Peter Brötzmann

Peter Brötzmann
Peter Brötzmann at Avant Jazz, Jazz Club 'Die Röhre', Moers/Germany, 12 February 2006
Background information
Born	(1941-03-06) 6 March 1941 Remscheid, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Genres	Jazz, free jazz, avant-garde jazz, free improvisation
Occupation(s)	Saxophonist, clarinetist
Instruments	Tenor saxophone, alto saxophone, baritone saxophone, tárogató, clarinet, bass clarinet
Years active	1967-present
Associated acts	Globe 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

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

Brötzmann is among the most important European free jazz musicians. His rough timbre is easily recognized on his many recordings.

Biography

Early life

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

He has not abandoned his art training, however: Brötzmann has designed most of his own album covers. He first taught himself to play various clarinets, then saxophones; he is also known for playing the tárogató. Among his first musical partnerships was that with double bassist Peter Kowald.

For Adolphe Sax, Brötzmann's first recording, was released in 1967 and featured Kowald and drummer Sven-Åke Johansson.

1968, the year of political turmoil in Europe, saw the release of Machine Gun, an octet recording often listed among the most notable free jazz albums. Originally the LP was self-produced (under his own "BRO" record label imprint) and sold at gigs, but it was later marketed by Free Music Production (FMP), In 2007, Chicago-based Atavistic Records reissued the Machine Gun recording.^[1]

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 free-improv guitarist Derek Bailey. The second set of takes from these sessions, appropriately 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 also a member of Bennink's Instant Composers Pool, a collective of musicians who self-released their own records that grew into a 10-piece orchestra.^[2]

The logistical difficulties of touring with the ICP Tentet or his own octet resulted in Brötzmann eventually slimming the group to a trio with Han Bennink and Fred Van Hove. Bennink was also partner in Schwarzwaldfahrt an album of duets recorded outside in the Black Forest in 1977 with Brötzmann's sax and Bennink drumming on trees and other objects found in the woods.

Larger groups were put together again later, for example 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, including a stint in Last Exit and subsequent recordings with Last Exit's bass guitarist and producer Bill Laswell.

Brötzmann has remained active, touring and recording regularly. He 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 November 11, 2012 in Strasbourg, France.

Brötzmann has also recorded or performed with musicians including Cecil Taylor, Keiji Haino, Willem van Manen, Mats Gustafsson, Ken Vandermark, Conny Bauer, Joe McPhee, Paal Nilssen-Love and Brötzmann's son, Caspar Brötzmann, a notable guitarist in his own right.

Discography

Brötzmann has an extensive portfolio, and has appeared on well over 100 albums.^[3][4] Listed below is his discography, arranged by albums which he has released under his name as a leader or as a solo effort, specifically named bands he has been in, collaborations with other artists with whom he has released albums under distinct monikers, and finally, albums on which he has performed as a sideman. Several of the collaborations were one-off live shows, yielding only a single album release, as seen below.

Brötzmann as a leader, and solo releases

• 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 Ludi (2001)
• Usable Past (EP) (2002)
• Lost & Found (2009)

Bands with Brötzmann as a member

Brötzmann Clarinet Project – with John Zorn, and others

• Berlin Djungle (1987)

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)

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

• Last Exit (1986)
• The Noise of Trouble (1986)
• Cassette Recordings '87 (1987)
• Iron Path (1988)
• Köln (1990)
• Headfirst into the Flames (1993)

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)

Other 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

• Last Home (1990)

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 Records, 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)^[5]

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

• In a State of Undress (feat. Manfred Schoof) (1989)

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 (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 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)

As a sideman; guest appearances

• 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!, made 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

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Peter Brötzmann.

• Official website
• Interviews, discographies and photographs
• Projects, releases and photographs