Until the mid 1960s, European jazz was American jazz, because almost
all of the
European musicians who dedicated themselves to jazz wanted to copy
the
great role models. The most prestigious European musicians were the
ones
who could imitate best. There were hardly any original
contributions, and they were simply not wanted as they were regarded as
inferior. It was
only with the impact of free jazz in the USA that this hegemonic
position
of American jazz began to falter. In the liberation from the
traditional
principles of jazz, the harmonic and metric guidelines, the rhythmic
order
of the beat - the swing - younger European musicians began to free
themselves from the influence of these guiding principles. In free
music,
which interestingly enough already dispensed with the term jazz,
they could
develop in a completely new and free way. The musicians could get
rid of
traditional forms and rules, which not only threw the old system of
limitations overboard, including improvisation in the old manner,
but at
the same time questioned the identity as jazz music and - as some
musicians
and critics claimed - also denied jazz tradition in general.
In his book European Echoes: Jazz Experimentalism in Germany 1950 - 1975,
Harald Kisiedu sets out to refute this radical break with tradition. In a
continuation of Ekkehard Jost’s Europas Jazz 1960 - 80, Wolfgang Burde’s A
Discussion of European Free Jazz and Mike Heffley’s Northern Sun, Southern
Moon - Europe’s Reinvention of Jazz, Kisiedu wants to prove that German
experimental jazz in particular has always referred back to US-American
concepts and practices and has not separated itself from its spiritual
founding fathers. In doing so, he wants to show that especially Germany has
created a scene that understood itself in the tradition of black cultural
production. Kisiedu focuses on the life and work of four outstanding German
free jazz musicians - Peter Brötzmann, Manfred Schoof, Alexander von
Schlippenbach and Ernst-Ludwig Petrowsky. In addition, the political
environment of the time and the conditions of production are examined.
Starting off with Peter Brötzmann, possibly the most iconic figure in
Europe’s free jazz, makes sense since his recordings
https://www.freejazzblog.org/2014/06/peter-brotzmann-roundup.html" rel="nofollow -
For Adolphe Sax
and Machine Gun, whose first editions were released on this own BRÖ label,
are often regarded as the most uncompromising dissociations from the
classic jazz role models. Kisiedu elucidates that Brötzmann was mainly
influenced by Fluxus artist Nam June Paik, who he adored for his
iconoclastic ideas, and that he was also interested in John Cage’s music at
that time. In combination with Brötzmann’s desire to break musical rules
and his poor identification with West Germany’s post war society, free jazz
provided an alternative to the “social, political, and cultural practices
of the status quo“. In this context Kisiedu distinguishes between
dissociation and emancipation by pointing out that Brötzmann has always
referred to his jazz roots and the influence free jazz musicians have had
on his music (e.g. Don Cherry and Albert Ayler). At the beginning of his
career Brötzmann only wanted to get away from pure imitation.
In the second chapter the book displays the musical worlds of Manfred
Schoof and Alexander von Schlippenbach and the scene around the Cologne
Conservatory, where they studied with classical composer Bernd Alois
Zimmermann. Especially highlighting Schoof’s contribution to European free
jazz seemed promising, because he’s underrepresented in jazz literature
considering the fact that he’s responsible for European Echoes and Early
Quintet (both on FMP), two cornerstones of German free jazz. Here the book
also depicts the importance of 1950s jazz big bands like the one of Kurt
Edelhagen and illuminates how Schlippenbach and Schoof were influenced by
Ornette Coleman and Cecil Taylor. In combination with their deep knowledge
of new classical music they were able create a new style which had its
roots in American jazz and in European music.
In the last chapter Kisiedu examines the career of Ernst-Ludwig Petrowsky
as a classical example of a jazz musician in the former GDR. He lists the
difficulties one had in playing the music of the class enemy, which on the
other hand was the music of the oppressed African-Americans. Here he also
explains the connection between the East and West German scenes using the
example of Jost Geber's FMP and he goes into detail about the legendary
festivals in Peitz.
Apart from the great diligence that Kisiedu undoubtedly delivers, there are
also weaknesses in his approach. Often the text digresses and does not
concentrate on the work of the key musicians of the chapters, which would
have been extensive enough for an investigation. In the part on Luten
Petrowsky, for example, the Kühn brothers are also dealt with, as are
Ulrich Gumpert, Conny Bauer, Günter “Baby“ Sommer, the FMP label and the
Jazz Workshops in Peitz. Except for some nice anecdotes, a lot of
encyclopedic knowledge is processed here, which makes the reading a bit
tedious. The same goes for the Schoof/Schlippenbach chapter, in which the
book also tries to include a section about feminism in the free jazz scene
(Iréne Schweizer) as well as Gerd Dudek’s and Gunter Hampel’s contribution
to Schoof’s and Schlippenbach’s music. Here, less would have been more.
These deficiencies might be neglectable, but European Echoes: Jazz
Experimentalism in Germany 1950 - 1975 is not totally persuading in
general. Kisiedu can prove his initial thesis, but that’s not the problem.
Actually, he sells old wine in new bottles. The thesis that the Europeans
had reinvented their “jazz“ without resorting to US-American models has
never really been upheld, especially in Germany. Brötzmann, Petrowsky and
Schlippenbach in particular have repeatedly pointed out how much they have
been influenced by American jazz, even if it was just by constantly
listening to Willis Conover’s program on Voice of America. When Brötzmann
was asked in the 1980s what music he listened to (in expectation that he
would rather mention music that had nothing to do with jazz), he always
said that he actually - if he listened to music at all - prefers his old
heroes like Sidney Bechet or Ben Webster. Listening to Schlippenbach you
could have always heard the major influence of Thelonious Monk, not for
nothing he’s one of the great Monk interpreters of our time. Especially in
the last chapter we get to know too little about how free jazz has
influenced Petrowsky’s music (for example Ornette Coleman). Instead, in the
passages about Günter “Baby“ Sommer we learn how he used “Art Blakey’s big
beat, the blue notes on the flatted fifths, on the minor sevenths“ etc.
Sommer points out that there was a musical connection to protest and
resistance, that conventional music was lacking a revolutionary spirit for
him and that jazz represented anti-establishment. That’s why he felt an
immediate sympathy for the “blowing to pieces“ faction of the Wuppertal
scene with Brötzmann and Peter Kowald. That’s an exquisite and insightful
passage. It’s all the more deplorable that there’s no detailed analysis on
Petrowsky’s excellent albums Selbdritt and Just for Fun, on which
African-American influences shine through. Also, in his interviews with
Schlippenbach, Kisiedu brings to light exciting aspects. The pianist
explains how the harmonic and innovations of bebop and cool jazz had
prefigured free jazz neglecting melody, rhythm and timbre, which is why it
would have been interesting how Schlippenbach used this in his own music by
giving examples. In the Brötzmann chapter Kisiedu shows that the
saxophonist quotes “several measures from (…) Charles Ives’ 1906
composition Central Park in the Dark, in which he (…) superimposes several
layers of music, each in an independent meter or rhythm“ as well the
ragtime song “Hello, My Baby“ in the chorus of “Machine Gun“. Again, more
of such analytic parts would have been great. In what pieces can one
clearly or latently feel the influence of classical jazz? Or to what extent
does the British scene in particular have a greater distance to the
classics?
Harald Kisiedu claims in his introduction that he would continue Ekkehard
Jost’s Europas Jazz among others, but he can hardly add something
essential to this standard work. It might be nice for readers who don’t
read German to get some information on that musical period since Jost’s
book hasn’t been translated. Also, for readers who are not that familiar
with German post-war history (politically and musically), the book offers a
good summary, and - it’s worth mentioning - it contains a very nice
collection of hardly published photographs.
All in all, however, we are still waiting for a new benchmark on European
free improvised music. So one still has to fall back on Ekkehard Jost’s
books Europas Jazz and Free Jazz.
You can order the book here:
https://www.wolke-verlag.de/musikbuecher/harald-kisiedu-european-echoes/" rel="nofollow - https://www.wolke-verlag.de/musikbuecher/harald-kisiedu-european-echoes/
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