I can still remember opening the plastic on the Bremen Lausanne box when it came out (or after I had saved up for it after hearing a side at a friend's) and digesting that, and then getting the Koln Concert when they were released and just exulting in the ebb and flow of melody and embellishment. . . . I listened to this many times, and it was the one Jarrett record that others partying about me seemed to like, so it has that sort of communicability. . . .
It's not my favorite of the Jarrett solo productions. I sometimes thing Staircase is my favorite, Radiance may one day become my favorite, I'm deeply attached to about half of the Bremen Lausanne which was my first and perhaps in some ways most rewarding Jarrett purchase. But man oh man. . . Koln can really be . . . transporting . . . in the right times. A concert to just ease into and to let just wash over you.