Peter Brötzmann, who with his radical, imaginative jazz style significantly changed the playing possibilities of the genre on the old continent, has died. Several media reported this on Friday (June 23). With his extravagant free-jazz outbursts, he even coined his own verb: “brötzen”. Ex-US President Bill Clinton, also a passionate saxophonist but gifted with less talent, once called him “one of the greatest”.
Born in Remscheid in 1941, Peter Brötzmann first began to learn the clarinet. After school he studied art and worked as a graphic artist; he was deeply influenced by the Fluxus movement. He also played the clarinet and tenor saxophone in various bands. His breakthrough came in the early 1960s with his albums “For Adolphe Sax” and especially “Machine Gun”. “Machine Gun” goes back to a nickname that the puzzled Don Cherry once gave him for his muscular, shrill saxophone playing. Both records were self-published because Brötzmann wanted to maintain control over his work.
Previously he was inspired by Miles Davis, John Coltrane and other jazz greats as they toured Germany. Brötzmann formed a trio with Peter Kowald and the Swedish drummer Sven-Åke Johansson, played with Carla Bley and Cecil Taylor and always remained true to the idea: Only change brings progress.
Free jazz in response to a world on fire
Brötzmann rejected the usual rhythmic and melodic styles of playing and devoted himself to free jazz. The highly political musician also saw this as a way to break with the nationalist legacy of his country and not just to make entertainment through art, but also to allow the crises of the world to flow in and thus overcome them. According to the saxophonist once in an interview, his free jazz is “not necessarily music you can sit on the sofa and just have fun with”.
Although Brötzmann did not or did not want to live up to his reputation as a wild musician with his pieces, he launched some things with the jazz supergroup Last Exit in the 80s with Sonny Sharrock, Ronald Shannon Jackson and Bill Laswell, which punk and noise rock crossed. During this time, the saxophonist wandered between worlds, traveled to the USA and Japan, was part of several trios and at the same time remained true to his artistic work as a painter and object artist.
In his career, Peter Brötzmann recorded more than 50 albums under his name. He designed most of the covers himself. His work with Derek Bailey and Keiji Haino was praised by critics and respected by fans for decades. Up until his death, Brötzmann was one of the most popular (and at times most feared) performers at jazz festivals around the world.