Keith Jarrett - The Köln Concert (1975)

GEOGRAPHY WEEK (JANUARY 8-14, 2012)

I realize New Age-ish piano music isn't for everybody, but I love this CD. However, I'm glad I didn't hear it for the first time until I was in my 30's because I don't think I could have appreciated it. Full-on improvisation at its best. I don't think my explanation would do it justice, so I'll leave it to The Wall Street Journal and Allmusic.com.

Reviews/ratings:

• CashBox: "near on perfect"
• Stereo Review: Recording of Special Merit
• High Fidelity: "A totally novel, beautiful, and warm listening experience."
• DownBeat (★★★★★): "His solo art remains a unique entity in music, and the Koln concert is its most moving, telling exposition."
• The Penguin Guide to Jazz (5th ed., 2000):★★★★
• The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide (1999): ★★★★
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999): ★★★★★

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: Did not chart (just missed at #201)
• Billboard Jazz: #6
• CashBox: #187
• Record World Jazz: #14

Tracks: The recording is in three parts: lasting about 26 minutes, 34 minutes and 7 minutes respectively. As it was originally programmed for vinyl LP, the second part was split into sections labelled "IIa" and "IIb." The third part labelled "IIc" was actually the final piece, a separate encore. That's why it works so well as a CD instead of vinyl; the music flows so much better.

Just let it play, man.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: One of my favorite late night CDs. In fact, I don't think I've ever listened to this CD in the daytime. When I was in high school, anything on the ECM label seemed a little too "out there" for my limited tastes. I'm glad I got over that bias.