Mike Monteiro sent out a newsletter a month or so ago talking about pianist Keith Jarret’s famous concert in Cologne, Germany. I didn’t know the backstory, but Mike summarizes it pretty succinctly:
Keith Jarrett, who is having a very bad day, runs back to the Opera House, sits down at the piano, exhausted, hungry, in pain, wearing a back brace, and improvises a performance on a very busted piano that ends up becoming the best-selling album in jazz history.
I thought he was going to use the story to talk about creative limitations or what have you, but he takes a hard right and I love it:
The show doesn’t start because everything is perfect and you’re ready to go. The show starts because the start time is printed on the ticket. So take a look around at what you have, because that is what you have.
Show time is November 3. We might not have gotten the piano we wanted, but we will play it. Because in the end a piano is only limited who’s willing to play it, and how. And we’ve had a string of very, very bad days, and how.
(Utah peeps, early in-person voting starts today! And our mail-in ballot drop boxes are open 24/7. Drop them off, don’t mail!)>