I attended a Keith Jarrett concert at Royce Hall UCLA around this time. Keith started and then abruptly stopped after playing for a minute or so and turned to the audience and shouted "Does anyone have a piano tuning wrench?" After the laugher died down... amazingly, someone came up with a tuning wrench and Keith struggled to tune a few bad notes. Still unsatisfied, he strutted on and off the stage several times and after a long 10 minutes, the stage crew rolled a new concert grand on stage. Then...Keith played non-stop for over an hour...so exquisitely...Listening to the Koln album brings back that wonderful memory.
I'm surprised he did not explain the situation to the audience beforehand, and then say he was prepared to make the best of it regardless. That he managed it without this preamble is amazing, and that he did it without explaining it to the audience AFTERWARDS... that is an artistic genius. Especially after being tired from the drive, hungry because of the restaurant F-up, and a buggered back on top of it all. I've got a perma-cracked L3 (lower back) from a toboggan accident at age 18 (I'm almost 60 now) so I KNOW back pain. Yet he made ZERO excuses.
the opening notes (G-D-C-G-A-D) is the bell at he Köln Opera House telling the people to go back to their seats as the concert is about to start. That's why you hear people laughing on the recording...
There is no universe where the technician (engineer) isn’t by definition a genius. But in this Rick and Morty universe he or she rarely gets the title. I strongly approve of the caps. YAY TECHS WHO DO REAL STUFF BECAUSE THEY UNDERSTAND MATH AND SCIENCE AND BELIEVE IN LOGIC AND SUBMIT TO CAUSALITY
Yes, they must construct a bronze statue of the technician, standing high upon the mount....with outstretched arm pointing his tuning fork, as a scepter to the heavens...
How could you forget? That was the great Ornette Coleman, and he said, "You got to be black, you have to be black." Keith replied, "I know, I'm working on it!" It's somewhere in Keit's interviews.
The notion that one has to be black to be a great jazz musician is not only one of the most absurd of ideas, but also an offense to every great jazz musician who _isn't_ black. Without (mostly white) non-black jazz musicians, composers, instrument inventors, etc., it's likely that jazz would never have emerged. None of the instruments used in jazz were created by black people, chromaticism wasn't used in "black music", and neither were chord progressions used in jazz. Take those away, as well as the piano, trap set, double-bass, trumpet, saxophone, etc., and what would be left would be unrecognizable as "jazz". The _only_ way jazz could've emerged is as an interaction between both groups.
@@bricologyfirst of all no one here is saying you have to be black to be a great jazz musician. u can list all the white musicians u want but after all jazz is black music, this doesn’t mean no one else can play it. it means they created it organically. if you took a bunch of europeans and put them on an island with trumpets and saxophones never in a thousands years would they “create” jazz
@@darudesandstorm5993 Jazz is an original American music, coming from the American songbook era of the 1930s / 40s mixed with blues and also a lot of classical / Latin influence. Of course, the main pioneers were African-American and it wouldn't have developed without them, but it didn't exist in isolation and you can't separate the origins of jazz from the overall culture and history of the US. A lot of the early jazz pioneers were trained musicians who learned a lot of classical music and other styles, which were incorporated into the overall mix.
I once did stage management for a charity gig. The (Steinway) grand was tuned in the morning - and then left at the side of the stage in the baking sun for 5 hours..... Herbie Hancocks manager (for it was he) came on stage and explained in a New York kind of way that his artist would not be playing that piano today, though not using those exact words. As luck would have it, someone in the audience had a tuning hammer in the car and someone else was a concert level piano tuner. Not such a dramatic result, but a jolly good afternoon was had by all. The gig that almost never was - I try to forget about it.
There was a piano tuner In the audience ?!! Wow.. literal bravos, what a rarity! It was one of those " is there a doctor in the house" situation! 😄🎶🎹 (ps cheers to Steinways)
@@nurpiet fair , but to have that happen IS rare.. the whole situation fromnthe get go.( worked in music industry forever.) True, perhaps a tech there, but to also have bag on hand with all tools in car: thats spot on. And damn cool.
Vast majority of people don't have the respect needed for these pianos. But the people that do: you can have a 150 year old piano that'll do the job better.
He played on a broken piano?!!! And he was hungry and in pain too?!! Wow 😮 wouldn't have known that from the recording at all. Keith truly is one of the GOATs.
I have been listening to this album since it was first released, but never knew the entire story behind it: broken piano, exhausted artist. What I learned much later is that, with all the commotion, the recording engineer had no opportunity to set proper levels before the concert. He basically stuffed a couple of AKG 414's in there and crossed his fingers. You can hear the preamps distorting in places. In the end, none of that mattered; we are transfixed simply by hearing a supremely gifted artist at an inspired moment in what was to be a long and storied musical career.
Wikipedia says it was recorded with "a pair of Neumann U 67 vacuum-tube powered condenser microphones and a Telefunken M-5 portable tape machine". I am curious to know what your source is, as I can't find the source from Wikipedia either.
@@p07a My source was an article in Mix magazine, but I read it years ago and may have mis-remembered the microphone type mentioned. AKG 414's were (and are) commonly used in that application. Valve mics are finicky, so less than ideal for location recording work, but Neumann U67's are still plausible, given that it's a venue in Koln we're talking about. Whatever the recording chain was, you can hear it overload in spots.
Nice! you remind me of the story of Itzhak Perlman who once completed a concert with broken strings on his violin, forcing him to improvise. Afterwards, Perlman leaning on his crutches commented: "I've spent my life making the best of what remains." The audience leapt to their feet in thunderous applause.
In my experience girls adapt to this better than boys Boys tend to allow circumstances to rule the day but girls insist on showing what they can make of a bad situation Anyway, greatness shines through the mist
Only a Master Pianist can take a wrecked piano, and play it in such a manner that no one in the audience knows its wrecked and will even say "Its a Masterpiece!". Kudos to Mr. Jarrett.
That's not a pianist, that's a musician, an artist! Pianists are just meat robots following a black and white punch card. That day, in that concert hall, no charts were read, no pages turned to reveal new notes, just soul and talent flowing between man and keyboard to produce beauty.
@@KiraSlith many pianists are also improvisers, composers, but ignoring that- If you think that's what playing piano is, or in general musicianship in the sense of classical performance.. that sounds like your impression came from an anime, probably the first half no less, and never developed. I'm sorry to say. Even performing 300 year old pieces is massively interpretative, and it's okay if you don't hear it, but your ignorance is not a good argument.
@@knusperhexe direct interpretation is also possible. You need not plunge yourself into depths of dialectic analysis to interpret something :) Some pianists seem to have ice in their veins, yet still I think a comparison to punch cards, pre-computers of sort, to meat robots, is callous and rude, and takes away agency from the performer, as though they had spent years, decades of their life specifically to revoke their individuality. And the separation of 'piano' from 'art.' I can see no excuse. But please, read into it and tell me what you see. As someone who feels entitled to call out my ability to interpret media, I hope you have a nuanced and well-justified take that substantially differs from mine - I will disagree, of course, contrary to what you think, my take is plenty nuanced if you take a second to consider why I'd write it - but perhaps you have something also worth listening to. Here's the explanation since, I suppose, it's not clear why I wrote a message: you can appreciate something without diminishing something else while you're at it. I think that if someone resorts to diminishing a form of art in order to appreciate another, they abandoned the notion of intellectual charity for art broadly, and that deserves to be called out. This is not about refusing charity to a person who doesn't offer it, it's about pointing out that they're being uncharitable and embracing an inherently un-empathetic, flat approach to art appreciation. Of course, they could have been speaking in hyperbole, but mean-spirited hyperbole remains mean-spirited just as it remains hyperbole. Also, who's to say I was speaking literally myself? If you're willing to grant them the benefit of the doubt in implying something much less negative than they're putting to words, why not me? I feel your reply is not an honest critique but rather just a poorly concealed agreement with the original-again, mean spirited-comment.
I can scarcely believe Jarret’s incredible performance at Köln came into being under such difficult circumstances. I’ve been listening to this concert on and off for decades now. Thanks for sharing its super interesting ‘back’ story. 👍🏻
Agree, especially about the very interesting back-story, well told. I know I had this 'LP' at some point after an introduction by a friend, 1980 ish. "Keith who?" If I still have it, the cover is dusty around the edges. If I don't, I'll assume an ex-girlfriend liked my musical taste better than me.
I had heard the LP and wasn’t aware originally but did hear the whole story somewhere in the 70’s. Keith is the consummate genius and really let his whole body be led by his inner spirit.
To be fair, I think the piano tuner should get part of the credit. He got the piano in a somewhat playable condition instead of the unplayable mess it was in.
Thank you for this backround story! I also heard Köln concert in my very old Renault R4 by tape cassette! Horrible Loudspeakers, but you have to work with it!❤
@@phoebebaker1575 have you listened to him play? What did you think? I love everything I ever heard from including one appearance at an ECM concert in NYC. Solo improvisations
I've often discussed with others that in this concert you can trace the struggles Jarrett had to overcome. Literally throughout the concert, in his use of phrasing, the flow of ideas - you can see and hear him overcoming struggles. That's what makes it uniquely Jarrett. You can hear his frustrations, his resignation to the idea that he needs to create something out of a difficult situation. Sometimes he stops and his brain is searching for the next impulse. I really feel you can hear this in realtime in Cologne 75. You can hear how he feels backed into a corner, and how he creatively gets out of that corner. I use this idea in my own work and I've always valued the idea. Whenever I've played a gig or conducted a photo shoot, it's the times when I've felt worried or anxious about the outcome, that I've really pushed through it. Annoyingly I end up after a concert or session thinking that I did really badly, but in hindsight I often realise that actually what happened was that I upped my expectations of what I need to achieve, and I have improved myself. The "flow" can be a risky place to be, but I tell myself that without risk there is no reward.
That bit about frustration, resignation, creating a new thing, a something, out of a difficult situation, sometimes searching for the next impulse, if that ain't part of what doing the living of real life is, then what is real life anyway?
At 16 this album was my nightly serenade before sleep during 1976. What I remember best is how I felt so profoundly comforted by this music, in my lonely teenaged heart.
Reminds me of a picture I saw once about artist's block. It was two curves intertwining with one another in big waves, like a double helix, from the bottom left to the top right. One line represented how we view the art we create, and the other how we view art by others. The correlation was that as we get better at art, we start to hold ourselves to higher standards, then get better at art, and so on. In a graph form, these waves show that whenever we think less of other people's art, we believe our own is getting better, and vise versa. It shows that as we grow in our skills that we are constantly at war with ourselves, but overcoming it would change our perspectives as we go and make us better for it. Change is not bad in this way, but helps us learn and grow to find new, and possibly better, ways to do things.
TH-cam algorithm brought me here: Loved you presentation, very professional. I hadn't fully grasped this context and I've owned and deeply enjoyed this recording on vinyl for some time. Very cool. The album really is a magical and raw snapshot
I am a pianist and, for me, the reason this album is so incredibly special is, quite simply, the music. When I first heard it, I knew I liked Keith Jarrett - and was blown away by this masterpiece of improvisation. I knew absolutely nothing about the history of the gig. If I had to choose just one album by Jarrett that I could have, this would be it.
Except that he didn’t “just show up”. The tuner, the engineers, the organizer, the producer and especially the artist PUSHED THROUGH and created something that was infinitely more special than perfect organization would have produced. The lesson here is plan (better, 17-year old… how the hell did you show up at the same time as the artist??) then be open to adapting every single detail. And push through until it works.
What a brilliant comment. Seriously. I muck up everything so pretty much give up before I begin. But the odds have it that sometimes I accomplish something. So yeah, your observation would be a turnaround for me. And was inspiring and surprising to hear.
Sometimes when things go wrong, it's actually freeing...when the inertia of habit, routine is broken, disrupted, it can allow for something startling to emerge in the vacuum. Case in point, this album. Thanks for the thoughtful reporting! We need more of that.
I have heard a lot of this story previously, but also understand that the first four notes Jarrett played was actually a quote, I believe from the chimes used to summon the audience to their seats, and you can hear a bit of laughter in the background as a result.
@@enricomarconi8358 The funny thing is that Jarrett very specifically did not want to hear ANY music prior to a concert, so that he wouldn't be influenced in any way. But one time (and again, I don't know the source of this story) he was beginning a concert, but sat staring at the piano for what was apparently an extended period of time. Finally, someone in the audience shouted "D sharp!" and he said "thank you!" and began playing...LOL
@@marzzz1 I have heard this story as well... I can tell you what happened in Trento, Italy. He arrived in Piazza Duomo after that his driver asked for direction to a friend of mine (the best jazz bassist in town of all things!). Once he sat at the piano he started improvising at the piano, and the fist claps arrived (you can imagine him... it went up his nose right away). Some more playing, and some more claps. Needless to say people were watching (for free) from the homes surrounding the square as well (and clapping). After 15 mins, Jarrett left utterly annoyed and never returned (to the piazza nor to Trento).
Makes me think of the folk legend of Nina Simone coming out to a concert where someone yelled "we love you Nina" to which she eventually responded "So you should" at which point she left the stage and didn't return😂😂😂 Who knows of the veracity of such tales!!
I saw him in Seattle. A member of the audience coughed. He derided the individual for lack of concentration on the music. He then deftly incorporated a cough into the music he was playing, slammed the keyboard cover down twice quickly and proceeded. Some walked out. I definitely stayed..., quietly.@@enricomarconi8358
To me this is also the story about how a skilled piano technician can salvage a piano. I think the reason their piano-tech advised to use the broken smaller Boesendorfer was that he knew a transported piano would get out of tune if not tuned twice with at least 8 hours interval, and secondly because he knew how to fix broken keys, having spare parts if needed (but probably not needed) and being able to repair and regulate in 3-4 hours because he was experienced, an old piano tech wizzard. Just my 17 cents. At 05:21 hands are showing playing on a Steinway Grand. Another shot shows how Keith's hands look later, I think he had to give up playing. When we hear some notes from the beginning of the part 1 of the concert we actually hear tones from the middle register ringing beautifully out, in tune, and some lower baryton notes, quietly adapting to the 4 tone motif. That! That is music, that is beautiful. Don't care about the highest and the deepest octaves - it is the middle which counts. This technician could make my piano sound better.
Agree. As a piano technician myself, when i heard that the technician was able to fix as much as possible to make the piano playable at a minute notice, i applauded. Honestly horrifying task, to be put in a position like that. World famous pianist needs this broken piano fixed ASAP. The weight of resposibility put on his shoulders... work and time of many people would be wasted if he wasnt able or willing to help. Great proffesional.
Loved this video. It covered an interesting topic about a unique moment in time, was conveyed in a straightforward manner, and contained no BS filler. This is the way all internet content should be made. Congrats.
I'm no musician and I've never heard of this album, but your take and production value is superb. Thanks for the positive contribution to the internet!
Thank you. I was introduced to this album by a man named Hanz Robin who lived with his wife in Savannah, Georgia, USA. They allowed me to stay with them as a 19 year old - something I'll never forget as it demonstrated the kindness of strangers. The album became the soundtrack of my summer.
Wow, as a jazz musician myself, I found this video to be incredibly insightful and inspiring. I watch a lot of music history videos on youtube, and I must say I have never heard of this story. Keep doing what you are doing! Been a fan ever since the Pet Sounds video.
There is a moment where you hear the music actually start leading him. His vocalisations are like someone amazed at what he is hearing. This is channeling at it's finest.
I never got the impression Keith was playing jazz in the concert. It's more impressionistic. I think that crossed over to a lot of non jazz listeners. My favorite Jarrett is on Miles' Live Evil.
It's more like folk music. Maybe he avoided chromatic playing because he knew the black notes on this piano were messed up, and thus gave this album a wider appeal?
My Cologne friends will hate me for this, but this is a typical Cologne story. That's how this city works and that forms part of its charm. Lots of parallels to the construction of the Cologne cathedral. I have lived there for over 20 years and even met Vera Brandes a few times, so this story amuses me quite a bit yet doesn't surprise me at all. I'm happy that it led to one of the greatest recordings in history.
I grew up and lived near and worked in cologne for many years. You are exactly right. It´s at the same time so frustrating there is never going anything like planned and adorable how it still works out and sometimes even in a great result. (But never to be reproduced.) Cologne teaches you to take chances and meet wonderful people along the way...
Totally true. I lived in Cologne twice for a few years each. Projects with big clients were a mess but miraculously to great success. And what drove me nuts was that my colleagues never sweated about situations that cost me sleepless nights. Great people though! Friendly, overly talkative and open and generally optimistic. I liked it a lot there.
@@richochet That's what makes it charming and maybe why I fit in quite well. One joke, that "Kölsche" make about their city is calling it the northernmost town of southern Italy. Cologne was founded as a Roman colony; maybe that explains things a bit.
The example of being a professional musician. It’s a pity what happened to Keith Jarrett. First to overcome a horrible disease then to suffer several strokes. He’s still one of my top 3 jazz piano players. I’ve seen him several times with the trio and each time I’ve been filled with joy by his playing. We miss you Keith Jarrett!❤
Thanks for telling the story of that album. I got the vinyl from a local record store back in the seventies. I was still going to school then and I remember immersing myself into the soundscapes of the Köln Concert as I was lying on my bed. I still know how in those hours this music that at the time was unknown and foreign to me revealed itself to be so captivating and meaningful. Thank you for bringing back those memories.
Great job david: you should listen VERY closely to the silence, just before Keith's first 5 notes. You can just hear the bells signalling the start of the show (da da da-da-da-), and Keith took them and made a beautiful song out of them, on the spot.
@@sdrtcacgnrjrcWhy do engineers do that to recordings? It's not for them to decide on "improving" a historical moment. Like the Russians, who pretend WW II started when Hitler invaded Soviet. (Ok, maybe the gravity of the latter surpasses that of the first violation.)
@@sdrtcacgnrjrc I just wonder… is my memory made up? I remember it so clearly… you can still hear the audience laugh at the opera bells motif… but I’m so sure you could just barely hear the muffled bells
This is probably my favourite piece of music that I return to over and over again. It is meditation special. I never knew the background story to the recording. You have just added a great deal more value to my experience of engaging with this work. Thank you so much.
Your explanation of why the album is so popular, that it's a chance for the listener to "eavesdrop on a moment in time", is spot on. I'd not thought about that before but all the great concert recordings leave the imperfections in and it's those imperfections that are exciting.
Amen to that. Several of the greatest Live albums of all time have some monumental errors within the music, from Jimi Hendrix breaking a string & re-stringing his guitar on "Band of Gypsies", to the Grateful Dead collectively losing the plot during Dark Star on "Live/Dead", and barely finding their way back for the second verse. It's moments like that that make live recordings so fascinating, the moments where you can feel the musicians are totally winging it, dancing on the knife edge between disaster and triumph... Perfection is fine in the Studio. Live, that should always be slightly unpredictable...
Oh, my goodness! I did not know about the history of the recording. Exceptionally insightful and David has me at the edge of my dusty computer chair. I wish that I could have been at that concert. 🌸
It's such accessible, lyrical music. It isn't trying to be edgy or "challenging". It is unabashedly and very sweet, without being corny. Calling it "jazz" feels like a big stretch, especially for 1975. It's sincere, relatable, human music. The music is tonally simple. The development and form are where the mastery lies.
I frequently hear the music is finally simple. But once you have the notes and have to play it, you learn that the music is increadlibly complex with multiple voices, transformations, modulations and unexpected branches of ideas. It is wonderful.
I would argue that Europe played a significant role in Jazz development. Because of Jim Crow apartheid spoken or not north and south of the US, Jazz musicians came to Europe from the United States and flourished. It's almost like Europe embracing of Jazz much and Jazz musicians helped the US wake up to jazz music.
You put words on what I've been thinking since beginning to take an interest in jazz music in the 70s, and I don't think I've ever heard it said before.
ON JAZZ....a lot to contemplate. Thanks. ("...a state of flow in a great conversation") with the toxicity of Jim Crow as a catalist for our collective and individual psychic deluge of depressed, anxious and hopefully, a liberating self-aware perspective and "flow": resistant and resiliant rhythemic/tonal responses that integrate and transcend the bankrup narratives (a profit driven fascistic response to Eli Whitney's cotton gin to form an aristocratic oligarchy that would subjugate our inherent integrity.)
Sure has! So many great musicians: Chet Baker, Benny Bailey, Kenny Clarke moved to Europe permanently, and the North Sea, Montreux, etc. jazz festivals have some of the most seminal recordings ever. Swiss Movement, anyone? More recently... Strasbourg St.-Denis.
Thank you! Just listened to Part 1 for the first time due to your wonderful and informative video. I am enriched and deeply moved by Jarrett’s improvisation.
You've missed out on one deciding topic: This was one of the most popular LPs amongst audiophiles! Every guy interested in high end stereo equipment had this record. The German label who has recorded this concert was selling on the technical quality of the recordings, not on the artistic one. That was a period before CDs, when most of the recordings were technically still pretty poor. ECM got it right here with the technical and the artistic part - and that was the reason for this enormous success!
Pat Metheny realized early on that Eicher was the guy when it came to making high quality analog recordings. ECM broke so much ground in the world of music and yet 99.9% of jazz listeners in america don't know anything about them.
Those first few bars are some of my favourite sounds on the planet. The notes, the performance, the sound of the piano and the room. Its gorgeous. Not perfect, but gorgeous.
There are so many great, resonant, musical moments in this piece, aren’t there? I love when he references The Trolley Song from Meet Me in St. Louis. It always makes me think about the music playing in a child’s home becoming embedded in memory.
I first heard this album at the age of 18 at the behest of my guitar teacher, it has played a seminal role in my own development as a piano player and introduced me to the world of improvisation. I had no idea about these difficulties, which makes the album all the more amazing.
Ghee David not once was distracted from watching and listening to this story, which is very rare for me. You have a way of story telling that focuses on the artist or the event without making it about you, brilliant!
Thanks for such an amazing video. This is why I do love TH-cam as I’m exposed to such experiences I would never have known about. I’m busy listening to the album. A new “note” to add to my life. Thanks x
Thanks for background. What I like about this album is that you get a sense Keith has infitite patience, taking his time to find a new insight...he plays in a holding pattern...waiting....until it clicks, then off he goes agsin creating magic in real time.
I remember college 1980 WWU (Western Washington University) with my good friends from undergraduate days. Koln Concert played almost every night, and I was every time entranced by the ecstasy Keith achieved in his remarkable improvisations. To this day the Koln Concert remains my favorite piano album. Thank you for this incredible insight into it's improbable genesis.
the iconic Foto was taken by Berlin's Wolfgang Frankenstein, and I happened to stay in his appartment for a couple of days (with NO IDEA who that guy was that was always travelling and never around! Just all these loads of empty film roll doses laying around everywhere!)
When I lived in Berlin, Wolfgang, who preferred Frankie, was a friend of mine. First time I met him, he told me he took the photo. Had nothing to do with Cologne. He used that photo on his business card, which I still have.
Superb work. I've been regular listener of this album since 1983. I've got a tape. A CD. no record... it just keeps on giving. Thank you. Rick Beato interviewing Keith is really good too. Peace and love everyone
thank you so much for telling the story behind this recording/album. I really really love this album and i only can bow down in front this magician on the piano. What incredible talent to play a broken piano,the way he does and to not only have to cope with that,being hungry and with a hurting back growing then over himself and creating this masterpiece,is just prove that there is much more around us what keeps us going in extraordinary situations like this. Thank you again! Loads of love to all lovers of Keith n his music from Scotland 🌈🐬Gabriele 🐉🌺
Setting aside what an amazing feat that performance was, I wish to congratulate David Harley for producing this video: it's a pearl in its own right. 💠
Keith Jarrett was very particular about the sound quality of his performances. Amplifying a concert grand piano is an art that few audio engineers had mastered at the time. Jarrett teamed up with a small, family-owned sound reinforcement company based in Vermont for most of his U.S. performances. They had the sound he was looking for. An unassuming guy named Tom McKenny was the chief engineer. I remember McKenny telling me about an infamous show they did in L.A. on Halloween. When Tom and Keith pulled up in front of the concert hall with a trailer full of sound gear, the union workers would not let Tom bring any of the equipment into the building. Keith's reaction was to tell them, "OK, I'll play the show without sound reinforcement," which is exactly what he did. The audience included a lot of Hollywood royalty, and most of them were dressed up for Halloween parties after the show. It was a strange scene from the get-go. As Keith improvised his way through the first movement, and the audience became completely rapt, an old-style telephone began ringing up in the flys, high above the stage. It rang, and it rang, and it rang. Finally, Keith stopped playing, looked out at the audience and said, "Will somebody answer the goddam telephone!" That telephone was payback from the union workers for denying them the sound reinforcement gig.
Thank you so much for this! I had no idea, even though I've been listening to this album since it first came out (yes, I'm that old). What an extraordinary talent Keith Jarret is, and how fortunate we are to have his wealth of recordings now and forever. Bach and Beethoven were reportedly also extraordinary improvisers, but all we have to testify to that is reports and the improvisations that prompted later written-out compositions.
As a friend of mine calls them, "the Tobin brothers - Bach and Bay". I have read that Chopin was also an amazing improviser; in fact he didn't like to play in large venues like opera houses and concert halls. He would play in private homes and a lot of that playing was improvised. Then the best parts were later written down.
This is not only a good explanation of the evening, it helps to understand and enhance the appreciation and enjoyment of the music. Rather well done. BTW I was first introduced to the album in 1976 by a jazz cognoscenti who’s description bewildered me but when I listened to it I was gripped and relaxed in a way that amazed me. At the time all I wanted to listen to was Yes, Genesis, Leo Kotke and Jerry Jeff Walker. I’ve given this album to alot of people and no one was ever unimpressed. Really a superlative achievement.
I’m from Australia. Unless you count the loudspeaker on the occasional roving ice cream van, we don’t get much in the way of classical music - and definitely no jazz. (Some people claim there’s also something called opera - but I’m pretty sure that’s just an urban legend). Your telling of this story fascinated me to the point where I downloaded Keith Jarrett’s Köln album. I was blown away - and since then I’ve discovered the music of Kenny G (of course), Coltrane, some Zappa, Ella Fitzgerald, Woody Herman and many more. Lately I’ve grown attached to the raw flamenco music of Juan d'Anyelica and Perico Sambeat. Music has never been the foremost interest for me, so I’m not saying your story changed my life - but I certainly have slightly more bounce in my step as I glide down the street. Just one question … what do I do about all the kids coming to the door wanting to buy soft serve ice cream with chocolate and nuts … ? 😉
In 1986 as a young Aussie exchange student at Kochi University in Tokyo, I walked into the student lounge one day and this album was playing. It was on regular rotation in the year I was there and I've owned several copies since. I'm so happy to hear this back-story, especially the part about the pedals, which I have noticed all these years and wondered about.
Thank you, David! I toured Europe 10 times between 1982 and 1994 as a jazz pianist with trio or quartet as "Bob Long" California Band. It is my experience that the Europeans and particularly Germans, maybe, but maybe just all Europeans tend to value jazz and improvisation on a much larger scale than here in the US. Americans, except for the devoted jazz audience, for the most part, do not "get" jazz. They don't understand it, they have no appreciation for it, probably because in school they are not taught about it or exposed to it enough. The Europeans by contrast, study classical and jazz in their regular schooling, and in their social traditions. I would have kids in my jazz audiences with their orange and purple hair all punked out, and after the show they would engage me in conversation about Bach, Lennie Tristano and Coltrane and stuff like that. This happened so often that it was axiomatic. The young people and old people too, are hungry for good quality musical art of all genres and they are effusive in their praise when this hunger is gratified, as in the case of Keith Jarrett. And even to a certain extent myself. That's why many American jazz artists over the years, have chosen to live in Europe and record and perform their. Frankly, it brings tears to my eyes to remember and savor the way we were appreciated and loved by European audiences. I love the story behind the Koln album, and you've presented it in such an interesting way. Thanks!
I'm from Estonia, and remember being taught in high school music class about Jazz and the history of it . - All very basic stuff. Then we have the international annual Jazz festival "Jazzkaar", founded and run by by Anne Erm. Then we have Raadio Tallinn (run by the national broadcaster ERR), which has been playing Jazz and adult alternative music during daytime since forever (can also be heard online). I think this is how I discovered Fink, Ane Brun, and Nick Mulvey. - Arguably, non-Jazz musicians, but my God, how enchanting they are. Our Klassikaraadio channel sometimes also plays Jazz, particularly during the morning retro shows, when they feature the best of East European Jazz and "estrada" genres. - Never knew this before late last year, when I began work, and sought to listen to something at night and in the morning. (I work fewer hours now, so I no longer catch that show.) I also recall dedicated Jazz-oriented shows from other channels, but these were rare and in-between. Plus, documentaries about music and Jazz from Finnish channels during the 1990s. And I think we had one almost very secret Jazz concert in the 1960s, that people only knew by word-of-mouth. Learned about this from a local documentary. Unfortunately, Estonian Jazz music itself is very poor, in my opinion.
You got quite a wonderful musical education. No wonder you love and appreciate it so much. I'm sure that Estonian jazz will improve over time, and as the musicians dig deeper into the history, the "feeling" and the traditions of jazz. I had an opportunity to play with and to hear many German musicians, and Polish and Russian. The Poles swing like crazy and have a real feel for it, the Russians too, pretty well, and the Germans? Well, even though their young people are educated in it, they have some more"developing" to do to get to the place of the real jazz "feel."
I saw Keith Jarrett in Montreal with Gary Peacock & DeJohnette, many moons ago. In the middle of a song, in the middle of the concert, Keith suddenly stopped playing, calmly stood up and walked off the stage. Shortly after, two technicians ran on the stage armed with drills, hammers and other tools, and quickly started working underneath the piano. They were at it for a long time. They didn’t seem to be expert piano tuners, but probably general technicians employed by the festival. Then they left, and Jarrett came back walking slowly, played just one note still standing, and quickly turned around and left the stage, to be replaced once again by the terrified technicians. This circus went on for a while. It probably took an hour & a half to get the piano tuned to his standard before the show, the music show that is, could go on. What a character.
Once I was travelling alone in an old Camping-van for 8 Month throu Australias Coast line and Outback (1997). I had one tape-recorder with me and two tape-recordings. One was the Kölln Concert of Keith Jarrett and the other one was Maria Callas in concert. For 8 month, I didn't miss any other music.
That was beautifully explained and explored. Very well done, and a lovely bit of an interview with Mr. Jarrett; his description was an excellent piece of diary.
Knowing I could never travel back in time, I took my family to see Jarrett in Los Angeles at the Disney Concert Hall on April 29, 2016. Bliss. Fortunate. Grateful. Although I knew much of the story about Koln, 1975, your video is a wonderful archive of history about that night.
I saw the title, and thought - if this is not about Keith - I'm not watching. Oh, what a joy to see younglings honor this amazing artist. The ECM era is one of my favorite adventures in Jazz
One of the greatest musical performances of all time. Incomparable actually. I had no idea of the situation of the performance. Wow! Thanks for sharing this.
Amazing data David. Thank you for this insight! I've been passionate about Keith Jarrett for 25 years and never knew this was a disaster... This is my favorite album and record (vinyl) of all genres and times. Cheers from Mexico!
I remember buying and listening to this album in my college years. I recall it being strange but fascinating. Thank you for presenting this whole context which just further heightens the improvization.
Thats some great research and storytelling. I dont even like jazz but now am too intrigue to buy that album. If what you say is true , it is a one-time concert and can never be replicated courtesy of that broken piano. That is awesome to have a piece of history. ❤
I've deeply admired Keith Jarret's work & have strived to explore sponraneous musics that spring out of unique *moments* arrising from meditative states. What makes the Köln concert instructive (on many levels) is the process of breaking every conceivable pre-requisite you've set preferences for as condition to meet your own standard of expectations. The scariesr, most thrilling moment is when you don't know what you're going to do... you are beyond limits of exhaustion to think or even care to think. It cracks you open in a way that empties your ego so divine conversation can begin the magic of creating.
...wad there that night. A missing part of the stories being told, is that a first - well - ZERO part - which is not on the record - was performed - when Keith stopped after some irritating minutes, a piano tuner - a small Japanese looking guy appeared on stage with doctor's bad showed up - got out the "wrench" and retuned - - for some 5 minutes - the Keith appeared with a glass of Rouge - which he didn't touch - and only THEN the Concert - as we know it - began ... Well, Cologne Opera's attitude at the time was a profound misunderstanding of the "good enough for Jazz" ... ;-) !
I bought this album 'The Koln Concert' back in the mid 70s in Fresno, CA. I bought it on a feeling having never heard or knew who Keith Jarrett was. Up to this very day this album has been and is my all time favorite. If you want to check out more of him, another album I like that he did was 'Arbour Zena'.
I love "Arbour Zena"! Before the album came out, I saw him play it at Carnegie Hall with an orchestra of young people. I was completely carried out of myself, ecstatic! What a night!❤
Concert in the evening. Performer insisting on a piano tuned by ear. Action almost unplayable. My piano tuner experience in Mt. Isa, Australia. Six hours of work. Concert played. After the concert, tuner-technician came to the outback and spent 3 days doing what the piano needed. It happens more often than you might think!
I attended a Keith Jarrett concert in Santa Barbara where he came out sat down and played straight for about an hour and 45 minutes. There was to be no encore. I considered it an insult for people to think that somewhat could come out again after just having poured their entire soul into that one unbroken performance. He came out and respectfully bowed to the crowd and then left
I was aware of a lot of this, but thanks for a very informative video. Keith Jarrett is an incredible artist, The Koln Concert the ultimate piano album. He is very sensitive and you are so lucky to have been able to even make this video. Kudos!...also Thanks to Keith for a lifetime of incredible music.
That is an excellent presentation of the story, David. You mixed in just the right amount of music and life footage to bring this story to life. Thank you.
I knew all of it but watched the video which was very well done. I'd like to add that when Jarrett (and monsters musicians like him) improvises, they are not thinking, they're merely 'spectators' of themselves. The moment you start to think it's all over. The best thing to do is sit back and watch your hands play for you. It's definitely a 'state of grace' that the musician is in... he improvises the form, the counterpoint, the harmony as he goes along. The fact that he was so tired and 'broken' by the trip, the skipped meal and so on, only helped his 'conscious thinking' to get out of the way and let his inner musician play freely almost in a cathartic way for Jarrett who improvised a masterpiece. Unlike other Jarrett's recording in this genre, (which I love and have) this one particularly 'speaks' to a wider audience for his melodic development and triadic harmony (especially in the exposition or in the encore aka 'Memories of Tomorrow" in the Real Book).
Thank you for this wonderful description of things I didn’t know about this brilliant recording. Always loved the feel and percussiveness of this joyous and huge improvisation. After all these years i learned something new.
I'd never heard of him until this post. Can't thank you enough David! Am 50 minutes into the Koln concert and am completely blown away. I see where Neils Frahm gets his inspiration. Magnificient!
It happens a lot in the guitar world. A guitar that is hard to play with high action that makes you fight for every note , makes you produce something amazing and unique. Most of the times instruments that play like butter and are perfectly intonated sound sterile
But the definition of jazz itself would be that it is music created with improvisation. No definition of jazz ever said that it shouldn't make use of piano.
Disclaimer--I am not trying to be an arsehole, Jon--but your comment struck a very resonant chord. On the one hand, I might say; "if jazz isn't improvisation, what is it?" On the other hand, I might say; "there is more to jazz than *just* improvisation, but what?" If jazz were reduced to improvisation, then every boring rock guitar solo would be jazz--which is obviously not the case. So, while I firmly believe improvisation is the heart and soul of jazz (Big Band notwithstanding), what else does a piece of music require to be called "jazz"? Blue notes? Soul and/or swing? Syncopation? Irreverence? Exuberance? Suffering? LeRoi Jones (aka Amiri Baraka) famously wrote (in *Blues People* I believe) that Charlie Parker wouldn't have payed a single note of music if he'd just walked down the street and killed the first five white people he saw (I am paraphrasing, not quoting). My point, of course, is that Baraka's shocking statement is *part* of the answer (for me) to the question; "what is jazz?" I've been thinking about this question for decades. I've read hundreds of attempts by all kinds of smart people to answer that deceptively simple question--and I still don't know what jazz is. But what I *do* know is that when I listen to Jarrett--any Jarrett, even "The Melody At Night With You"--I have the same wash of incomprehensible emotions, excitement and awe as when I listen to Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Irvin Mayfield, The Bad Plus, Joni Mitchell, Thelonious Monk, and all the other artists who in my mind all play jazz, whatever the hell it is:)
@@sloanantony Thanks Antony. I agree! The first comment is like saying »Borat is not a movie, it’s a comedy.« On the other hand, though, I am not so sure about your "If jazz were reduced to improvisation, then every boring rock guitar solo would be jazz"... Suggesting that I'd be "reducing jazz to improvisation" does not make sense - just like I am not suggesting your comment says "every rock guitar solo is boring". So are non-boring guitar solos jazz then? :-) And is jazz never boring? :-) When people argue that not every improvised music will count as jazz (referring to rock'n'roll solos for one), I'd say, obviously not. Just like the fact that there is a sub-genre of movies that is called "comedy" does not at all mean everything that is a comedy will be a movie (a fictional one at that ... obviously there are comedic documentaries, there is comedy in theatre, in radio plays etc), nor will every film that has a "boring" comedic scene in it, automatically be counted as a comedy. Saying improvisation is at the very heart of jazz (which I truly believe is 99,9% true), does by no means make the reverse conclusion applicable. I just feel that there is too much boring music out there that people like to call "jazz", whereas I feel it's more like pop music or soul (Norah Jones for example). Then again, that music may include a few jazzy elements, just like Steely Dan, quite a few Elton John recordings, many Prince tracks and so forth.
@@IJBiermann Love these thoughtful comments, mate. I'm happy to know I'm not the only person out there who agonizes over definitions. Of course, they only count when what it is *counts* to you:) Forget "jazz," I have tried and tried to come up with a definition of "music" that makes sense to me--and that I could easily explain to someone else. I haven't nailed it yet... and I am fine with that:)
@@sloanantony Yeah, I think definitions can be really useful - but not when one makes them into an absolute. :) Being a huge fan of Sonic Youth, I wouldn't mind if anyone would like to call their improvisations "jazz" - though obviously their music in general is more like noise rock or avantgarde rock.
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I attended a Keith Jarrett concert at Royce Hall UCLA around this time. Keith started and then abruptly stopped after playing for a minute or so and turned to the audience and shouted "Does anyone have a piano tuning wrench?" After the laugher died down... amazingly, someone came up with a tuning wrench and Keith struggled to tune a few bad notes. Still unsatisfied, he strutted on and off the stage several times and after a long 10 minutes, the stage crew rolled a new concert grand on stage. Then...Keith played non-stop for over an hour...so exquisitely...Listening to the Koln album brings back that wonderful memory.
He could be exasperating in his desire for perfection yet, one of the greatest improvisors of the last 100 + years.
I'm surprised he did not explain the situation to the audience beforehand, and then say he was prepared to make the best of it regardless. That he managed it without this preamble is amazing, and that he did it without explaining it to the audience AFTERWARDS... that is an artistic genius. Especially after being tired from the drive, hungry because of the restaurant F-up, and a buggered back on top of it all. I've got a perma-cracked L3 (lower back) from a toboggan accident at age 18 (I'm almost 60 now) so I KNOW back pain. Yet he made ZERO excuses.
@@WhiteWolf65 The two times I saw Keith, he was never a man to talk much. He “sings” as he plays
@@WhiteWolf65 - You are buying the story and rehashing it to present that you have some sort of health trouble, very obvious and empty.
So jealous! What a moment to behold! You're truly lucky what a fantastic story!
the opening notes (G-D-C-G-A-D) is the bell at he Köln Opera House telling the people to go back to their seats as the concert is about to start. That's why you hear people laughing on the recording...
wow how cool! thanks for that info
Yeah...I didn't know that! Thanks!
I always wondered why they were laughing. Thank you !
@@tjunglec you're welcome!
very cool
Let it be known far and wide and this concert, this album, this genius was salvaged by the PIANO TECHNICIAN. THE PIANO TECHNICIAN.
There is no universe where the technician (engineer) isn’t by definition a genius. But in this Rick and Morty universe he or she rarely gets the title. I strongly approve of the caps. YAY TECHS WHO DO REAL STUFF BECAUSE THEY UNDERSTAND MATH AND SCIENCE AND BELIEVE IN LOGIC AND SUBMIT TO CAUSALITY
😂 Hear! Hear! ❤
As a piano tuner and rebuilder/refinisher, I concur! 🤣 It’s typically a role taken for granted.
Someone must know his name!
Yes, they must construct a bronze statue of the technician, standing high upon the mount....with outstretched arm pointing his tuning fork, as a scepter to the heavens...
A jazz musician (sorry, I can't recall his name) met Keith Jarrett for the first time, "I thought you were black?" Keith replied, "I'm working on it!"
How could you forget? That was the great Ornette Coleman, and he said, "You got to be black, you have to be black." Keith replied, "I know, I'm working on it!" It's somewhere in Keit's interviews.
😂😂😂🎉😅 I did too
The notion that one has to be black to be a great jazz musician is not only one of the most absurd of ideas, but also an offense to every great jazz musician who _isn't_ black. Without (mostly white) non-black jazz musicians, composers, instrument inventors, etc., it's likely that jazz would never have emerged. None of the instruments used in jazz were created by black people, chromaticism wasn't used in "black music", and neither were chord progressions used in jazz. Take those away, as well as the piano, trap set, double-bass, trumpet, saxophone, etc., and what would be left would be unrecognizable as "jazz". The _only_ way jazz could've emerged is as an interaction between both groups.
@@bricologyfirst of all no one here is saying you have to be black to be a great jazz musician. u can list all the white musicians u want but after all jazz is black music, this doesn’t mean no one else can play it. it means they created it organically. if you took a bunch of europeans and put them on an island with trumpets and saxophones never in a thousands years would they “create” jazz
@@darudesandstorm5993 Jazz is an original American music, coming from the American songbook era of the 1930s / 40s mixed with blues and also a lot of classical / Latin influence. Of course, the main pioneers were African-American and it wouldn't have developed without them, but it didn't exist in isolation and you can't separate the origins of jazz from the overall culture and history of the US. A lot of the early jazz pioneers were trained musicians who learned a lot of classical music and other styles, which were incorporated into the overall mix.
I once did stage management for a charity gig. The (Steinway) grand was tuned in the morning - and then left at the side of the stage in the baking sun for 5 hours.....
Herbie Hancocks manager (for it was he) came on stage and explained in a New York kind of way that his artist would not be playing that piano today, though not using those exact words.
As luck would have it, someone in the audience had a tuning hammer in the car and someone else was a concert level piano tuner.
Not such a dramatic result, but a jolly good afternoon was had by all.
The gig that almost never was - I try to forget about it.
There was a piano tuner In the audience ?!! Wow.. literal bravos, what a rarity! It was one of those " is there a doctor in the house" situation! 😄🎶🎹 (ps cheers to Steinways)
@@AlleGedly.11 i mean a piano tuner being at a piano concert ist probably not that unlikely
@@nurpiet fair , but to have that happen IS rare.. the whole situation fromnthe get go.( worked in music industry forever.) True, perhaps a tech there, but to also have bag on hand with all tools in car: thats spot on. And damn cool.
Vast majority of people don't have the respect needed for these pianos.
But the people that do: you can have a 150 year old piano that'll do the job better.
I think that had I been in the audience, I would have relished the dramatic serendipity of the whole thing.
He played on a broken piano?!!! And he was hungry and in pain too?!! Wow 😮 wouldn't have known that from the recording at all. Keith truly is one of the GOATs.
And watch him play with one hand in the Rick Beato interview!
Don't be fooled...he's a professional whiner.
To make a sports analogy this was his Michael Jordan flu game
The piano technician is the absolute goat.
@@Cre8tvMG No, he's a good person who helps those who deserve it.
I have been listening to this album since it was first released, but never knew the entire story behind it: broken piano, exhausted artist. What I learned much later is that, with all the commotion, the recording engineer had no opportunity to set proper levels before the concert. He basically stuffed a couple of AKG 414's in there and crossed his fingers. You can hear the preamps distorting in places. In the end, none of that mattered; we are transfixed simply by hearing a supremely gifted artist at an inspired moment in what was to be a long and storied musical career.
You kinda look like him haha
@@dixztube : Neither of us look like our pictures anymore!
Wikipedia says it was recorded with "a pair of Neumann U 67 vacuum-tube powered condenser microphones and a Telefunken M-5 portable tape machine". I am curious to know what your source is, as I can't find the source from Wikipedia either.
@@p07a My source was an article in Mix magazine, but I read it years ago and may have mis-remembered the microphone type mentioned. AKG 414's were (and are) commonly used in that application. Valve mics are finicky, so less than ideal for location recording work, but Neumann U67's are still plausible, given that it's a venue in Koln we're talking about. Whatever the recording chain was, you can hear it overload in spots.
this makes sense
For me, this story is a spiritual metaphor for life. You take what you have and do the best you can with it.
Nice! you remind me of the story of Itzhak Perlman who once completed a concert with broken strings on his violin, forcing him to improvise. Afterwards, Perlman leaning on his crutches commented: "I've spent my life making the best of what remains." The audience leapt to their feet in thunderous applause.
In my experience girls adapt to this better than boys
Boys tend to allow circumstances to rule the day but girls insist on showing what they can make of a bad situation
Anyway, greatness shines through the mist
agreed. The older you get the more that implies
@@JuanReyes-vv9tp true words
love it
Only a Master Pianist can take a wrecked piano, and play it in such a manner that no one in the audience knows its wrecked and will even say "Its a Masterpiece!". Kudos to Mr. Jarrett.
A Boesendorfer and a master piano player.
That's not a pianist, that's a musician, an artist! Pianists are just meat robots following a black and white punch card. That day, in that concert hall, no charts were read, no pages turned to reveal new notes, just soul and talent flowing between man and keyboard to produce beauty.
@@KiraSlith many pianists are also improvisers, composers, but ignoring that- If you think that's what playing piano is, or in general musicianship in the sense of classical performance.. that sounds like your impression came from an anime, probably the first half no less, and never developed. I'm sorry to say. Even performing 300 year old pieces is massively interpretative, and it's okay if you don't hear it, but your ignorance is not a good argument.
@@rellloomfor someone who talks about interpretations, you surely took his choice of words as it is written quite literally.
@@knusperhexe direct interpretation is also possible. You need not plunge yourself into depths of dialectic analysis to interpret something :) Some pianists seem to have ice in their veins, yet still I think a comparison to punch cards, pre-computers of sort, to meat robots, is callous and rude, and takes away agency from the performer, as though they had spent years, decades of their life specifically to revoke their individuality. And the separation of 'piano' from 'art.' I can see no excuse. But please, read into it and tell me what you see.
As someone who feels entitled to call out my ability to interpret media, I hope you have a nuanced and well-justified take that substantially differs from mine - I will disagree, of course, contrary to what you think, my take is plenty nuanced if you take a second to consider why I'd write it - but perhaps you have something also worth listening to. Here's the explanation since, I suppose, it's not clear why I wrote a message: you can appreciate something without diminishing something else while you're at it. I think that if someone resorts to diminishing a form of art in order to appreciate another, they abandoned the notion of intellectual charity for art broadly, and that deserves to be called out. This is not about refusing charity to a person who doesn't offer it, it's about pointing out that they're being uncharitable and embracing an inherently un-empathetic, flat approach to art appreciation. Of course, they could have been speaking in hyperbole, but mean-spirited hyperbole remains mean-spirited just as it remains hyperbole.
Also, who's to say I was speaking literally myself? If you're willing to grant them the benefit of the doubt in implying something much less negative than they're putting to words, why not me? I feel your reply is not an honest critique but rather just a poorly concealed agreement with the original-again, mean spirited-comment.
I can scarcely believe Jarret’s incredible performance at Köln came into being under such difficult circumstances. I’ve been listening to this concert on and off for decades now. Thanks for sharing its super interesting ‘back’ story. 👍🏻
Agree, especially about the very interesting back-story, well told. I know I had this 'LP' at some point after an introduction by a friend, 1980 ish. "Keith who?" If I still have it, the cover is dusty around the edges. If I don't, I'll assume an ex-girlfriend liked my musical taste better than me.
I had heard the LP and wasn’t aware originally but did hear the whole story somewhere in the 70’s. Keith is the consummate genius and really let his whole body be led by his inner spirit.
To be fair, I think the piano tuner should get part of the credit. He got the piano in a somewhat playable condition instead of the unplayable mess it was in.
I was just coming to the comment section to write this very thing.
The miraculous healing power of wd-40 and the notion that it’s jazz; nobody’ll even notice…
Wrong notes: nope, improvisation
Broken piano: nope, groove
Unplayable octaves: nope
Absolutely. Two geniuses worked that day.
“mom can we have bosendorfer grand piano?”
“we have bosendorfer at home”
I dream to have a 290 at the recording studio, it's my fav'd one. I'm not a pianist but I love the sound of the 290
Tori Amos
@@quogir1 Brian Eno... BTW, the best 290 sample bank I heard was done with Eno's...
@@Haroun-El-Poussah Thursday afternoon
Thank you for this backround story! I also heard Köln concert in my very old Renault R4 by tape cassette! Horrible Loudspeakers, but you have to work with it!❤
You tell a compelling and entertaining story. I had never heard of Keith Jarrett. Now I want to listen to him play.
@@phoebebaker1575 have you listened to him play? What did you think? I love everything I ever heard from including one appearance at an ECM concert in NYC. Solo improvisations
I've often discussed with others that in this concert you can trace the struggles Jarrett had to overcome. Literally throughout the concert, in his use of phrasing, the flow of ideas - you can see and hear him overcoming struggles. That's what makes it uniquely Jarrett. You can hear his frustrations, his resignation to the idea that he needs to create something out of a difficult situation. Sometimes he stops and his brain is searching for the next impulse. I really feel you can hear this in realtime in Cologne 75. You can hear how he feels backed into a corner, and how he creatively gets out of that corner.
I use this idea in my own work and I've always valued the idea.
Whenever I've played a gig or conducted a photo shoot, it's the times when I've felt worried or anxious about the outcome, that I've really pushed through it. Annoyingly I end up after a concert or session thinking that I did really badly, but in hindsight I often realise that actually what happened was that I upped my expectations of what I need to achieve, and I have improved myself. The "flow" can be a risky place to be, but I tell myself that without risk there is no reward.
You get it!!!
That bit about frustration, resignation, creating a new thing, a something, out of a difficult situation, sometimes searching for the next impulse, if that ain't part of what doing the living of real life is, then what is real life anyway?
Great point! I’ve recognized this too when listening.
At 16 this album was my nightly serenade before sleep during 1976. What I remember best is how I felt so profoundly comforted by this music, in my lonely teenaged heart.
Reminds me of a picture I saw once about artist's block. It was two curves intertwining with one another in big waves, like a double helix, from the bottom left to the top right. One line represented how we view the art we create, and the other how we view art by others. The correlation was that as we get better at art, we start to hold ourselves to higher standards, then get better at art, and so on. In a graph form, these waves show that whenever we think less of other people's art, we believe our own is getting better, and vise versa. It shows that as we grow in our skills that we are constantly at war with ourselves, but overcoming it would change our perspectives as we go and make us better for it. Change is not bad in this way, but helps us learn and grow to find new, and possibly better, ways to do things.
TH-cam algorithm brought me here: Loved you presentation, very professional. I hadn't fully grasped this context and I've owned and deeply enjoyed this recording on vinyl for some time. Very cool. The album really is a magical and raw snapshot
I am a pianist and, for me, the reason this album is so incredibly special is, quite simply, the music. When I first heard it, I knew I liked Keith Jarrett - and was blown away by this masterpiece of improvisation. I knew absolutely nothing about the history of the gig. If I had to choose just one album by Jarrett that I could have, this would be it.
Right. The Music. A lot of people claimed the improv was faked. If that's true I didn't care. The music speaks for itself even still.
@@jimbig3997 I very much doubt that Keith Jarrett would fake anything. We are privileged that he allowed us to share his intimacy with the piano.
Thank you for that great explanation. This shows again that "Just showing up" is always worth it.
Except that he didn’t “just show up”. The tuner, the engineers, the organizer, the producer and especially the artist PUSHED THROUGH and created something that was infinitely more special than perfect organization would have produced. The lesson here is plan (better, 17-year old… how the hell did you show up at the same time as the artist??) then be open to adapting every single detail. And push through until it works.
@@LisaGelhausy
What a brilliant comment. Seriously. I muck up everything so pretty much give up before I begin. But the odds have it that sometimes I accomplish something. So yeah, your observation would be a turnaround for me. And was inspiring and surprising to hear.
@@LisaGelhaus excellent perspective! “Be open to adapting every single detail…”. Your words are profound and nourishing. Thank you.
Sometimes when things go wrong, it's actually freeing...when the inertia of habit, routine is broken, disrupted, it can allow for something startling to emerge in the vacuum. Case in point, this album. Thanks for the thoughtful reporting! We need more of that.
You get it
Perfectly said!!!
beautifully said
I have heard a lot of this story previously, but also understand that the first four notes Jarrett played was actually a quote, I believe from the chimes used to summon the audience to their seats, and you can hear a bit of laughter in the background as a result.
I commented the same without reading yours first... yeah he quoted the chimes
@@enricomarconi8358 The funny thing is that Jarrett very specifically did not want to hear ANY music prior to a concert, so that he wouldn't be influenced in any way. But one time (and again, I don't know the source of this story) he was beginning a concert, but sat staring at the piano for what was apparently an extended period of time. Finally, someone in the audience shouted "D sharp!" and he said "thank you!" and began playing...LOL
@@marzzz1 I have heard this story as well... I can tell you what happened in Trento, Italy. He arrived in Piazza Duomo after that his driver asked for direction to a friend of mine (the best jazz bassist in town of all things!). Once he sat at the piano he started improvising at the piano, and the fist claps arrived (you can imagine him... it went up his nose right away). Some more playing, and some more claps. Needless to say people were watching (for free) from the homes surrounding the square as well (and clapping). After 15 mins, Jarrett left utterly annoyed and never returned (to the piazza nor to Trento).
Makes me think of the folk legend of Nina Simone coming out to a concert where someone yelled "we love you Nina" to which she eventually responded "So you should" at which point she left the stage and didn't return😂😂😂
Who knows of the veracity of such tales!!
I saw him in Seattle. A member of the audience coughed. He derided the individual for lack of concentration on the music. He then deftly incorporated a cough into the music he was playing, slammed the keyboard cover down twice quickly and proceeded. Some walked out. I definitely stayed..., quietly.@@enricomarconi8358
To me this is also the story about how a skilled piano technician can salvage a piano.
I think the reason their piano-tech advised to use the broken smaller Boesendorfer was that he knew a transported piano would get out of tune if not tuned twice with at least 8 hours interval, and secondly because he knew how to fix broken keys, having spare parts if needed (but probably not needed) and being able to repair and regulate in 3-4 hours because he was experienced, an old piano tech wizzard. Just my 17 cents.
At 05:21 hands are showing playing on a Steinway Grand. Another shot shows how Keith's hands look later, I think he had to give up playing. When we hear some notes from the beginning of the part 1 of the concert we actually hear tones from the middle register ringing beautifully out, in tune, and some lower baryton notes, quietly adapting to the 4 tone motif. That! That is music, that is beautiful. Don't care about the highest and the deepest octaves - it is the middle which counts. This technician could make my piano sound better.
VERY interesting .
Keith Jarrett stopped playing after he had a stroke in 2018. He was still performing live up to that point.
@@DavidTYork great insight. the technician was great. the acoustic is great too
Agree. As a piano technician myself, when i heard that the technician was able to fix as much as possible to make the piano playable at a minute notice, i applauded.
Honestly horrifying task, to be put in a position like that. World famous pianist needs this broken piano fixed ASAP. The weight of resposibility put on his shoulders... work and time of many people would be wasted if he wasnt able or willing to help. Great proffesional.
Loved this video. It covered an interesting topic about a unique moment in time, was conveyed in a straightforward manner, and contained no BS filler.
This is the way all internet content should be made. Congrats.
I'm no musician and I've never heard of this album, but your take and production value is superb. Thanks for the positive contribution to the internet!
Buy it. It is sublime.
Thank you. I was introduced to this album by a man named Hanz Robin who lived with his wife in Savannah, Georgia, USA. They allowed me to stay with them as a 19 year old - something I'll never forget as it demonstrated the kindness of strangers. The album became the soundtrack of my summer.
Wow, as a jazz musician myself, I found this video to be incredibly insightful and inspiring. I watch a lot of music history videos on youtube, and I must say I have never heard of this story. Keep doing what you are doing! Been a fan ever since the Pet Sounds video.
There is a moment where you hear the music actually start leading him. His vocalisations are like someone amazed at what he is hearing. This is channeling at it's finest.
I never got the impression Keith was playing jazz in the concert. It's more impressionistic. I think that crossed over to a lot of non jazz listeners. My favorite Jarrett is on Miles' Live Evil.
Jarrett is an endlessly creative improvisor. One of a kind. A true genius.
It's more like folk music. Maybe he avoided chromatic playing because he knew the black notes on this piano were messed up, and thus gave this album a wider appeal?
My Cologne friends will hate me for this, but this is a typical Cologne story. That's how this city works and that forms part of its charm. Lots of parallels to the construction of the Cologne cathedral. I have lived there for over 20 years and even met Vera Brandes a few times, so this story amuses me quite a bit yet doesn't surprise me at all. I'm happy that it led to one of the greatest recordings in history.
I grew up and lived near and worked in cologne for many years. You are exactly right. It´s at the same time so frustrating there is never going anything like planned and adorable how it still works out and sometimes even in a great result. (But never to be reproduced.)
Cologne teaches you to take chances and meet wonderful people along the way...
I didn't know anywhere in Germany had a reputation like this, it seems very 'un-German', (forgive the lazy stereotypes)
Totally true. I lived in Cologne twice for a few years each.
Projects with big clients were a mess but miraculously to great success.
And what drove me nuts was that my colleagues never sweated about situations that cost me sleepless nights.
Great people though! Friendly, overly talkative and open and generally optimistic. I liked it a lot there.
@@richochet That's what makes it charming and maybe why I fit in quite well. One joke, that "Kölsche" make about their city is calling it the northernmost town of southern Italy. Cologne was founded as a Roman colony; maybe that explains things a bit.
Lol 😂 a friend just told me same story Last Weekend
The example of being a professional musician. It’s a pity what happened to Keith Jarrett. First to overcome a horrible disease then to suffer several strokes. He’s still one of my top 3 jazz piano players. I’ve seen him several times with the trio and each time I’ve been filled with joy by his playing. We miss you Keith Jarrett!❤
Thanks for telling the story of that album. I got the vinyl from a local record store back in the seventies. I was still going to school then and I remember immersing myself into the soundscapes of the Köln Concert as I was lying on my bed.
I still know how in those hours this music that at the time was unknown and foreign to me revealed itself to be so captivating and meaningful.
Thank you for bringing back those memories.
Great job david: you should listen VERY closely to the silence, just before Keith's first 5 notes. You can just hear the bells signalling the start of the show (da da da-da-da-), and Keith took them and made a beautiful song out of them, on the spot.
Canon in D starts with 8 notes. Canon Rock by JerryC of Taiwan starts with the same 8 notes. These 8 notes have populated TH-cam very well!
Unfortunately there's nothing on the CD before the first piano notes.
@@sdrtcacgnrjrcWhy do engineers do that to recordings? It's not for them to decide on "improving" a historical moment. Like the Russians, who pretend WW II started when Hitler invaded Soviet. (Ok, maybe the gravity of the latter surpasses that of the first violation.)
@@sdrtcacgnrjrc I just wonder… is my memory made up? I remember it so clearly… you can still hear the audience laugh at the opera bells motif… but I’m so sure you could just barely hear the muffled bells
@@unclejohnthezef maybe its on the vinyl version?
This is probably my favourite piece of music that I return to over and over again. It is meditation special. I never knew the background story to the recording. You have just added a great deal more value to my experience of engaging with this work. Thank you so much.
Your explanation of why the album is so popular, that it's a chance for the listener to "eavesdrop on a moment in time", is spot on. I'd not thought about that before but all the great concert recordings leave the imperfections in and it's those imperfections that are exciting.
Amen to that. Several of the greatest Live albums of all time have some monumental errors within the music, from Jimi Hendrix breaking a string & re-stringing his guitar on "Band of Gypsies", to the Grateful Dead collectively losing the plot during Dark Star on "Live/Dead", and barely finding their way back for the second verse. It's moments like that that make live recordings so fascinating, the moments where you can feel the musicians are totally winging it, dancing on the knife edge between disaster and triumph...
Perfection is fine in the Studio. Live, that should always be slightly unpredictable...
Keith's albums of solo work all offer something new every time I listen to them. Never ceases to amaze me that I hear something different every time.
Oh, my goodness! I did not know about the history of the recording. Exceptionally insightful and David has me at the edge of my dusty computer chair. I wish that I could have been at that concert. 🌸
It's such accessible, lyrical music. It isn't trying to be edgy or "challenging". It is unabashedly and very sweet, without being corny. Calling it "jazz" feels like a big stretch, especially for 1975. It's sincere, relatable, human music. The music is tonally simple. The development and form are where the mastery lies.
I frequently hear the music is finally simple. But once you have the notes and have to play it, you learn that the music is increadlibly complex with multiple voices, transformations, modulations and unexpected branches of ideas. It is wonderful.
It’s really not. It’s my absolute favourite but it’s about as far from accessible as one can get.
I would argue that Europe played a significant role in Jazz development. Because of Jim Crow apartheid spoken or not north and south of the US, Jazz musicians came to Europe from the United States and flourished. It's almost like Europe embracing of Jazz much and Jazz musicians helped the US wake up to jazz music.
Thank you Europe. But the US never woke up
You put words on what I've been thinking since beginning to take an interest in jazz music in the 70s, and I don't think I've ever heard it said before.
ON JAZZ....a lot to contemplate. Thanks. ("...a state of flow in a great conversation") with the toxicity of Jim Crow as a catalist for our collective and individual psychic deluge of depressed, anxious and hopefully, a liberating self-aware perspective and "flow": resistant and resiliant rhythemic/tonal responses that integrate and transcend the bankrup narratives (a profit driven fascistic response to Eli Whitney's cotton gin to form an aristocratic oligarchy that would subjugate our inherent integrity.)
Sure has! So many great musicians: Chet Baker, Benny Bailey, Kenny Clarke moved to Europe permanently, and the North Sea, Montreux, etc. jazz festivals have some of the most seminal recordings ever. Swiss Movement, anyone? More recently... Strasbourg St.-Denis.
Thank you! Just listened to Part 1 for the first time due to your wonderful and informative video. I am enriched and deeply moved by Jarrett’s improvisation.
You've missed out on one deciding topic: This was one of the most popular LPs amongst audiophiles!
Every guy interested in high end stereo equipment had this record. The German label who has recorded this concert was selling on the technical quality of the recordings, not on the artistic one.
That was a period before CDs, when most of the recordings were technically still pretty poor.
ECM got it right here with the technical and the artistic part - and that was the reason for this enormous success!
Pat Metheny realized early on that Eicher was the guy when it came to making high quality analog recordings. ECM broke so much ground in the world of music and yet 99.9% of jazz listeners in america don't know anything about them.
Those first few bars are some of my favourite sounds on the planet. The notes, the performance, the sound of the piano and the room. Its gorgeous. Not perfect, but gorgeous.
There are so many great, resonant, musical moments in this piece, aren’t there? I love when he references The Trolley Song from Meet Me in St. Louis. It always makes me think about the music playing in a child’s home becoming embedded in memory.
I had no idea that this album, for me such a transcendent experience, was a miracle in so many ways.
"Do the best you can, where you are, with what you have"
/Punk
- Sun Tzu, probably.
The ending of part one is some of my favorite piano music of all time. There’s just pure joy flowing through it.
I first heard this album at the age of 18 at the behest of my guitar teacher, it has played a seminal role in my own development as a piano player and introduced me to the world of improvisation. I had no idea about these difficulties, which makes the album all the more amazing.
Ghee David not once was distracted from watching and listening to this story, which is very rare for me. You have a way of story telling that focuses on the artist or the event without making it about you, brilliant!
I bought it as a record & cd. I played over & over again.
Thanks for such an amazing video. This is why I do love TH-cam as I’m exposed to such experiences I would never have known about. I’m busy listening to the album. A new “note” to add to my life. Thanks x
Thanks for background. What I like about this album is that you get a sense Keith has infitite patience, taking his time to find a new insight...he plays in a holding pattern...waiting....until it clicks, then off he goes agsin creating magic in real time.
I remember college 1980 WWU (Western Washington University) with my good friends from undergraduate days. Koln Concert played almost every night, and I was every time entranced by the ecstasy Keith achieved in his remarkable improvisations. To this day the Koln Concert remains my favorite piano album. Thank you for this incredible insight into it's improbable genesis.
the iconic Foto was taken by Berlin's Wolfgang Frankenstein, and I happened to stay in his appartment for a couple of days (with NO IDEA who that guy was that was always travelling and never around! Just all these loads of empty film roll doses laying around everywhere!)
Canisters.
That photo is very reminiscent of a similar one of Bill Evans.. wonderful!
When I lived in Berlin, Wolfgang, who preferred Frankie, was a friend of mine. First time I met him, he told me he took the photo. Had nothing to do with Cologne. He used that photo on his business card, which I still have.
I knew nothing about the behind the scenes information about this concert until now. Thanks.
Superb work. I've been regular listener of this album since 1983. I've got a tape. A CD. no record... it just keeps on giving. Thank you. Rick Beato interviewing Keith is really good too. Peace and love everyone
thank you so much for telling the story behind this recording/album.
I really really love this album and i only can bow down in front this magician on the piano.
What incredible talent to play a broken piano,the way he does and to not only have to cope with that,being hungry and with a hurting back growing then over himself and creating this masterpiece,is just prove that there is much more around us what keeps us going in extraordinary situations like this.
Thank you again!
Loads of love to all lovers of Keith n his music from Scotland 🌈🐬Gabriele 🐉🌺
Listened to this album for decades, never knew any of this about it, fascinating stuff, great vid David Hartley!
Setting aside what an amazing feat that performance was, I wish to congratulate David Harley for producing this video: it's a pearl in its own right. 💠
Keith Jarrett was very particular about the sound quality of his performances. Amplifying a concert grand piano is an art that few audio engineers had mastered at the time. Jarrett teamed up with a small, family-owned sound reinforcement company based in Vermont for most of his U.S. performances. They had the sound he was looking for. An unassuming guy named Tom McKenny was the chief engineer. I remember McKenny telling me about an infamous show they did in L.A. on Halloween.
When Tom and Keith pulled up in front of the concert hall with a trailer full of sound gear, the union workers would not let Tom bring any of the equipment into the building. Keith's reaction was to tell them, "OK, I'll play the show without sound reinforcement," which is exactly what he did. The audience included a lot of Hollywood royalty, and most of them were dressed up for Halloween parties after the show. It was a strange scene from the get-go.
As Keith improvised his way through the first movement, and the audience became completely rapt, an old-style telephone began ringing up in the flys, high above the stage. It rang, and it rang, and it rang. Finally, Keith stopped playing, looked out at the audience and said, "Will somebody answer the goddam telephone!"
That telephone was payback from the union workers for denying them the sound reinforcement gig.
Thank you so much for this! I had no idea, even though I've been listening to this album since it first came out (yes, I'm that old). What an extraordinary talent Keith Jarret is, and how fortunate we are to have his wealth of recordings now and forever. Bach and Beethoven were reportedly also extraordinary improvisers, but all we have to testify to that is reports and the improvisations that prompted later written-out compositions.
As a friend of mine calls them, "the Tobin brothers - Bach and Bay". I have read that Chopin was also an amazing improviser; in fact he didn't like to play in large venues like opera houses and concert halls. He would play in private homes and a lot of that playing was improvised. Then the best parts were later written down.
This is not only a good explanation of the evening, it helps to understand and enhance the appreciation and enjoyment of the music. Rather well done.
BTW I was first introduced to the album in 1976 by a jazz cognoscenti who’s description bewildered me but when I listened to it I was gripped and relaxed in a way that amazed me. At the time all I wanted to listen to was Yes, Genesis, Leo Kotke and Jerry Jeff Walker. I’ve given this album to alot of people and no one was ever unimpressed. Really a superlative achievement.
From Yes to Jerry Jeff. What a nice bandwidth!
I’m from Australia. Unless you count the loudspeaker on the occasional roving ice cream van, we don’t get much in the way of classical music - and definitely no jazz. (Some people claim there’s also something called opera - but I’m pretty sure that’s just an urban legend).
Your telling of this story fascinated me to the point where I downloaded Keith Jarrett’s Köln album. I was blown away - and since then I’ve discovered the music of Kenny G (of course), Coltrane, some Zappa, Ella Fitzgerald, Woody Herman and many more. Lately I’ve grown attached to the raw flamenco music of Juan d'Anyelica and Perico Sambeat.
Music has never been the foremost interest for me, so I’m not saying your story changed my life - but I certainly have slightly more bounce in my step as I glide down the street.
Just one question … what do I do about all the kids coming to the door wanting to buy soft serve ice cream with chocolate and nuts … ? 😉
The state of mind „what else should go wrong now“ put you in a stressless mood in which you perform best❤
In 1986 as a young Aussie exchange student at Kochi University in Tokyo, I walked into the student lounge one day and this album was playing. It was on regular rotation in the year I was there and I've owned several copies since. I'm so happy to hear this back-story, especially the part about the pedals, which I have noticed all these years and wondered about.
Thank you, David! I toured Europe 10 times between 1982 and 1994 as a jazz pianist with trio or quartet as "Bob Long" California Band. It is my experience that the Europeans and particularly Germans, maybe, but maybe just all Europeans tend to value jazz and improvisation on a much larger scale than here in the US. Americans, except for the devoted jazz audience, for the most part, do not "get" jazz. They don't understand it, they have no appreciation for it, probably because in school they are not taught about it or exposed to it enough. The Europeans by contrast, study classical and jazz in their regular schooling, and in their social traditions. I would have kids in my jazz audiences with their orange and purple hair all punked out, and after the show they would engage me in conversation about Bach, Lennie Tristano and Coltrane and stuff like that. This happened so often that it was axiomatic. The young people and old people too, are hungry for good quality musical art of all genres and they are effusive in their praise when this hunger is gratified, as in the case of Keith Jarrett. And even to a certain extent myself. That's why many American jazz artists over the years, have chosen to live in Europe and record and perform their. Frankly, it brings tears to my eyes to remember and savor the way we were appreciated and loved by European audiences. I love the story behind the Koln album, and you've presented it in such an interesting way. Thanks!
I'm from Estonia, and remember being taught in high school music class about Jazz and the history of it . - All very basic stuff. Then we have the international annual Jazz festival "Jazzkaar", founded and run by by Anne Erm.
Then we have Raadio Tallinn (run by the national broadcaster ERR), which has been playing Jazz and adult alternative music during daytime since forever (can also be heard online). I think this is how I discovered Fink, Ane Brun, and Nick Mulvey. - Arguably, non-Jazz musicians, but my God, how enchanting they are.
Our Klassikaraadio channel sometimes also plays Jazz, particularly during the morning retro shows, when they feature the best of East European Jazz and "estrada" genres. - Never knew this before late last year, when I began work, and sought to listen to something at night and in the morning. (I work fewer hours now, so I no longer catch that show.)
I also recall dedicated Jazz-oriented shows from other channels, but these were rare and in-between.
Plus, documentaries about music and Jazz from Finnish channels during the 1990s.
And I think we had one almost very secret Jazz concert in the 1960s, that people only knew by word-of-mouth. Learned about this from a local documentary.
Unfortunately, Estonian Jazz music itself is very poor, in my opinion.
You got quite a wonderful musical education. No wonder you love and appreciate it so much. I'm sure that Estonian jazz will improve over time, and as the musicians dig deeper into the history, the "feeling" and the traditions of jazz. I had an opportunity to play with and to hear many German musicians, and Polish and Russian. The Poles swing like crazy and have a real feel for it, the Russians too, pretty well, and the Germans? Well, even though their young people are educated in it, they have some more"developing" to do to get to the place of the real jazz "feel."
Any recommendation on how to expose my kid (1 year) to this music?
This is one of the greatest albums of all time, in any genre, on any instrument.
U got that right! 😉👍
One take. No overdubs. Amazing.
Definitively, without any doubt.
I saw Keith Jarrett in Montreal with Gary Peacock & DeJohnette, many moons ago. In the middle of a song, in the middle of the concert, Keith suddenly stopped playing, calmly stood up and walked off the stage. Shortly after, two technicians ran on the stage armed with drills, hammers and other tools, and quickly started working underneath the piano. They were at it for a long time. They didn’t seem to be expert piano tuners, but probably general technicians employed by the festival.
Then they left, and Jarrett came back walking slowly, played just one note still standing, and quickly turned around and left the stage, to be replaced once again by the terrified technicians.
This circus went on for a while.
It probably took an hour & a half to get the piano tuned to his standard before the show, the music show that is, could go on.
What a character.
Montpellier 86 - same story.
Once I was travelling alone in an old Camping-van for 8 Month throu Australias Coast line and Outback (1997). I had one tape-recorder with me and two tape-recordings. One was the Kölln Concert of Keith Jarrett and the other one was Maria Callas in concert. For 8 month, I didn't miss any other music.
I can so relate to that.
Dunno why the algo. recommended this, but I'm glad it did! ❤
Keith Jarrett is a LEGEND. This album is a LEGEND. Nothing less needs to be said.
That was beautifully explained and explored. Very well done, and a lovely bit of an interview with Mr. Jarrett; his description was an excellent piece of diary.
the album stayed on my turntable for over 3 years
I cannot explain what this album did to me. It raises the hair on my arms, makes me sweat, and takes my mind on some kind of journey.
this is why
it was a spiritual gift for all involved
unpredictable and carried by sheer love
My favorite jazz album by a pianist is Oscar Peterson Live in Russia from 1974. There’s nothing like hearing a snapshot of real history in the making!
Knowing I could never travel back in time, I took my family to see Jarrett in Los Angeles at the Disney Concert Hall on April 29, 2016.
Bliss. Fortunate. Grateful.
Although I knew much of the story about Koln, 1975, your video is a wonderful archive of history about that night.
My favorite album of all time & i didn't knew about this story. Thank you
I saw the title, and thought - if this is not about Keith - I'm not watching. Oh, what a joy to see younglings honor this amazing artist. The ECM era is one of my favorite adventures in Jazz
One of the greatest musical performances of all time. Incomparable actually. I had no idea of the situation of the performance. Wow! Thanks for sharing this.
Amazing data David. Thank you for this insight! I've been passionate about Keith Jarrett for 25 years and never knew this was a disaster... This is my favorite album and record (vinyl) of all genres and times. Cheers from Mexico!
This is very well written, presented, and produced. Good work.
I remember buying and listening to this album in my college years. I recall it being strange but fascinating. Thank you for presenting this whole context which just further heightens the improvization.
Thats some great research and storytelling. I dont even like jazz but now am too intrigue to buy that album. If what you say is true , it is a one-time concert and can never be replicated courtesy of that broken piano. That is awesome to have a piece of history. ❤
I've deeply admired Keith Jarret's work & have strived to explore sponraneous musics that spring out of unique *moments* arrising from meditative states.
What makes the Köln concert instructive (on many levels) is the process of breaking every conceivable pre-requisite you've set preferences for as condition to meet your own standard of expectations.
The scariesr, most thrilling moment is when you don't know what you're going to do... you are beyond limits of exhaustion to think or even care to think.
It cracks you open in a way that empties your ego so divine conversation can begin the magic of creating.
One of my most treasured albums. Thanks for this David✌️🇦🇺
...wad there that night. A missing part of the stories being told, is that a first - well - ZERO part - which is not on the record - was performed - when Keith stopped after some irritating minutes, a piano tuner - a small Japanese looking guy appeared on stage with doctor's bad showed up - got out the "wrench" and retuned - - for some 5 minutes - the Keith appeared with a glass of Rouge - which he didn't touch - and only THEN the Concert - as we know it - began ... Well, Cologne Opera's attitude at the time was a profound misunderstanding of the "good enough for Jazz" ... ;-) !
Almost 50 years and I still marvel at the performance.
Was an experience listening to the album when it was released and every time I listen again
I bought this album 'The Koln Concert' back in the mid 70s in Fresno, CA. I bought it on a feeling having never heard or knew who Keith Jarrett was. Up to this very day this album has been and is my all time favorite. If you want to check out more of him, another album I like that he did was 'Arbour Zena'.
I love "Arbour Zena"! Before the album came out, I saw him play it at Carnegie Hall with an orchestra of young people. I was completely carried out of myself, ecstatic! What a night!❤
This explanation and added history has added so much to my ongoing enjoyment of the KOLN Concert . Thank you .
Concert in the evening. Performer insisting on a piano tuned by ear. Action almost unplayable. My piano tuner experience in Mt. Isa, Australia. Six hours of work. Concert played. After the concert, tuner-technician came to the outback and spent 3 days doing what the piano needed. It happens more often than you might think!
I attended a Keith Jarrett concert in Santa Barbara where he came out sat down and played straight for about an hour and 45 minutes. There was to be no encore. I considered it an insult for people to think that somewhat could come out again after just having poured their entire soul into that one unbroken performance. He came out and respectfully bowed to the crowd and then left
I was aware of a lot of this, but thanks for a very informative video. Keith Jarrett is an incredible artist, The Koln Concert the ultimate piano album. He is very sensitive and you are so lucky to have been able to even make this video. Kudos!...also Thanks to Keith for a lifetime of incredible music.
That is an excellent presentation of the story, David. You mixed in just the right amount of music and life footage to bring this story to life. Thank you.
I knew all of it but watched the video which was very well done. I'd like to add that when Jarrett (and monsters musicians like him) improvises, they are not thinking, they're merely 'spectators' of themselves. The moment you start to think it's all over. The best thing to do is sit back and watch your hands play for you. It's definitely a 'state of grace' that the musician is in... he improvises the form, the counterpoint, the harmony as he goes along. The fact that he was so tired and 'broken' by the trip, the skipped meal and so on, only helped his 'conscious thinking' to get out of the way and let his inner musician play freely almost in a cathartic way for Jarrett who improvised a masterpiece. Unlike other Jarrett's recording in this genre, (which I love and have) this one particularly 'speaks' to a wider audience for his melodic development and triadic harmony (especially in the exposition or in the encore aka 'Memories of Tomorrow" in the Real Book).
Thank you for this wonderful description of things I didn’t know about this brilliant recording. Always loved the feel and percussiveness of this joyous and huge improvisation. After all these years i learned something new.
"A broken piano" in a world in need of healing.
Which describes the entire history of our world. But we make do, and make music.
I'd never heard of him until this post. Can't thank you enough David! Am 50 minutes into the Koln concert and am completely blown away. I see where Neils Frahm gets his inspiration. Magnificient!
_Felt_ is exactly what this made me think of. Alas, everyone else in the comments either hasn't heard it or don't see the connection.
It happens a lot in the guitar world. A guitar that is hard to play with high action that makes you fight for every note , makes you produce something amazing and unique.
Most of the times instruments that play like butter and are perfectly intonated sound sterile
This album was one of the first I ever bought. Still have a copy on my usb in my car right now. Thank you for sharing this bit of history
I've heard this album many times over the years. I did not know the history until just now. Now I need to go out and buy it.
If you can go with the flow while listening, this is one off the best pieces of music you'll ever hear.
This is not a jazz album. It's a piano improvisation album and also one of my all time favorites.
But the definition of jazz itself would be that it is music created with improvisation. No definition of jazz ever said that it shouldn't make use of piano.
Disclaimer--I am not trying to be an arsehole, Jon--but your comment struck a very resonant chord. On the one hand, I might say; "if jazz isn't improvisation, what is it?" On the other hand, I might say; "there is more to jazz than *just* improvisation, but what?" If jazz were reduced to improvisation, then every boring rock guitar solo would be jazz--which is obviously not the case. So, while I firmly believe improvisation is the heart and soul of jazz (Big Band notwithstanding), what else does a piece of music require to be called "jazz"? Blue notes? Soul and/or swing? Syncopation? Irreverence? Exuberance? Suffering? LeRoi Jones (aka Amiri Baraka) famously wrote (in *Blues People* I believe) that Charlie Parker wouldn't have payed a single note of music if he'd just walked down the street and killed the first five white people he saw (I am paraphrasing, not quoting). My point, of course, is that Baraka's shocking statement is *part* of the answer (for me) to the question; "what is jazz?" I've been thinking about this question for decades. I've read hundreds of attempts by all kinds of smart people to answer that deceptively simple question--and I still don't know what jazz is. But what I *do* know is that when I listen to Jarrett--any Jarrett, even "The Melody At Night With You"--I have the same wash of incomprehensible emotions, excitement and awe as when I listen to Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Irvin Mayfield, The Bad Plus, Joni Mitchell, Thelonious Monk, and all the other artists who in my mind all play jazz, whatever the hell it is:)
@@sloanantony Thanks Antony. I agree!
The first comment is like saying »Borat is not a movie, it’s a comedy.«
On the other hand, though, I am not so sure about your "If jazz were reduced to improvisation, then every boring rock guitar solo would be jazz"... Suggesting that I'd be "reducing jazz to improvisation" does not make sense - just like I am not suggesting your comment says "every rock guitar solo is boring". So are non-boring guitar solos jazz then? :-) And is jazz never boring? :-)
When people argue that not every improvised music will count as jazz (referring to rock'n'roll solos for one), I'd say, obviously not. Just like the fact that there is a sub-genre of movies that is called "comedy" does not at all mean everything that is a comedy will be a movie (a fictional one at that ... obviously there are comedic documentaries, there is comedy in theatre, in radio plays etc), nor will every film that has a "boring" comedic scene in it, automatically be counted as a comedy. Saying improvisation is at the very heart of jazz (which I truly believe is 99,9% true), does by no means make the reverse conclusion applicable.
I just feel that there is too much boring music out there that people like to call "jazz", whereas I feel it's more like pop music or soul (Norah Jones for example). Then again, that music may include a few jazzy elements, just like Steely Dan, quite a few Elton John recordings, many Prince tracks and so forth.
@@IJBiermann Love these thoughtful comments, mate. I'm happy to know I'm not the only person out there who agonizes over definitions. Of course, they only count when what it is *counts* to you:) Forget "jazz," I have tried and tried to come up with a definition of "music" that makes sense to me--and that I could easily explain to someone else. I haven't nailed it yet... and I am fine with that:)
@@sloanantony Yeah, I think definitions can be really useful - but not when one makes them into an absolute. :) Being a huge fan of Sonic Youth, I wouldn't mind if anyone would like to call their improvisations "jazz" - though obviously their music in general is more like noise rock or avantgarde rock.
I can understand why this album is so successful: after hearing this story I MUST have this recording.
Lesson... If you get a lemon, transform your anger into a blender and you may ended up with a top notch swiss lemonade (or a Köln taste, in this case)
Discovering this album for the first time thanks to its fascinating story told well... much appreciated.