Comments on: Success Story: Keith Jarrett and the “Unplayable” Piano

By: Kristen Esbensen

Kristen Esbensen — Sat, 08 Jan 2022 16:14:48 +0000

Thank you all for your comments and observations. And, thank you so very much for this writing and descriptions of the circumstances surrounding that night when Keith Jarrett created beauty and magic. I love the concepts of accepting rather than resisting. I’m a therapist and these are concepts that are of great benefit for the people I serve who are residing in quagmires. The totality of the music and the many observations here and elsewhere are of such beauty, hope, and promise.

Again, thank you all.

Kristen

By: Mark

Mark — Mon, 27 Apr 2020 01:48:14 +0000

Beautifully written story about a truly amazing musical event. I love this as an illustration of accepting, rather than resisting, the setbacks life hands us, and by accepting and moving toward them, generating a calm and quiet mind that allows creativity to flourish. Thanks Joe.

By: Ignatius J. Reilly, M.D.

Ignatius J. Reilly, M.D. — Sat, 18 Apr 2020 20:00:56 +0000

What an article. Just got the transcribed music, the irony of reading sheet music for a concert that was pure improvisation. I’ve played snippets by ear before, but I’m no cochlear savant that could play the entire thing just by ear.
I’m 14 years old and walk into a record store, a well-known chain in the Detroit area. I’m milling in the jazz section, something told me I needed to explore that world. Maybe something I heard on a TV show, maybe even just listening to Vince Guaraldi on a Peanuts special. So I tell the salesperson I’d like to buy a jazz album. Stupid completely open ended query, what should she do with that request? The staff must have been really well trained. She says what instrument do you like? I reply I play piano concertos. She looks at me like oh really and I start saying yeah Beethoven’s 3rd, both of Chopin’s, several by Mozart . . . so she hands me “The Koln Concert” and says I think you’ll like this one. What a stellar choice, transformative. Several years later I’ve got dozens of jazz albums and am headed to Columbia University, partly because I’d decided I wanted to hear lots of live jazz music during my college years. No Dartmouth or Brown for me. Wonder what she would have suggested if I’d said the trombone or drums or bass. Obviously well taught staff able to deal with all types of customers who don’t quite know what they want.
So this is almost forty years ago, and here we go. And yes, the opening notes are so recognizable and simply sublime. I don’t have a Bosendorfer, a Yamaha grand. Nothing close to 9 feet. And she needs a tuning and some work, but I don’t know if that’s really “essential” right now. Maybe I’ll bring one over and they’ll wear a mask.
This was a phenomenal read, truly.

By: Ian

Ian — Tue, 24 Dec 2019 11:05:34 +0000

A podcast called Cautionary Tales used this article almost verbatim for a recent episode.

By: Podcast Episode 14: Murphy's Law, Entropy and Managing Your Response -

Podcast Episode 14: Murphy's Law, Entropy and Managing Your Response - — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 19:58:50 +0000

[…] Here is a great account of Keith Jarrett’s Koln Concert. […]

By: Nancy

Nancy — Fri, 06 Oct 2017 19:52:22 +0000

What a terrific story. It’s hard to imagine a better illustration of the concept of “moving towards.” Thanks!

By: Ken williams

Ken williams — Tue, 03 Oct 2017 00:26:17 +0000

Mr. Jarrett turned the banal and the familiar into something gorgeous and mysterious …. magic Joe. Thx on this day of very wicked events inLas Vegas. ; -(