Keith Jarrett: The Köln Concert

cold bay sunshine, this pearlized sky,

a panel, the door to the apartment on a red brick.

concentration on the midrange,

the keys clanged: "oh!"

pink stucco on the baptist church

red neon cross on the corner of the avenue

annotate his gasps

(and jagged mesmer!)

annotate his gasps

(and jagged mesmer!) --

"oh!"

It hasn't happened in a while, though it easily could and be but rarely a bothering thing. 

Who hasn't rocked and writhed to Keith Jarrett's pestered, stepping, bobbing piano -- that bad, bad piano which forced him to the middle ranges, thank God and praise the Lord?

Who hasn't grunted, and grunted gloriously -- the grunt::gasp pulled straight out from what we now call The Core, what the commercials say needs strengthening, where we reside -- there where we rock from side to side?

I have made a place for dangerous music again, memories be damned, because I need to be somewhere other than here, now, and I am deep down glad for the world's talent, and amazed.  In the street in my nightgown, running for the bus on Telegraph Avenue, this last little bit of Oakland, then home again, home again, after the Night Bus, fumes in white cotton, oh!  Jagged "oh"s.

Preliminaries to the concert were not auspicious. The concert was organized by Vera Brandes, Germany’s youngest concert promoter. Brandes had selected a Bösendorfer 290 Imperial concert grand piano for the performance, but the stagehands did not realize that the piano was stored in the cellar of the building. Instead, they found a Bösendorfer baby grand backstage and assumed that it was to be used. This piano was intended for rehearsals only, and was in poor condition.

Jarrett had not slept in two nights. He arrived at the opera house late and tired after an exhausting hours-long drive in a Renault R4. He rushed to finish a hasty meal just minutes before the concert was to begin. After learning about the substandard piano, Jarrett nearly refused to play. Brandes, who just turned 18 years old, had to convince the 29-year-old Jarrett to perform nonetheless. Almost as an afterthought, the sound technicians decided to place microphones and record the concert, even if only for the house archive.

The instrument was tinny and thin in the upper registers, so Jarrett concentrated on ostinatos and rhythmic figures.


Despite the obstacles, Jarrett's performance was enthusiastically received, and the subsequent recording was acclaimed by the critics and an enormous commercial success. With sales of more than 3.5 million, it became the best-selling solo album in jazz history. [wikipedia]