The Köln Concert- Keith Jarret – Rate this recording

Hi,
I have only the Lp's ECM, German pressings. The recording is typical ECM, squeaky clean and the recording hall ambience is coveyed well.( Accuracy of which can only be known to those who have listened live at that venue). Some might feel the recording to be Dry like some ECM are, still the piano sounds like one when played through a good system. Talking of system reminds me of the importance of a fast tight low freq reproduction capability when playing piano music, it provides the right weight for each notes. The boomy bass will spoil the show as much as the honkiness of some bookshelf speakers.

Regarding music which is very personal, not my kind.

ani schrieb:

The boomy bass will spoil the show as much as the honkiness of some bookshelf speakers. Regarding music which is very personal, not my kind.

I tend to agree - this is an 'aquired' taste;
I did listen to it 2 times - but could not go through it. My 'maturity' as a 'listener' has a long way to go....

The first part of your statement - I might not entirely aggree with. I use 'book shelf' speakers & I am not so sure if they 'honk' !!

Square,

Recording quality apart, the thril was gone after about 15 minutes of listening, just like bhagwan. I do confess jarret is not one of my favs.

Try a few telarc mjq recordings. Very good recordings with very good music.

Manek

Hi Bhaqwan,

Please note the key word "some" in my remarks about bookshelf speakers. Regarding your Bookshelf less said the better

Regards
Anil

@Manek.
By MJQ you ,mean the Modern Jazz Quartet right ? Any particular album ?

@everyone
I kinda like Bill Evans better than Keith Jarret. I have a cd by Ahmed Jamal which sounds good too.
This Koln Concert is one of the best selling Jazz albums till date but although I find it quite creative, I find I do not listen to it much after the first few listens. Not compelling enough.
I was more interested in the “recording quality” of this cd.

What albums do you guys use to evaluate the capability of a system to reproduce the piano ?

square_wave schrieb:

@Manek. By MJQ you ,mean the Modern Jazz Quartet right ? Any particular album ? @everyone I kinda like Bill Evans better than Keith Jarret. I have a cd by Ahmed Jamal which sounds good too. This Koln Concert is one of the best selling Jazz albums till date but although I find it quite creative, I find I do not listen to it much after the first few listens. Not compelling enough. I was more interested in the “recording quality” of this cd. What albums do you guys use to evaluate the capability of a system to reproduce the piano ?

Albums like The Koln Concert, Nude Ants are a bit of an acquired taste IMHO, given their avant garde nature.

Having said that I would not write off Keith Jarrett, I urge you to sample his more conventional 'Standards' recordings- Standards vol 1,vol2,live,bye,bye blackbird...

All of the above feature the now classic standard trio - KJ on Piano, Gary Peacock on Bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums.

One more thing.Keith Jarrett has this unconcious but slightly irritating habit of tunelessly humming along while playing. This is quite audible in the recordings and can tend to be very disconcerting.

However once you get past that, you begin to appreciate the prodigious talent of the man.

I'm a fan!

ani schrieb:

Hi Bhaqwan, Please note the key word "some" in my remarks about bookshelf speakers. Regarding your Bookshelf less said the better

Sir,

I am in splits & rolling on the floor.....
jokes apart, you have never listened to my speakers or my set up !! A visit is more than over due !! What say ?

I have the ECM CD of this performance. It's difficult for me to listen to in its entirety but whatever section I listen to, I, too, find this performance very creative. I cannot comprehend how somebody could make a solo piano recording to be so engaging.

One more thing.Keith Jarrett has this unconcious but slightly irritating habit of tunelessly humming along while playing. This is quite audible in the recordings and can tend to be very disconcerting.

LOL! very true tho'. These grunts are very audible in the Koln Concert & seem to take away from the music.

KJ is a hard artist to like. I have several more of his music mostly on LPs but I do not seem to like it as much as I probably would like to. I had more joy buying the LP than listening to it!

I have not heard the Koln concert in a long time on my present system; I should & hear how the piano sounds. Hopefully sooner than later.....

KJ Koln Concert is very well done as I happened to listen to it 2 weeks back. I've the ECM 24K Japan CD (havent a clue if this is any superior to the Reg ECM). Personally, as others state, there are better & more engaging KJ albums...

audio_engr schrieb:

I've the ECM 24K Japan CD (havent a clue if this is any superior to the Reg ECM). ..

Hey that is news to me..
I did not know that ECM had 'Japanese' Pressings...
How many such ECM's do you have ?
I have always found the CD made in Japan to be 'super' viz a viz CD pressed in Europe or elsewhere.
The other ones I like are those pressed by Nimbus - UK.

bhagwan69 schrieb:

How many such ECM's do you have ?

Not many - just 3. Two of Keith Jarrett (Koln Concert & Changeless) & the last one's Making Music (John McLaughlin / Zakir Hussain). This CD does sound a lot warmer than the regular ECM.

Hi square,

Yes mjq. If you want a mordern digital recording, its mjq at the lighthouse.

Analogue recordings just bring out the vibes of milt jackson so well :-), and connie kay on the drums was always perfect, his cymbal work is immaculate.

Find the one I have listed, mjq pyramid. Recorded around 1956-59 but musically its their best. Oh, the recording is good too.

Manek

Square,

I forgot to mention

Desafinado by coleman hawkins. Lovely bossa nova and samba rhythms but played jazz style.

Quite awesome. Ideal for late night listening....shut the lights and listen away into the night.

Manek

Great. will check it out.
I have two of Coleman Hawkins now.
1. Definitive coleman hawkins
2. The hawk flies high
I kinda like his style

Manek schrieb:

Desafinado by coleman hawkins. Lovely bossa nova and samba rhythms but played jazz style. Quite awesome. Ideal for late night listening....shut the lights and listen away into the night. Manek

Concur w/ Manek! One would have thought that after listening to Stan Getz play Bossa Nova one would have heard THE master - not so! Coleman Hawkins plays the Bossa Nova his style & beautifully (not to take away anything from Stan Getz who has done an equally superb job on Bossa Nova tunes).

And he is in no hurry to get anywhere quite unlike.the ones that go up and down the registers without making any music.

Foorsat mein bajaataa hai, hawkinsbhai.

Manek