Take a Break, and Chill Out

This long weekend, I am celebrating my birthday. On friday, a really good friend bought me the coolest recording (lp). First off, yes its a record – because I really am that cool. Secondly, what makes it special is that not only is the artist one of my favorite musicians, he also lives with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. My gift was The Köln Concert – by Keith Jarrett (from 1975). It’s 1hr 7 minutes and 33 seconds, of pure improvisation in front of a live audience. I would have given my eye teeth to have been at that concert ~ but considering it took place in 1975 and in Germany, it wasn’t possible.

While I can’t find a video of this concert, there are other ones available, from around the same time period, so I thought I would share one of those with you – and just maybe you can understand why I think this man is a genius.

So thanks to the magic of YouTube, here is Keith Jarrett playing at the Umbria Jazz Festival in Perugia, Italy circa 1975.