From roughly the 48 minute mark to a few beats before the end, the film is absolutely Oscar worthy. And, in my opinion, worth watching for that one hour alone.

If you don't know anything about Keith or Koln 75, you might actually enjoy the film even more than those of us who are familiar. Why? Because this isn't really a film about Keith, it's about Vera Brandes, the very young German concert promotor who rather miraculously set up the Keith Jarrett Koln concert in 1975. (The live recording of which became "the best-selling solo album in jazz history and the best-selling piano album" according to Wikipedia.)

If you're a Keith fan, be forewarned, this is not a concert film. It's about how that concert came to be. (Very little time is spent on John Magaro as Keith actually playing music.) And that first 48 minutes is almost entirely about Vera.

Top notch acting, directing, 4th wall-breaking, editing all of which conspire to be cinematically thrilling at times. Were I asked to give notes after the rough cut, I'd have challenged the creatives to bring the first 48 down to 24. There are some powerful and profound moments in the set up, but 48 is too long to withhold the headliner. I hope my review encourages viewers to stick with the film, fast forward if you must, but don't miss the beauty of a powerful performance by John Magaro and really cool filmmaking that make up that golden hour.

As for the ending, I can live with a film about a concert without the concert, but I'd have ended the film with Keith's white shirt disappearing into the darkness as he exits the stage. It's a poetic, rather ethereal, and dear I say, respectful, organically natural fade to black. I'm sure there must have been discussions about ending the film there. Here's a note of sincere condolence to the creative who lost that argument.

In the 80's, I worked alongside a jazz lover. He'd play jazz at his desk. It didn't interest me, until he played Keith. I turned to him and said, "Who's that?" He gave me the album (Koln) which became my gateway drug into jazz. I bought other Jarret albums and had the pleasure of seeing Keith in concert. I had read about the notorious "scaffolding" of this Koln concert, hence my interest in this film. Assuming the film's reveals were all true, there were still a few interesting tidbits that were new to me. In sum, if you're a Keith fan, and hip to the Koln concert lore, despite its imperfections, and with the right expectations, I think this film has some gems to offer and some really great filmmaking to boot. A strong B+, would have been an A+ if they would have reworked that first 48. How about a director's cut?

-- Books by Author/Illustrator Ross Anthony --