The Köln Concert

Después de escuchar "A love supreme", Tidal me recomendó un tema de este disco así que es el momento de escucharlo entero. Insufrible. No disfruto este tipo de jazz tan introspectivo.

The Good: We are going to smell good!!!
The Bad: This has nothing to do with water...
The Ugly: Sitting in the Cologne concert hall next to smelly Germans....

First time listening to this album, even though Mr Beato hailed this as one of the albums that one needs to listen to in one's lifetime.

Well, I will agree. And, though I hate to admit it, I think that having to have sat through hundreds of albums suggested to me by Mr D, and all the shit that this contained, it has trained my ear to realize when I am listening to something special.

Nothing else to say...

5*

i fuckin love jazz and the story for this one makes it even better

When I don't know an artist/album, I just hit play, no prior research. After I got done with this one, I jotted down 2 stars and then tried to figure out why it is on the list. I cannot believe that this album has sold 4 million albums. I can totally believe that it was largely improvised - it seemed like it, and not in a good way. The songs were meandering, not particularly interesting, and repetitive at times. I can get down with instrumentals only, I just need to feel something, something like Keith Jarrett apparently felt making this because it sounds like he's just off mic blowing a load at several points. 2/5

An album like this gives certain reviewers a place to expound and gush over something pretty basic. It’s fine. Yes, he plays the piano well … he’s a professional piano player. But this is no Thelonius Himself, so let’s take it easy with the effusive praise. I think his background moaning is hilariously pretentious and the whole exercise becomes very tiresome before too long. Bonus points for getting Eric Andre to pose for the cover photo.

Really special experience to hear this all the way through

"Say, what could make listening to a dude just make up piano music for a full hour? I know, let's include some random grunts and gasps of amazement and wonder, that's totally palatable!"

Ah the perfect exemplar of what his project is about. Never heard of this but it was definitely something I needed to hear . While not my normal cup of tea this was interesting and something different .

A piano album that is not jazz or “classical “.

The only issue is 1 hour of solo piano playing, split into 4 tracks, can be a be a little long

I'm feeling a 4 on this one

The music here is really "nice". Unlike other jazz albums (not sure if this is really jazz), I'd say this is more accessible for the casual listener (like myself, when it comes to this genre).

Did I like it? Definitely. Did I love it? I would'nt say so. But, in any case, I think this is very good and I'm pretty sure I will listen to this again.

In my opinion, it clearly deserves at least 4 stars.

This is a soothing hour of piano performed in front of an audience who are entranced and occasionally punctuated with vocal outbursts "urgh!" from Keith Jarrett, presumably pushing himself to his limit. Nothing particularly stood out to me but I'd take this any day over an algorithmic "calm piano" playlist.

Seeing that four songs are somehow an hour and six minutes, this listen was either going to be awful or amazing. It's safe to say it was neither. The first track is kinda boring, but the talent is definitely prominent. It could just be shortened a little, as it feels like the piece doesn't really progress at all. You can hear a melody and music peek through the playing, but it never fully comes out. He is also hitting the piano very hard at times. However after the second track kicks in, I was pulled right along. Something that makes this project enjoyable is that this guy is incredibly good at piano. It never gets too in your face, but it's enough chops to make me smile. The "vocals" that bleed into the songs are kinda weird though and sounds like this guys jerking off while playing piano for an hour. The flaws seen in the first song completely flip and prove my critiques wrong. I just wish that the whole album was a bit more consistent, and you know, maybe something more than just piano. But for its limitations, this album is pretty great. Very low 4.

Beautiful! not the most familiar with piano acts but this was quite nice.

Jamais écouté avant.

La voilà ma première claque jazz (mais est-ce vraiment du jazz ?). Et pourtant, en tant qu'album live d'improvisation solo au piano, The Köln Concert ne partait pas gagnant dans mon esprit. Il y a quelque chose de l'universalité de la musique, d'une beauté totale et époustouflante, à écouter Keith Jarrett se battre avec son piano pour en tirer le meilleur, avec force râles de frustration et une dextérité fascinante, sans pour autant céder aux effets de manche. Colérique et lumineux, intimiste et épique, intense et minimaliste, mélodique et expressif (si expressif !), jamais ennuyeux ou répétitif, The Köln Concert est tout ça à la fois. Tout ce qui fait, pour moi, de la musique l'expression ultime de la créativité humaine, la forme d'art la plus empreinte de notre âme d'êtres humains, est là. Incontestablement la plus belle découverte depuis le début de ce projet pour moi, et un choc dont je ne suis pas sûr de m'être encore remis.

Top : -
Flop : -

Ugh I tried. I fell asleep. I'm sorry!

Why Köln, Keith Jarrett? Is it the Budokan of piano jazz?

Cute backstory on Wiki about how KJ was hungry and had back pain and they set up the wrong piano and so that's why he did so much jazz. If you say so, Wiki. This was very pleasant, but to be fair, I expect I'd say the same of most any piano album.

4/5. Honestly crazy how much mileage Keith Jarrett gets out of the piano during this performance. It’s over an hour long but I never felt bored by his playing, he manages to strike so many emotions with how intense/quiet he goes with it at different points. The highlight for me is the massive opener, titled “Pt. 1.” Which goes through a ton of different build-ups and phases. I’ll be blunt that I’m nowhere near a piano expert, I’m just a dumb little guitar/bass guy, but this album seems like the good stuff when it comes to piano playing.

If someone had written the script for 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘒ö𝘭𝘯 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵, nobody would have believed it. You have an exhausted Keith Jarrett battling severe back pain, a still-young ECM Records founder, Manfred Eicher, who had yet to discover that this would become his label’s defining success, and an understandably panicked teenage concert promoter, Vera Brandes, desperately trying to find a playable Bösendorfer grand piano on a January afternoon in Cologne after the wrong instrument had turned up.

On paper, every ingredient for a complete disaster was there. In reality, it became one of the greatest improvised piano performances ever recorded. Jarrett somehow turned exhaustion, pain, and an imperfect piano into music of extraordinary beauty.

Sometimes the best albums are meticulously planned. Sometimes everything goes spectacularly wrong — and the result is pure magic. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘒ö𝘭𝘯 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵 belongs firmly in the second category.

Knowing the backstory makes this better.

Great, enjoyed the whole thing, and will certainly listen again.

I music that work as relaxing background/work music are always underrated.

Also imagine just being able to vibe on a piano for an hour and twenty and have a room full of people clap for you every time you take a break.