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Peter Brotzmann

Peter Brötzmann
Peter-broetzmann.jpg
Peter Brötzmann at Avant Jazz, Jazz Club 'Die Röhre', Moers/Germany, 12 February 2006
Background information
Born (1941-03-06) 6 March 1941 (age 76)
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.

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.

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.

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.


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