Keith Jarrett: The Köln Concert, re-composition for a big ensemble

Stefano Gullo

As a composer, you are free to create, and often the melodic choices, the harmonic solutions are the result of something truly personal. The colors found within a piece are the representation of what the composer feels and wants to put on paper, he is free to express a concept without being bound by any kind of expectations or rules. In this project, I am exploring the ways in which I can integrate and use Keith Jarrett’s improvisations as material for writinf for large jazz ensembles. To answer this question I learned about his life, his philosophy in music and how his musical style developed through the years, to get along with his musical idea and try to respect his first intention. And to prepare myself for start writing the re-composition I analyzed the transcription of the Concert in Köln, seeing how he approached the improvisation and how he used the musical elements such as the construction of the melody, the use of the rhythm and the harmonic background; all elements that I used in my work. The project demonstrates that even if is working on an improvisation, which offers such a varied material and is developed without an apparent fixed structure, it is possible to recreate compositions that have a coherence; also respecting the intention and the sound context that characterized that moment. (cover art designed by Barbara Wojirsch, copyright believed to be owned by ECM).