Theo Jörgensmann | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Jörgensmann in 2009 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | (1948-09-29)29 September 1948 Bottrop, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany |
| Died | 6 October 2025(2025-10-06) (aged 77) Brüel, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany |
| Genres | |
| Occupation | Musician |
| Instrument | Clarinet |
| Years active | 1975–2025 |
| Labels | |
| Formerly of | |
Theodor Franz Jörgensmann (29 September 1948 – 6 October 2025) was a Germanjazz clarinetist and academic teacher. Professionally known asTheo Jörgensmann, he belonged to the second generation ofEuropean free jazz musicians, part of the clarinet renaissance in the jazz andimprovising music scene, and one of few clarinet players for whom unaccompanied solo recordings were a significant part of his work.[1] In 1975 he formed a quartet of clarinetists,Clarinet Contrast, and in 1997 a quartet was named after him. Jörgensmann played in many formations internationally. He wrote a philosophical book about improvising in music.
Jörgensmann was born inBottrop on 29 September 1948.[1][2][3] His mother came fromEast Prussia.[4] He trained to be a chemical technician.[5] He started to play clarinet when he was 18 years old.[2] From 1969 until 1972 Jörgensmann took private lessons from a music teacher at theFolkwang Hochschule in Essen.[2][4] At the same time he started working with fellow musicians from theRuhr industrial area. After a one and half year hitch in theBundeswehr, where he played soprano saxophone,[6] Jörgensmann worked with handicapped children and studied social pedagogy for a few semesters.[1][6] He appeared at the 1972 Frankfurt Jazz Festival, his first major event, as a member of theContact Trio, withMichael Jüllich [de].[6] He became a professional musician in 1975.[1][4] Early in his career, he often played amplified in jazz rock bands, because there was no jazz scene inNorth Rhine-Westphalia.[4]
From 1975 to 1977 he led the groupClarinet Contrast,[5][6] consisting only of clarinets, withPerry Robinson,Hans Kumpf [de],Bernd Konrad [de] andMichel Pilz.[6] He also founded his first quartet then[6] which became one of Germany's best-known jazz groups by the end of the 1970s.[1][6] They represented Germany at the festival of theEuropean Broadcasting Union inHilversum, Netherlands. At the beginning of the 1980s he took part in aClarinet Summit, which was established byJoachim E. Berendt and himself, withJohn Carter,Perry Robinson,Ernst-Ludwig Petrowsky,Gianluigi Trovesi and others.[6] Since then Jörgensmann was involved in numerous international projects. He was a member of John Fischer's Interface (1981–1996),Franz Koglmann's Pipetet (1983–1985),Andrea Centazzo's Mitteleuropa Orchestra (1983–1985), andWillem van Manen [de]'s Contraband (1985–1998). In 1985 he toured Europe with bassistBarre Phillips and reed playerPaul McCandless. He formed a duo with the clarinetistEckard Koltermann [de], was leader ofKlarinettenquartett Cl-4[6] and co-founder of the large ensemble Grubenklangorchester. In 1987 Jörgensmann was the subject of a documentary film,Theo Jörgensmann, Bottrop, Klarinette, directed by Christoph Hübner.[7][8]
From 1982, Jörgensmann presented jazz topics for theWDR.[4][6] Between 1983 and 1993 he lectured clarinet and ensemble at theUniversity of Duisburg,[2][6] and from 1993 to 1997 he was a lecturer forfree improvising at the music therapeutics institute of theWitten/Herdecke University.[6] Together with the musicologist Rolf-Dieter Weyer, Jörgensmann wrote a philosophical book about improvising in music.[1][6]
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In 1997 Jörgensmann moved toBrüel, a rural area similar to where his mother had lived.[4] He started the Theo Jörgensmann Quartet withChristopher Dell [de] (vibraphone),Christian Ramond [de] (bass) andKlaus Kugel [de] (percussion).[4] They toured in the United States and Canada in 1999, 2001, and 2003, including playing twice at theMontreal International Jazz Festival (1999 and 2003). He also played with the Polish twinsMarcin Oles andBartlomiej Oles since 2003; their album,Oleś Jörgensmann Oleś – Directions, was chosen by the Polish internet jazz magazineDiapason as Record of the Year in 2005.[1]
From 2008 he was a member of Trio Hot with violinistAlbrecht Maurer [de] and bassistPeter Jacquemyn [de], and in 2009 he started the Deep Down Clarinet Duo with thebass clarinet playerErnst Ulrich Deuker. They also work together in the Tribal Trio, a clarinet trio with the French-American clarinetist Etienne Rolin. In 2009 Jörgensmann performed a few concerts with younger musicians from the UK (Seb Rochford,Dominic Lash,Shabaka Hutchings and Noel Taylor) in London. In 2010, he founded, together with his wife, a cultural venue in Brüel for concerts and art exhibitions.[6] In 2011 he formed the Freedom Trio with bassist Ramond and acoustic guitar player Hagen Stüdemann.[6] After a twelve-year break, he also worked together again with pianist Bernd Köppen. Jörgensmann also worked again with Clarinet Summit, with Robinson, Trovesi, Konrad, Maurer, Sebastian Gramss and Günther "Baby" Sommer.[6] In 2018, Jörgensmann was artist in residence at Singers Festival Warsaw, the biggest festival of Jewish culture in Poland.[1][6]
During a career spanning three decades as a free improviser, Jörgensmann also worked with (among many others)Lee Konitz,Charlie Mariano,Barre Phillips,Kenny Wheeler,[5]Kent Carter andJohn Fischer.[6]
Jörgensmann died at his home in Brüel[1][2] on 6 October 2025, at the age of 77.[5]
Jörgensmann wrote in his bookKleine Ethik der Improvisation:
To find the right balance between communication of motion and non-communication is the major part of improvised music; that communication of motion as a part of interaction in music is an opportunity to create a new structure of time, which the listener could perceive as a new kind of musical space; that the idea of jazz does not depend on a specific material and special form; that the essential aspect of jazz is the fact that jazz musicians discovered the fourth dimension of time in music (they call it swing).[6]
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