The show must go on!
On January 24th, 1975 the pianist Keith Jarrett was scheduled to play the first ever in the famed Köln Opera House in Germany. Jarrett, a world-renowned artist, known for both his classical and jazz skills, remains famous for his ability to improvise an entire performance. Jarrett had been booked for the evening by, at the time, Germany’s youngest-ever concert promoter. A 17-year-old young woman named Vera Brandes had somehow both convinced the Köln Opera House to stage this event, and Keith Jarrett to show up!
As you might imagine, Jarrett was incredibly particular about the instrument that he would play. He’d demanded a Boesendorfer 290 Imperial Concert Grand Piano for the performance. But, when he arrived in Köln after a long drive from Zuerich, in pain and wearing a brace as a result of his back problems, what he found was a much smaller, and out of tune Boesendorfer. The concert hall had gotten it wrong. According to music historians, “the instrument was tinny and thin, and the pedals did not work properly.”
Keith Jarrett, the particular and demanding artist, threatened to leave and he walked out into a rainy Köln night and got back into his car. But, showing the tenacity that got her the gig in the first place, young Vera was able to tearfully encourage Keith to stay and to perform to the sold out crowd of 1400 jazz enthusiasts. As the legend goes, Keith Jarrett looked at this young woman, he told her that he’d do it and commanded her to “never forget!”
And, trust me, she never forgot. And, jazz fans around the world have also never forgotten. What resulted that night was the now incredibly famous recording of what’s called “The Köln Concert.” This album has made its way onto such lists as the 1001 Albums you must hear before you die, and All-time Top 1000 Albums.
So, how did this happen? How was Keith Jarrett able to coax such a genius piece of work, on that rainy night in Köln, in front of 1400 patrons, out of a sub-par and out of tune instrument? He improvised. Rather than lamenting, or hand-wringing, or whining about his tools, he got to work and made the most of it.
According to Manfred Eicher, the ECM Records producer who ultimately put out the album, “Probably Jarrett played it the way he did because it was not a good piano. Because he could not fall in love with the sound of it, he found another way to get the most out of it.” And, if you listen closely to the music with an attentive ear, you’ll actually hear him playing around the stuck keys, and the keys that are out of tune. You also can hear him occasionally groaning as he’s exerting himself to get more sound out of this little piano. He had to make the music travel all the way to the back of the auditorium.
So, why am I telling you this story? Well, to begin with, I LOVE this album. As a jazz fan this album ranks very high on my list of desert island albums; one of those albums that you’d hope to have with you if you were stranded on a desert island! The Köln Concert is right up there for me with Kind of Blue from legendary trumpet player Miles Davis. But, I also tell you this story as a bit of an allegory. This story shows us all what we can do even if we don’t have all of the right tools or even all of the right information. It shows that with a commitment to Purpose (Jarrett MUST play his music), with a commitment to Values (he would NOT let down young Vera Brandes), and with a whole lot of practice, we all can literally, or in our case, figuratively, make music. I’m sure that Keith would have loved to have his Boesendorfer 290 Imperial Concert Grand Piano, but that wasn’t possible. But, the show went on!
So, next time you find yourself saying something like “I’d use Salesforce.com more often if only I had an iPad, or if only they’d change a screen setting to make it easier for me…” please remember the Köln Concert and improvise a little. Or, next time you’re asked about where we are with that new opportunity and you answer by saying “I’m waiting for the customer to call me back…” Remember the Köln Concert and pick up the phone and call the customer, or maybe go see the customer in person! Or, next time you find yourself saying “hey youngster, wait your turn!” Remember 17-year-old Vera Brandes having the chutzpah to pull off the Köln Concert! I’m sure that she’d been told many times to wait her turn. I’m so glad that she didn’t listen.
I hope that you’ll all find some time to track down and listen to the Köln Concert. Even if you don’t think that jazz is your thing, it is definitely worth a listen. And, I bet you that you’ll listen to it differently now that you know the story.
Let me close by encouraging us all to continue to live our personal purpose and live by our personal values. And, let’s continue to link our own purpose and values to the Michelman purpose and values. This is ultimately what makes great art and music great art and music. And, this is what makes companies like Michelman thrive from generation-to-generations. In our own way, let’s continue to work with what we have to make the kind of music that we’ll all be proud of for generations to come.
Until next time,
Steve
