French pianist Édouard Ferlet turns Keith Jarrett’s legendary Köln Concert into a conversation between improvisation and artificial intelligence on Köln Variations. Working with his PIANOÏD system, developed with Sony CSL, Ferlet extracts fragments from Jarrett’s improvisations and uses them as material for new musical detours. First single “Stomp” turns that idea into a playful duel between Ferlet and a second automated piano, with an entirely acoustic-piano groove driving the exchange.
According to the press release, Jazz, contemporary composition, pop and electronics blur together as human instinct meets a machine trained to improvise, making the technology feel less like a gimmick than another musician in the room. Köln Variations arrives November 6 via Mélisse, fifty years after Jarrett’s original landmark recording.
Listen below.
