On the 24th of January, 1975, renowned jazz pianist, Keith Jarett performed what would go on to be one of the best-selling piano albums of all time to 1,300 people at Cologne’s opera house. ‘The Köln Concert’ is arguably one of the most influential jazz albums of all time and demonstrated Jarett’s mastery of improvisation and his incredible ability to blend genres and incorporate ideas. Even today, the album feels raw and powerful, incorporating, as it does, the crowd reaction and Jarett’s own humming and singing along to his melodies. It’s an album that transcends its genre, appealing to even none-jazz fans.
It’s remarkable to think then, that the whole thing almost didn’t happen!
The entire concert was organised by a part-time promoter – a young, German student by the name of Vera Brandes. Amazingly, Vera was just 17 at the time. In accordance with Jarrett’s request, Brandes had arranged for the provision of a Bössendorfer 290 Imperial concert grand piano for the show, but the opera house staff provided the wrong piano. They instead provided a much smaller Bössendorfer baby grand which the opera house used for rehearsals. This piano had seen some use and was in poor condition, badly out of tune, with sticking keys and broken sustain pedals. It was practically unplayable, never mind concert-worthy.
To make matters worse, Jarrett himself had been struggling with extreme back pain, exacerbated by the five hour drive he had just made from Zurich to Cologne. When he turned up, he was in a bad way and hadn’t been sleeping. The man was a renowned perfectionist, with naturally perfect pitch, so when he heard about the mix-up with the piano, and that there was no-time to get a replacement piano, he threatened to cancel the concert there and then.
To her eternal credit, Vera Brandes refused to give up on the concert and worked on pacifying Jarrett whilst she had technicians see what was able to be done about the piano. After several hours, they managed to at least tune it to an acceptable degree, but the issues around tone and playability persisted.
At 11.30pm, Jarrett, wearing a back brace, walked out onto the stage. Between the sticking pedals, the broken keys and the unconventional timbre of the piano, Jarrett had to work hard to improvise his way around the instrument and produce something that sounded even half-way decent. What he delivered was a career-defining, lightning-in-a-bottle style concert that lasted well over an hour and the recording of which went on to sell over four million copies.
He did all this in spite of the challenges he faced. He worked within the restrictions that had been placed on him and allowed them to fuel his creativity. I find what Jarrett and Vera Brandes achieved that night hugely inspirational, and whether you’re a fan of jazz or not, I’d implore you to give the Köln Concert a listen.
Today’s prompts:
What currently seems like an obstacle but might actually be an opportunity in disguise?
How can you introduce enforced restrictions in your daily life to amplify your creativity and force you to think more creatively?
If you were to give up now, what might you be depriving the world of?
Happy journaling!