ON THIS DATE (40 YEARS AGO) January 24, 1975 - Keith Jarrett performs solo piano improvisations at the Cologne Opera House in Cologne (German: Köln) before a live audience. The performance is captured and released later that same year as The Köln Concert, which is an ALL THINGS MUSIC PLUS+ MUST-HAVE! Release. _______________________________________ The Story of a Legendary Recording - A Masterpiece The concert was organized by 17-year-old Vera Brandes, Germany’s youngest concert promoter. At Jarretts request, Brandes had selected a Bösendorfer 290 Imperial concert grand piano for the performance. However, there was some confusion by the opera house staff and instead they found another Bösendorfer piano backstage - a much smaller baby grand - and assuming it was the one requested placed it on the stage. Unfortunately, the error was discovered too late for the correct Bösendorfer to be delivered to the venue in time for the evenings concert. The piano they had was intended for rehearsals only and was in poor condition and required several hours of tuning and adjusting to make it playable. The instrument was tinny and thin in the upper registers and weak in the bass register, and the pedals did not work properly. Consequently, Jarrett often used ostinatos and rolling left-hand rhythmic figures during his Köln performance to give the effect of stronger bass notes, and concentrated his playing in the middle portion of the keyboard. ECM Records producer Manfred Eicher later said: Probably [Jarrett] played it the way he did because it was not a good piano. Because he could not fall in love with the sound of it, he found another way to get the most out of it. Jarrett arrived at the opera house late in the afternoon and tired after an exhausting long drive from Zurich, Switzerland, where he had performed a few days earlier. He had not slept well in several nights and was in pain from back problems and had to wear a brace. After trying out the substandard piano and learning a replacement instrument was not available, Jarrett nearly refused to play and Brandes had to convince him to perform as the concert was scheduled to begin in just a few hours. The concert took place at the unusually late hour of 11:30 PM following an earlier opera performance. This late-night time slot was the only one the administration would make available to Brandes for a jazz concert - the first one ever at the Köln Opera House. The show was completely sold out and the venue was filled to capacity with over 1400 people at a ticket price of 4 Deutsche Marks (about $5.00). Despite the obstacles, Jarretts performance was enthusiastically received by the audience and the subsequent recording was acclaimed by critics. It remains his most popular recording and continues to sell well more than 35 years after its initial release. ________________________________________ WSJ A Jazz Night to Remember The unique magic of Keith Jarretts The Köln Concert By CORINNA DA FONSECA-WOLLHEIM It is the most successful solo jazz album of all time, but Keith Jarrett wants to see each of the 3.5 million copies of The Köln Concert stomped into the ground. Recorded on Jan. 24, 1975, in front of a live audience in the Cologne opera house, the hauntingly lyrical free improvisation became as much a part of 70s ambiance as the scent of pot and patchouli. In an interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel in 1992, Mr. Jarrett complained that the album had become nothing more than a soundtrack. We also have to learn to forget music, he added. Otherwise we become addicted to the past. But much as his admirers might like to honor Mr. Jarretts wishes, his Köln Concert is not likely to be forgotten any time soon. In fact, what makes the album extraordinary is that the music, created out of nothing over the space of an evening decades ago, has stood the test of time as a lasting work of art. Far from being a memorial monument, the record gives the listener the opportunity to witness the act of creation itself, to participate in the making of art. The concert was part of a European solo tour begun in 1973. Previously, Mr. Jarrett had played in trios and quartets, then joined the ensemble around Miles Davis, helping him push jazz beyond its limits. At Daviss request, he abandoned the acoustic piano in favor of the electronic organ and electric piano. He hated it. The solo tour was like a detox program, a return to his artistic core to the point where it was just Mr. Jarrett, the piano, and silence. When I think of improvising, Mr. Jarrett says in Mike Dibbss 2005 documentary On Improvisation, I think of going from zero to zero -- or wherever it goes. Im not connecting one thing to another. Each concert was a blank, silent space waiting for Mr. Jarrett to fill it with music. Köln was different, because there were just so many negative things in a row, Mr. Jarrett recalls in the documentary. He had not slept in two nights. The piano he had ordered did not arrive in time for the concert. The one in the hall was substandard, sounding tinny and thin in the outer registers. Mr. Jarrett nearly refused to play, changing his mind at the last minute. Almost as an afterthought, the sound technicians decided to place the mikes and record the concert, even if only for the house archive. Later, longtime friend and record producer Manfred Eicher said: Probably he played it the way he did because it was not a good piano. Because he could not fall in love with it he found another way to get the most out of it. When Mr. Jarrett played the first four notes, a low ripple of laughter went through the auditorium: He was quoting the opera houses intermission bell. But just as quickly, the reaction turned into awed silence as Mr. Jarrett turned the banal and familiar into something gorgeous and mysterious. On the LP, the concert would be cut into four segments, but that night he played two separate movements lasting about half an hour each, plus a six-minute encore. The first movement is lyrical, pensive. Mr. Jarrett uses the suspension pedal to create a liquid, suspended soundscape out of which melodies emerge gently, even reluctantly. Part II is all rhythm to begin with, with a choppy short motif in the left hand repeated over and over while scales break out in the right hand as if released by a spring. With minute harmonic variations, Mr. Jarrett conjures up different genres: rock n roll, hoedown, minimalist music. A sudden silence gives way to a broody passage, and then there is a melody again, this time modal, somewhat Oriental, entirely distinct. The encore is simple and sweet like a familiar song. In the jazz world of 1975, the sheer beauty of the program was revolutionary. It also helped make it accessible to a public that otherwise felt alienated from jazz, leading to the immense success of the album. But the popularity of The Köln Concert also made it suspect to many critics -- including Mr. Jarrett himself. Countless imitations -- composed, of course, not improvised -- sought to recreate the lyricism of Mr. Jarretts music without bothering with the rhythmic rigor or harmonic invention. Devoted fans attempted to transcribe what they heard on the concert album, trying to express one evenings inspiration in paper and ink. A guitar version was even published. But without the live, improvised element, the magic is lost. Unlike a piece of classical music, The Köln Concert is a masterpiece only in its recorded format. And it requires an audience that participates in the unfolding act of creation each time anew. Thus the listener becomes involved in the search for a themes development, shares in the elation when Mr. Jarrett finds a beautiful new tune, experiences the joy of hearing him play with it. When he pauses on a chord, unsure of where to go next, it seems as if much more than the immediate future of this music hangs in the balance. When he shifts to a new key, it feels as if a door has been pushed open, inviting the listener to explore new rooms and hallways. This spatial sense is an important feature of much of Mr. Jarretts solo work: His music offers room in which to breathe. But, like abstract art at its best, it can also present opaque surfaces that challenge the audience. Part II has long passages in which the sustained, hammering ostinato -- a small motif repeated over and over again -- becomes grating and uncomfortable. When Mr. Jarrett resolves the tension with yet another exquisitely phrased melody, the relief is physical. In the 19th century, the great music critic and writer Eduard Hanslick described free improvisation as the highest degree of immediacy in the musical revelation of mental states. In The Köln Concert, the creative process is as much a part of the aesthetic experience as the resulting music is. The album is not so much masterpiece as masterwork: art as a process that forever remains in the present. TRACKS: All compositions by Keith Jarrett Part I – 26:01 Part IIa – 14:54 Part IIb – 18:13 Part IIc – 6:56 Keith Jarrett Keith Jarrett - The Köln Concert
Posted on: Sat, 24 Jan 2015 19:30:00 +0000
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