jones's Locker is represented as a desert, symbolizing his personal hell.^[12]

Sparrow also has bad personal hygiene, a trait of Pepé Le Pew. Verbinski described Sparrow's breath as "a donkey's ass".^[21] Sparrow knocks Will off his ship simply by huffing at him.^[4] Lastly, Sparrow has an insatiable thirst for rum, which can confuse his magic compass as to what he wants most.^[3][4] According to his criminal record on the At World's End website, he even sacked a shipment of rum to quench his thirst.^[1]

Impact[link]

When Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest grossed over $1 billion worldwide, Ian Nathan attributed this to Sparrow's popularity: "Pirates, the franchise, only had to turn up. There was a powerful holdover from the cheeky delights of its debut, something we hadn't felt since the Clone Wars called it a day."^[65] Empire declared Johnny Depp's performance to be the seventy-fourth "thing that rocked our world" in 2006 when celebrating 200 issues and later named him as the eighth greatest movie character of all time.^[66] A survey of more than 3,000 people showed Jack Sparrow was the most popular Halloween costume of 2006,^[67] and a 2007 poll held by the Internet Movie Database showed Sparrow to be the second most popular live action hero, after Indiana Jones.^[68] In a 2007 Pearl & Dean poll, Jack Sparrow is Depp's most popular performance.^[69]

Emanuel Levy feels the character is the only iconic film character of the 2000s decade,^[61] while Todd Gilchrist feels Sparrow is the only element of the films that will remain timeless.^[70] According to Sharon Eberson, the character's popularity can be attributed to being a "scoundrel whose occasional bouts of conscience allow viewers to go with the flaws because, as played to the larger-than-life hilt by Depp, he owns every scene he is in."^[71] Film history professor at UCLA Jonathan Kuntz also attributed his popularity to the increased questioning of masculinity in the 21st century, and Sparrow's personality contrasts with action-adventure heroes in cinema. Leonard Maltin concurs that Sparrow has a carefree attitude and does not take himself seriously.^[72] Mark Fox also noted Sparrow is an escapist fantasy figure for women, free from much of the responsibility of most heroes.^[73] Sparrow is listed by IGN as one of their ten favorite film outlaws, as he "lives for himself and the freedom to do whatever it is that he damn well pleases. Precious few film characters have epitomized what makes the outlaw such a romantic figure for audiences as Captain Jack Sparrow has."^[74] Entertainment Weekly put it on its end-of-the-decade, "best-of" list, saying, "Part Keith Richards rift, part sozzled lounge lizard, Johnny Depp's swizzleshtick pirate was definitely one of the most dazzling characters of the decade."^[75]

In 2011, comedic group The Lonely Island, with singer Michael Bolton, released a song called Jack Sparrow as an homage to the character, declaring him "The Pauper of the Surf" and "The Jester of Tortuga."

Johnny Depp reprised his Captain Jack persona for a special episode of Doraemon. However, on the show, he was called "Captain Johnny".^[76]

The British metalcore band Bring Me the Horizon took its name from Sparrow's last line in The Curse of the Black Pearl, "Now... Bring me that horizon".

References[link]