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These concerts take me back to my college days no one does free playing like keith jarrett
I have now placed them in the correct order based on the recording date. I should know because people are always saying to me when I listen to experimental music or abstract jazz: "What is that." or "Turn that Down.", but several people have heard "The Koln Concert" at my house & had to add it to their music collections. This is an error because "Solo Concerts: Bremen & Lausanne" was recorded a year & half before "The Koln Concert". Some of the reviews state that new comers to Keith Jarrett's music should start with this earlier solo piano concert in its CD format. Somehow or somewhere some sort of social conscience told me that the "The Koln Concert" was the essential Keith Jarrett LP or CD to have.
Add another style to the list. Keith Jarrett must have some fast hands because the notes are zooming all over the keyboard. I disagree because very few people like Experimental Music & "The Koln Concert" is more reachable to the mass market. Conlan Nancarrow wrote piano music with so many notes that no human could play them so he punched out the notes on Player Piano rolls. There is almost every sort of music in it: Classical, Jazz, Abstract, Gospel, Experimental. Still on side 5 "WOW." I am now hearing Conlan Nancarrow's style of music but without the Player Piano. I am surprised that the earlier concert is more vast in style. Its more open & smooth, with very little pop.
Tonight I am playing the "Solo Concerts: Bremen & Lausanne" 3 LP version & was amazed that I filed it after "The Koln Concert" in both my LP & CD jazz sections. Most people like to hum along a tune or dance to a beat, not sit & listen to something different or profound.If you tune your LP player just right & send it through some tubes, you can get a better sound than a CD. Yes, I know the LP is too hard to find, & if iPod & MP3 keep up this CD version will also be hard to find. I believe I bought the CD's new & the LP's used but still in good shape. In fact I hear some John Cage (Prepared Piano & avert sound effects) & La Monte Young (Vibrational harmonic chords) styles on side 5.
Once again a bit of minimalism. The most striking feature here is how the music evolves, effortlessly moving forward. You have to hear it to believe it and appreciate it. I'm tempted to call these three performances the Goldberg Variations of Our Time. All together quite beautiful. The Koln improvs are more like set pieces with beginning middle end while these are more a stream of conciousness or inspiration. I think these improvisations are easily superior to the Koln concert simply because of the incredible flow of the music, seamless transistions from one thing to another, effortless segues, the music just flows out of him like nothing I've ever heard. In the Lausanne performance apparently at a mid point he plays a prepared piano very charmingly recalling some John Cage.
I have almost ALL Keith Jarret solo CDs, and this is my favorite.Maybe I am biased since it was my first Keith Jarret CD back in high school (wow that was LONG ago), but still it is beautiful.
It doesn't pretend to be anything but honest, simple music. It is THAT good. Facing You is the kind of music that grows on you. Koln is Jarrett's best known solo piano album. Listen with your heart and you will understand what I mean. But, my all-time favorite is Facing You, Jarrett's first solo piano album. But between Koln and Bremen/Lausanne, the latter is musically the better album. I own all three in their original vinyl, but I own only Facing You in CD.
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