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Köln 75 review – how a legendary jazz-improv show was cajoled into being by a German teenager

Watchable biopic charts how an 18-year-old German booked the sickly American pianist Keith Jarrett for what became a landmark concert Here is a niche drama about one of the most important chapters in the history of experimental jazz. It is however watchable, well acted and avoids the music-movie cliches – though I could have done without the fourth-wall-breaking lectures about the nature of jazz improvisation. They were perhaps inspired by similar setpieces in Adam McKay’s financial crisis movie The Big Short , and are heavy-handed and condescending in just the same way. John Magaro plays Keith Jarrett, the great jazz pianist and former Miles Davis collaborator who in the mid-70s found himself on a gruelling European solo tour, improvising every night for the ecstatic jazz faithful who were more plentiful in Europe than the US, while struggling with depression and back pain. Mala Emde pl

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What happened

According to The Guardian’s source item, Köln 75 review – how a legendary jazz-improv show was cajoled into being by a German teenager, Watchable biopic charts how an 18-year-old German booked the sickly American pianist Keith Jarrett for what became a landmark concert Here is a niche drama about one of the most important chapters in the history of experimental jazz. It is however watchable, well acted and avoids the music-movie cliches – though I could have done without the fourth-wall-breaking lectures about the nature of jazz improvisation. They were perhaps inspired by similar setpieces in Adam McKay’s financial crisis movie The Big Short , and are heavy-handed and condescending in just the same way. John Magaro plays Keith Jarrett, the great jazz pianist and former Miles Davis collaborator who in the mid-70s found himself on a gruelling European solo tour, improvising every night for the ecstatic jazz faithful who were more plentiful in Europe than the US, while struggling with depression and back pain. Mala Emde pl

Context

The development sits in VINI’s Culture file for readers following arts, entertainment, fashion, film, music, celebrity, and the business of culture. The original report is linked so readers can check the source account, follow later updates, and compare new coverage against the first published record. The source item is dated 2026-06-02T06:00:40+00:00.

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Primary source: Köln 75 review – how a legendary jazz-improv show was cajoled into being by a German teenager via The Guardian. VINI cites and links the source; it does not reproduce the publisher’s full article text without rights clearance.

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