Roughly the first 8 minutes of "Part II a" is a vamp over a D major groove with a repeated bass vamp in the left hand, and in "Part II b," Jarrett improvises over an F# minor vamp for approximately the first 6 minutes. And for about the last 6 minutes of "Part I," he vamps over an A major theme. For instance, in "Part I," he spends almost 12 minutes vamping over the chords Am7 (A minor 7) to G major, sometimes in a slow, rubato feel, and other times in a bluesy, gospel rock feel. Quite a notable part of the sublimity of this concert is Jarrett's ability to produce seemingly limitless improvised material over a vamp of one or two chords for prolonged periods of time. As it was originally programmed for vinyl LP, the second part was split into sections labeled “II a” and “II b.” The third part labeled “II c” was actually the final piece, a separate encore. The recording is in three parts: lasting about 26 minutes, 34 minutes and 7 minutes respectively. The performance was recorded by ECM Records engineer Martin Wieland, Studio Bauer, using a pair of Neumann U-67 vacuum-tube powered condenser microphones and a Telefunken M-5 portable tape machine. It remains his most popular recording and continues to sell well more than 35 years after its initial release. Despite the obstacles, Jarrett’s performance was enthusiastically received by the audience and the subsequent recording was acclaimed by critics and became an enormous commercial success. 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). 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 concert took place at the unusually late hour of 11:30 PM following an earlier opera performance. 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. He had not slept well in several nights and was in pain from back problems and had to wear a brace. 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. Because he could not fall in love with the sound of it, he found another way to get the most out of it.” ECM Records producer Manfred Eicher later said: “Probably (Jarrett) played it the way he did because it was not a good piano. 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. The instrument was tinny and thin in the upper registers and weak in the bass register, and the pedals did not work properly. 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. Unfortunately, the error was discovered too late for the correct Bösendorfer to be delivered to the venue in time for the evening’s concert. 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. At Jarrett’s request, Brandes had selected a Bösendorfer 290 Imperial concert grand piano for the performance. The concert was organized by 18 year-old Vera Brandes, Germany’s youngest concert promoter. Preliminaries to the concert were not auspicious. The Köln Concert has been hailed as a masterpiece by critics, "flowing with human warmth." "Part II c" actually is a 3rd part, the encore. As the concert was originally published on LP, the second part was split into parts labeled "II a" and "II b". The recording is in three parts, lasting 26 minutes, 34 minutes and 7 minutes, respectively. The album is one of the best-selling jazz albums of all time with sales of more than 3.5 million and the most sold solo album in jazz. The Köln Concert is a recording released through ECM by the renowned jazz pianist Keith Jarrett, who performed solo improvisations at the Cologne Opera House in Köln / Cologne in 1975.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |