Peter Brötzmann

Peter Brötzmann (born 6 March 1941) is a German free jazz saxophonist and clarinetist.

Peter Brötzmann
Brötzmann at Die Röhre, Moers Festival, Moers, Germany 2006
Background information
Born (1941-03-06) 6 March 1941
Remscheid, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
GenresFree jazz, avant-garde jazz, free improvisation
Occupation(s)Musician
InstrumentsTenor saxophone, alto saxophone, baritone saxophone, tárogató, clarinet, bass clarinet
Years active1967–present
Associated actsGlobe Unity Orchestra, Peter Kowald, Cecil Taylor, Last Exit, Derek Bailey, William Parker, Die Like a Dog Quartet, Sven-Åke Johansson, Evan Parker, Buschi Niebergall, Fred Van Hove, Han Bennink, Willem Breuker, Paal Nilssen-Love

Biography

Early life
Brötzmann at the Moers Festival 2010
Brötzman in Aarhus, Denmark 2015
Brötzmann on tenor saxophone, Minnesota Sur Seine, 2006
Brötzmann at the Sonore concert, Lviv, December 2008
Peter Brötzmann, 2011

He studied painting in Wuppertal and was involved with the Fluxus movement[1] but grew dissatisfied with art galleries and exhibitions. He experienced his first jazz concert when he saw American jazz musician Sidney Bechet while still in school at Wuppertal, and it made a lasting impression.[2]

He has not abandoned his art training. Brötzmann has designed most of his album covers. He taught himself to play clarinets, then saxophones; he is also known for playing the tárogató. Among his first musical partnerships was with double bassist Peter Kowald. For Adolphe Sax, Brötzmann's first recording, was released in 1967 and featured Kowald and drummer Sven-Åke Johansson. In 1968 Machine Gun, an octet recording, was released. The album was self-produced under his BRO record label imprint and sold at concerts, but it was later marketed by FMP. In 2007 Atavistic reissued Machine Gun.[2]

Career

The album Nipples was recorded in 1969 with many of the Machine Gun musicians, including drummer Han Bennink, pianist Fred Van Hove, and tenor saxophonist Evan Parker, plus British guitarist Derek Bailey. The second set of takes from these sessions, called More Nipples, is more raucous. Fuck De Boere (Dedicated to Johnny Dyani) is a live album of free sessions from these early years, containing two long improvisations, a 1968 recording of "Machine Gun" live (earlier than the studio version) and a longer jam from 1970. Brötzmann was a member of Bennink's Instant Composers Pool, a collective of musicians who released their own records and that grew into a 10-piece orchestra.[3]

The logistics of touring with the ICP tentet or his octet resulted in Brötzmann reducing the group to a trio with Han Bennink and Fred Van Hove. Bennink was a partner in Schwarzwaldfahrt, an album of duets recorded outside in the Black Forest in 1977 with Bennink drumming on trees and other objects found in the woods.

In 1981 Brötzmann made a radio broadcast with Frank Wright and Willem Breuker (saxes), Toshinori Kondo (trumpet), Hannes Bauer and Alan Tomlinson (trombones), Alexander von Schlippenbach (piano), Louis Moholo (drums), Harry Miller (bass). This was released as the album Alarm.

In the 1980s, Brötzmann flirted with heavy metal and noise rock, recording with Last Exit and the band's bass guitarist and producer Bill Laswell.

Brötzmann has released over fifty albums as a bandleader and has appeared on dozens more. His "Die Like A Dog Quartet" (with Toshinori Kondo, William Parker and drummer Hamid Drake) is loosely inspired by saxophonist Albert Ayler, a prime influence on Brötzmann's music. Since 1997 he has toured and recorded regularly with the Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet (initially an octet) which he disbanded after an ensemble performance on November 11, 2012 in Strasbourg, France.

Brötzmann has also recorded or performed with Cecil Taylor, Keiji Haino, Willem van Manen, Mats Gustafsson, Ken Vandermark, Conny Bauer, Joe McPhee, Paal Nilssen-Love and Brötzmann's son, Caspar Brötzmann.

Discography

Brötzmann has appeared on over 100 albums.[4][5]

As leader
  • For Adolphe Sax (1967)
  • Machine Gun (1968)
  • Nipples (1969)
  • More Nipples (1969)
  • Fuck de Boere (Dedicated to Johnny Dyani) (1970)
  • Solo (1976)
  • Alarm (1981)
  • 14 Love Poems (1984)
  • No Nothing (1991)
  • Dare Devil (1992)
  • The März Combo Live in Wuppertal (1993)
  • Nothing to Say (Dedicated to Oscar Wilde: A Suite of Breathless Motion) (1996)
  • Sprawl (1997)
  • Right as Rain (Dedicated to Werner Lüdi) (2001)
  • Usable Past (2002)
  • Lost & Found (2009)

As member

Brötzmann Clarinet Project – with John Zorn, and others

The Chicago Octet/Tentet/Tentet Plus Two

  • The Chicago Octet/Tentet (1997)
  • Stone/Water (2000)
  • Two Lightboxes (2000)
  • Broken English (2001)
  • Short Visit to Nowhere (2001)
  • Images (2004)
  • Signs (2004)
  • Be Music, Night – A Homage to Kenneth Patchen (2005)
  • American Landscapes 1 (2007)
  • American Landscapes 2 (2007)
  • At Molde 2007 (2007)
  • 3 Nights in Oslo (Smalltown Supersound, 2010)
  • Walk, Love, Sleep (Smalltown Supersound, 2012)

Die Like a Dog Quartet – with Toshinori Kondo, William Parker, Hamid Drake

  • Die Like a Dog: Fragments of Music, Life and Death of Albert Ayler (1994)
  • Little Birds Have Fast Hearts, No. 1 (1998)
  • From Valley to Valley (feat. Roy Campbell, Jr.) (1999)
  • Little Birds Have Fast Hearts, No. 2 (1999)
  • Aoyama Crows (2002)

Full Blast – with Marino Pliakas and Michael Wertmüller

  • Full Blast (2006)
  • Black Hole (2009)
  • Sketches & Ballads (2011)

Globe Unity Orchestra

  • Live in Wuppertal (1973)
  • For Example (1973)
  • Hamburg '74 (1974)
  • Evidence (1975)
  • Into the Valley (1975)
  • Rumbling (EP) (1975)
  • Jahrmarkt/Local Fair (1977)
  • Improvisations (1977)
  • Pearls (1977)
  • Compositions (1979)
  • Intergalactic Blow (1982)
  • 20th Anniversary (1986)
  • Globe Unity 67 & 70 (2001)
  • Globe Unity 2002 (2002)

Last Exit – with Bill Laswell, Sonny Sharrock, Ronald Shannon Jackson

North Quartet

  • Malamute (2005)

Sonore – with Ken Vandermark and Mats Gustafsson

  • No One Ever Works Alone (2004)
  • Only the Devil Has No Dreams (2007)
  • Call Before You Dig (2009)
  • Cafe Oto (2011)

The Wild Mans Band – with Peter Ole Jørgensen and Peter Friis Nielsen

  • The Wild Mans Band (1997)
  • Three Rocks and a Pine (1999)
  • The Darkest River (2003)
  • Flower Head (2007)

The Wuppertal Workshop Ensemble

  • The Family (1981)

ADA Trio – with Fred Lonberg-Holm and Paal Nilssen-Love

  • ADA (2011)

Peter Brötzmann – Steve Swell – Paal Nilssen-Love

  • Krakow Nights (2015)
  • Live in Copenhagen (2017)
  • Live in Tel Aviv (2017)

Collaborations

Bailey/Sabu/Brötzmann

  • Live in Okayama 1987 (2001)

Bergman/Borgmann/Brötzmann aka "Berg/Borg/Brötz: Mann/n"

  • Ride Into the Blue (1996)
  • Blue Zoo (1997)

Bergman/Braxton/Brötzmann

  • Eight by Three (1997)

Bergman/Brötzmann/Cyrille

  • Exhilaration (1997)

Borgmann/Brötzmann/Parker/Bakr

  • The Cooler Suite (2003)

Peter Brötzmann/Juhani Aaltonen/Peter Kowald/Edward Vesala

  • Hot Lotta (1973)

Peter Brötzmann/Gregg Bendian/William Parker

  • Sacred Scrape, Secret Response (1994)

Brötzmann/Bennink

  • Ein halber Hund kann nicht pinkeln (1977)
  • Schwarzwaldfahrt (1977)
  • Atsugi Concert (1980)
  • Still Quite Popular After All Those Years (2005)
  • Total Music Meeting 1977 Berlin (2006, archival)
  • In Amherst 2006 (2008)

Peter Brötzmann/Caspar Brötzmann

Peter Brötzmann & Andrew Cyrille

  • Andrew Cyrille Meets Brötzmann in Berlin (1982)

Peter Brötzmann & Hamid Drake

  • The Dried Rat-Dog (1995)

Brötzmann/Drake/Kessler

  • Live at the Empty Bottle (1999)

B.E.E.K. (Brötzmann, Ellis, Eneidi, Krall)

  • Live at Spruce Street Forum (2004)

Brötzmann/Friis-Nielsen/Uuskyla

  • Noise of Wings (1999)
  • Flying Feathers (2002)
  • Live at Nefertiti (Ayler, 2002)
  • Medicina (2004)

Peter Brötzmann/Mahmoud Guinia/Hamid Drake

  • The WELS Concert (1997)

Fushitsusha & Peter Brötzmann

  • Nothing Changes No One Can Change Anything, I Am Ever-Changing Only You Can Change Yourself (2014)[7]

Peter Brötzmann & Shoji Hano

  • Funny Rat [K7] (1982)
  • Funny Rats/2 (2008)
  • Funny Rats/3 (2008)

Peter Brötzmann, Fred Hopkins & Rashied Ali

  • Songlines: Music Is a Memory Bank for Finding One's Way About the World (1994)

Peter Brötzmann, Fred Hopkins & Hamid Drake

  • The Atlanta Concert (2001)

Brötzmann/Kondo/Pupillo/Nilssen-Love

  • Hairy Bones (2009)

Brötzmann/Laswell

  • Low Life (1987)

Peter Brötzmann/Fred Lonberg-Holm

  • The Brain of the Dog in Section (2008)

Peter Brötzmann/Werner Lüdi

  • Wie Das Leben So Spielt (1990)

Brötzmann/Mangelsdorff/Sommer

  • Pica Pica (1984)

Peter Brötzmann, Joe McPhee, Kent Kessler & Michael Zerang

  • Tales Out of Time (HatHut, 2002 [2004])
  • Guts (Okka Disc, 2005)
  • The Damage Is Done (2009)

Brötzmann/Michiyo Yagi/Nilssen-Love

  • Head On (2008)

Brötzmann & Miller

  • Brötzmann & Miller (2007)

Brötzmann/Miller/Moholo

  • The Nearer the Bone, the Sweeter the Meat (1979)
  • Opened, but Hardly Touched (1981)

Peter Brötzmann/Misha Mengelberg/Han Bennink

  • 3 Points and a Mountain (1979)

Peter Brötzmann & Paal Nilssen-Love

  • Sweet Sweat (2008)
  • Woodcuts (2009)

Peter Brötzmann, Paal Nilssen-Love & Mats Gustafsson

  • The Fat Is Gone (2007)

Brötzmann/Oliver/Kellers

Brötzmann/Parker/Drake

  • Never Too Late but Always Too Early (2003)

Peter Brötzmann/William Parker/Michael Wertmüller

  • Nothung (2002)

Peter Brötzmann & Walter Perkins

  • The Ink Is Gone (2002)

Peter Brötzmann & Tom Raworth

  • No Hard Feelings – For Steve Lacy (2007)

Peter Brötzmann/Ed Sivkov/Nick Rubanov

  • Petroglyphs (2004)

Peter Brötzmann, Nicky Scopelitis & Shoji Hano

  • Organized Chaos (2002)

Brötzmann/Sommer/Phillips

  • Réservé (1989)

Peter Brötzmann – Keith Tippett Quartet

  • appears on Bratislava Jazz Days compilation (Opus, 1984)

Peter Brötzmann & Peeter Uuskyla

  • Born Broke (2008)

Brötzmann/Van Hove/Bennink

  • Balls (1970)
  • Free Jazz und Kinder (1972)
  • Brötzmann/Van Hove/Bennink (1973)
  • Outspan No. 2 (1974)
  • Tschüs (1975)

Brötzmann, Van Hove, Bennink & Albert Mangelsdorff

  • Couscouss de la Mauresque (1971)
  • Elements (1971)
  • The End (1971)
  • Outspan No. 1 (1974)
  • Live in Berlin '71 (1991, archival)

Peter Brötzmann & Nasheet Waits

  • Live at the 'Bottle' Fest 2005 (2005)

Brötzmann Wilkinson Quartet – with Simon H. Fell and Willi Kellers

  • One Night in Burmantoft's (2007)

Peter Brötzmann/Yukihiro Issoh/Tamio Kawabata/Ryojiro Furusawa

  • Vier Tiere (1993)

Brötzmann/Zerang

  • Live in Beirut (2005)

Crispell/Brötzmann/Drake

  • Hyperion (1995)

Frode Gjerstad/Peter Brötzmann

  • Invisible Touch (1998)
  • Sharp Knives Cut Deeper (2002)
  • Soria Moria (2003)

Keiji Haino & Peter Brötzmann

  • Evolving Blush or Driving Original Sin (1997)

Keiji Haino, Peter Brötzmann and Shoji Hano

  • Shadows (2000)

Alfred Harth/Peter Brötzmann

  • Go-No-Go (1987)

Achim Jaroschek/Peter Brötzmann

  • Neurotransmitter (1998)
  • Subtle Twister (2003)

Kellers/Brötzmann

  • Kellers/Brötzmann (1981)

Evan Parker Trio & Peter Brötzmann Trio

  • The Bishop's Move (2004)


Sabu Brötzmann Duo

  • Sabu Brötzmann Duo (1997)

Frank Samba, Dieter Manderscheid, Peter Brötzmann

  • Danquah Circle (2004)

Sharrock/Brötzmann

  • Fragments (2007, archival)

Nicolai Yudanov, Peter Brötzmann & Sakari Luoma

  • Fryed Fruit (2001)

Peter Brötzmann & Los Toscos de Colombia

  • La vigilia de Las Flores (2019)

As sideman
  • Black Bombaim – Black Bombaim & Peter Brötzmann (2016)
  • B-Shops for the Poor – Visions & Blueprints (1992)
  • Thomas Borgmann Trio – Stalker Songs (1997)
  • Don Cherry, Krzysztof Penderecki & the New Eternal Rhythm Orchestra – Actions (1972)
  • Heiner Goebbels – Hörstücke (1994)
  • Barry Guy & London Jazz Composers' Orchestra – Study II, Stringer (2006)
  • Haazz & Company – Unlawful Noise (1976)
  • Charles Hayward – Double Agent(s) (Live in Japan Volume Two) (1996)
  • Ruf de Heimat – Machine Kaput (1996)
  • ICP Orchestra – Groupcomposing (1971)
  • ICP Orchestra – "Tetterettet" (1978)
  • ICP Orchestra – In Berlin (1979)
  • Michael Nyman – Michael Nyman (1981)
  • Misha Mengelberg – Japan Japon (1982)
  • Neils & the New York Street Percussionists – Neils & the New York Street Percussionists (1990)
  • Orchester 33 1/3 – Orchester 33 1/3 (1997)
  • Alexander von Schlippenbach – The Living Music (1969)
  • Manfred Schoof – European Echoes (1969)
  • Cecil Taylor – Olu Iwa (1986)
  • Cecil Taylor – Alms/Tiergarten (Spree) (1989)

Films
  • RAGE!, by Bernard Josse (F 2011)
  • BRÖTZMANN, Filmproduktion Siegersbusch, documentary film by René Jeuckens, Thomas Mau and Grischa Windus (Cinema, DVD, D/UK 2011)

Further reading

Peter Brötzmann, We thought we could change the world. Conversations with Gérard Rouy. Wolke Verlag, Hofheim 2014. ISBN 978-3-95593-047-9.

References
  1. Jones, Andrew (June 21, 2018). "Brötzmann Reflects on 'Machine Gun' as it Hits 50th Anniversary". Downbeat.com. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  2. Dacks, David (2007). "Peter Brötzmann Web Interview". Exclaim! Magazine. Archived from the original on 2007-10-13. Retrieved 2007-10-23.
  3. Whitehead, Kevin. "The History of the Instant Composers Pool Orchestra". ICP Orchestra. Archived from the original on 15 February 2015. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  4. "Interviews, discographies". Efi.group.shef.ac.uk. Retrieved 2012-06-25.
  5. "Albums by Peter Brötzmann". Rate Your Music. Retrieved 2012-06-25.
  6. Recorded live during JazzFest Berlin, November 4, 1984, at Delphi Theater, Berlin. (FMP, 1987)
  7. "Fushitsusha / Nothing Changes No One Can Change Anything, I Am..." Utech Records. Retrieved 2020-04-06.
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