Peter Brötzmann (6 March 1941 – 22 June 2023) was a Germanjazz saxophonist andclarinetist regarded as a central and pioneering figure in Europeanfree jazz.[1] Throughout his career, he released over fifty albums as a bandleader. Amongst his many collaborators were key figures in free jazz, includingDerek Bailey,Anthony Braxton andCecil Taylor, as well as experimental musicians such asKeiji Haino andCharles Hayward. His 1968Machine Gun became "one of the landmark albums of 20th-century free jazz".[2]
Brötzmann was born inRemscheid on 6 March 1941.[3][4] He studied painting inWuppertal and was involved with theFluxus movement[5] but grew dissatisfied with art galleries and exhibitions. He experienced his first jazz concert when he saw American jazz musicianSidney Bechet while still in school at Wuppertal, and it made a lasting impression.[6] He was also inspired byMiles Davis andJohn Coltrane.[2]
Brötzmann had not abandoned his art training, designing most of his album covers. He taught himself to playclarinet andsaxophone,[2] and is also known for playing thetárogató.[3] Among his first musical partnerships was with double bassistPeter Kowald.For Adolphe Sax, Brötzmann's first recording, was released in 1967 and featured Kowald and drummerSven-Åke Johansson.[2][3] In 1968,Machine Gun, anoctet recording, was released.[3] The album was self-produced under his BRO record label imprint and sold at concerts, and later marketed byFMP. In 2007,Atavistic reissuedMachine Gun.[6] "Machine Gun" was a nicknameDon Cherry gave him "to describe his violent style".[2]
Brötzmann died on 22 June 2023, at the age of 82, at home inWuppertal, Germany.[2][7][8]
The albumNipples was recorded in 1969 with many of theMachine Gun musicians, including drummerHan Bennink, pianistFred Van Hove, tenor saxophonistEvan Parker, and British guitaristDerek Bailey. The second set of takes from these sessions, calledMore Nipples, is more raucous.Fuck de Boere (dedicated toJohnny 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'sInstant Composers Pool, a collective of musicians who released their own records and that grew into a 10-piece orchestra.[9]
The logistics of touring with the ICPtentet or his octet resulted in Brötzmann reducing the group to a trio withHan Bennink and Fred Van Hove. Bennink was a partner inSchwarzwaldfahrt, an album of duets recorded outside in theBlack Forest in 1977, with Bennink drumming on trees and other objects in the woods.[2]
Brötzmann on tenor saxophone, Minnesota Sur Seine, 2006Brötzmann at the Sonore concert,Lviv, December 2008Brötzmann in 2011Brötzman inAarhus 2015
Brötzmann released over fifty albums as a bandleader and appeared on dozens more.[2] His "Die Like a Dog Quartet" (withToshinori Kondo,William Parker, and drummerHamid Drake) was loosely inspired by saxophonistAlbert Ayler, a prime influence on Brötzmann's music. Beginning in 1997, he toured and recorded regularly with the Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet (initially an octet), which he disbanded after an ensemble performance in November 2012 in Strasbourg, France.[2]
Two documentaries of Brötzmann's music were produced to honour Brötzmann's 70th birthday in 2011:[71]
Rage![72] (alsoSoldier of the Road),[71] film by Bernard Josse in collaboration with Gérard Rouy (2011)[73]
Brötzmann, Filmproduktion Siegersbusch, documentary film by René Jeuckens, Thomas Mau and Grischa Windus (DVD, 2011). The film received awards[74] including thePreis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik.[75]
Brötzmann received aLifetime Achievement Award at the 2011Vision Festival in New York City.[76] The same year, he was bestowed theGerman Jazz Award for his life's achievements.[77]
In 2021, Brötzmann andNils Petter Molvær were awarded theEuropean Film Awards for their music for the history dramaGroße Freiheit. In 2022 he received thePreis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik, described by the jury as a personality "going on an individual path, change listening and set new standards in avantgarde jazz" ("die ihren individuellen Weg ging, Hörgewohnheiten veränderte und Maßstäbe setzte im Avantgarde-Jazz").[78]
^Jenkins, Todd S. (2004)."Brötzmann, Peter".Free Jazz and Free Improvisation: An Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. Greenwood. p. 65.ISBN9780313333149 – via Google Books.
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