‘Köln 75’: Israeli director turns legendary concert into captivating film

Jazz artist Keith Jarrett’s Cologne concert, held at the opera house in the German city on January 24, 1975, at 11:30 p.m., is considered one of the milestones in jazz history. Over 66 minutes of continuous improvisation, Jarrett created a one-time work that became the best-selling solo album in jazz history. The concert itself nearly did not happen, but thanks to the determination of an 18-year-old girl, that singular event took place. Whether it really happened as depicted in Ido Fluk’s successful film, “Köln 75,” does not really matter. The film is about the place where history and fantasy meet. The one fact is that not a single sound or note from that concert is heard in the film, for rights reasons. What does it mean, really, that a film made for the 50th anniversary of a defining event does not include the event itself? It is an interesting question, and Fluk’s film answers it well.