KÖLN 75 (15)

In 1975 Köln, a masterpiece was made – but history almost didn’t happen. Ido Fluk’s evocative dramatisation of the unlikely path to award-winning jazz musician Keith Jarrett’s legendary performance – a concert conceived of and organised by a teenage girl – is a real delight. 

The enthusiasm of young, up-and-coming concert promoter Vera Brandes (Mala Emde) is boundless. Having started to organise concerts aged 15, Keith Jarrett’s (John Magaro) show pushes her to new level of multitasking – from booking the venue, promoting the event and selling tickets, to convincing Jarrett to perform when he almost drops out at the 11th hour after the Bösendorfer Imperial Grand piano he was promised is nowhere to be found… 

Sublimely played by Magaro as the intense Jarrett and Emde as the unstoppable Brandes, Köln 75 captures the fascinating backstory of Jarrett’s one-hour, entirely improvised concert, which became the best-selling solo album in jazz history.