Nick Odell
2025-02-25 18:31:33 UTC
Better late than never: I've "discovered" music for the first time at
performers' farewell concerts before now but fifty years after the
event is a new high - or low - for me. I ignored Keith Jarrett during
the years when I might have been expected to pay attention because I
associated him with the sort of jazz that really didn't interest me at
the time but hearing last week's "Artworks" programme
<https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0026v5r> 50 Years of the Koln
Concert, really intrigued me.
The biggest selling piano record album ever. The biggest selling jazz
record of any sort ever. And it nearly didn't happen because Jarrett
hadn't slept properly, was suffering from illness, had just arrived in
Koln after a grueling journey of hundreds of kilometres in his record
label owner's rickety old car to find that due to a misunderstanding
the caretakers had taken a broken baby grand piano from the opera
house rehearsal rooms and placed that on the stage for him to play.
Jarrett hadn't want to perform under those circumstances but even
though the show was to have taken place in the late evening, after the
earlier opera performance had concluded, there was already a full
house of expectant fans and the recording equipment was all set up. He
was finally persuaded to go on and play by the promoter, an
eighteen-year-old girl.
The performance was completely improvised. It began with a sequence of
notes which mimicked the auditorium interval buzzer - which the
audience recognised and responded to in a way that I truly believe is
present in the recording. The rest is history: just a history I wasn't
aware of until a few days ago.
If you don't know the piece, I'd recommend listening to the Artworks
programme first since it explains so much about what went on before
and what was happening during the performance. If you already know the
work, my apologies for my display here of new-convert syndrome. And
if, like me, you always thought Jarrett played the wrong sort of jazz,
do give it a try anyway.
The audio from the concert is available on YouTube but I downloaded
what I think is a better, high bit rate version of the recording from
the bottom of this page at the Internet Archive:-
<https://archive.org/details/just-couldnt-hold-it-back>
My apologies for taking fifty years to find this.
Nick
performers' farewell concerts before now but fifty years after the
event is a new high - or low - for me. I ignored Keith Jarrett during
the years when I might have been expected to pay attention because I
associated him with the sort of jazz that really didn't interest me at
the time but hearing last week's "Artworks" programme
<https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0026v5r> 50 Years of the Koln
Concert, really intrigued me.
The biggest selling piano record album ever. The biggest selling jazz
record of any sort ever. And it nearly didn't happen because Jarrett
hadn't slept properly, was suffering from illness, had just arrived in
Koln after a grueling journey of hundreds of kilometres in his record
label owner's rickety old car to find that due to a misunderstanding
the caretakers had taken a broken baby grand piano from the opera
house rehearsal rooms and placed that on the stage for him to play.
Jarrett hadn't want to perform under those circumstances but even
though the show was to have taken place in the late evening, after the
earlier opera performance had concluded, there was already a full
house of expectant fans and the recording equipment was all set up. He
was finally persuaded to go on and play by the promoter, an
eighteen-year-old girl.
The performance was completely improvised. It began with a sequence of
notes which mimicked the auditorium interval buzzer - which the
audience recognised and responded to in a way that I truly believe is
present in the recording. The rest is history: just a history I wasn't
aware of until a few days ago.
If you don't know the piece, I'd recommend listening to the Artworks
programme first since it explains so much about what went on before
and what was happening during the performance. If you already know the
work, my apologies for my display here of new-convert syndrome. And
if, like me, you always thought Jarrett played the wrong sort of jazz,
do give it a try anyway.
The audio from the concert is available on YouTube but I downloaded
what I think is a better, high bit rate version of the recording from
the bottom of this page at the Internet Archive:-
<https://archive.org/details/just-couldnt-hold-it-back>
My apologies for taking fifty years to find this.
Nick