The köln concert

The Köln Concert is a legendary album, a first recording in a series of piano improvisations by the American pianist and jazz composer, the master of this form, Keith Jarrett. Released in 1975 by the famous ECM studio, The Köln Concert is the best-selling solo album in the history of jazz and piano music to date. The recording made a huge impact on contemporary music, especially jazz and improvisation. It has also become an inspiration for artists in other fields.

Trajal Harrell, one of America’s most renowned dancers and choreographers, started working on choreographing the legendary recording as soon as he became the director of the Schauspielhaus Zürich dance company. He created the performance at the height of the pandemic in response to the rules of physical distance that applied also on stage. Harrell was looking for a language that, while observing the rules of social distancing, would create an atmosphere of the human warmth that characterises Keith Jarrett’s improvisation masterpiece. Tenderness, humour, loneliness, sadness, as well as the joy of being together regardless, define the movements of the seven dancers on stage (including Harrell himself). The performance opens with four songs by Canadian singer Joni Mitchell, and everything together creates a poetic space for the audience and artists to meet.

Trajal Harrell is a New York-based dancer and choreographer who became famous for a series of performances jointly titled Twenty Looks or Paris Is Burning at The Judson Church. In this long-term project, the artist juxtaposed the traditions of contemporary voguing and avant-garde postmodern dance. Harrell is currently a regular guest at international festivals and institutions presenting dance and visual arts. His unique style is defined by references to dance languages that may seem very remote, such as voguing, postmodern and butoh, as well as an extraordinary attentiveness to the dancers, gentleness and humour.