‘Köln 75’ Tells the True Story of the 18-Year-Old Girl Responsible For One of the Greatest Moments in Jazz History
On January 24, 1975, jazz pianist Keith Jarrett performed a solo concert in Cologne, West Germany that proved musicians are alchemists. Faced with back pain, sleep deprivation, and, worst of all, a broken piano, Jarrett turned these obstacles into a 66-minute completely improvised performance that redefined jazz piano. The recording of the concert later became the best-selling solo jazz album and the best-selling solo piano album in history. But Köln 75 isn’t about him. It’s about the 18-year-old girl who made this happen.
Ido Fluk’s 2025 film tells the story of Vera Brandes (played by Mala Emde), an up-and-coming concert promoter from Cologne who grew up in jazz clubs and began her career at the ripe old age of 16. Within minutes, the film establishes her as special, as someone possessing that rare spark that’s required of doing extraordinary things. We see this when Vera—again, at the age of 16—charms a jazz musician from London into asking her to book his tour. “Why me?” she asks. “Because I can’t imagine anyone turning you down.” That persuasive nature will prove key to her story.
With this encounter, a seed is planted, but Vera will have to battle some tough terrain at home. Her strict, conservative parents, namely her dentist father, want her to follow a more traditional path. Her response? Use his office phone to start booking jazz tours. After her first few attempts result in being hung up on, Vera channels the pro promoter she knows is inside of her and keeps trying until she books her first gig. From there, other gigs fall in line like dominos and soon she’s speaking the language, negotiating her cut, and booking concerts not like a pro, but as one.
Powers of persuasion. Ingenuity. Persistence. Vera is a walking lesson in how to get over imposter syndrome. And it’s these characteristics that propel her forward against the odds of her age, home environment, and a male-dominated industry. But everything she’s built is put on the line when she meets Keith Jarrett (played by Past Lives’ John Magaro).
Throughout the film, Fluk weaves in history lessons on jazz via the fictionalized character Michael Watts, a music journalist (played by Severance’s Michael Chernus) who follows Jarrett on tour. His mini lectures not only provide important context and color for a film that revolves around such a specific moment in jazz history, but more importantly, they help the audience understand why this moment matters. When we realize that Jarrett is an artist of near-mythic proportions, we begin to understand the stakes.
When Vera watches Jarrett play for the first time, she refers to it as one of the great “first times” of her life. Completely mesmerized by his performance, she knows this is a pivotal moment. So when she has the chance to bring Jarrett to Cologne, she will move mountains to make it happen. And she nearly does.
