German jazz festival
The German Jazz Festival , which has been taking place in Frankfurt am Main since 1953 , is the oldest German jazz festival. At the same time it is the oldest continuous jazz festival in the world.
history
The festival was initially organized by the German Jazz Federation as a performance show and was supposed to present something of the best that Germany has to offer in jazz once a year (according to Olaf Hudtwalcker at the opening of the first festival on May 3, 1953). In fact, there wasn't a major German musician who didn't play at the Frankfurt Festival. The festival was the republic's annual jazz event in the 1950s; essential impulses for jazz in Germany came from here.
With the emergence of other festivals in the 1960s, the festival took greater account of the international scene on the one hand; the previously included project line was further expanded. In particular, the most important German musicians were given the opportunity to produce productions that were not part of their everyday routine, and to collaborate with prominent jazz greats from Europe and outside of Europe (especially from North America). Here Volker Kriegel met Alan Skidmore (1972), Heinz Sauer met George Adams (1978), Peter Giger met Archie Shepp (1980), Alfred Harth met David Murray (1995) or Eberhard Weber met Pharoah Sanders (1997). Caterina Valente , Theo Jörgensmann , Markus Stockhausen , Lauren Newton , Christof Lauer , Michael Sagmeister , Torsten de Winkel and Christopher Dell started out as “newcomers” from here.
In the course of its existence the central organizational sponsors have changed: The German Jazz Federation is no longer one of the organizers; unlike in the first decades, it is no longer organized by Lippmann + Rau . In 1984 the Hessischer Rundfunk , which had already broadcast the concerts in 1953, became the organizer of the festival; since 1990 he has gained the city of Frankfurt as a permanent partner. The full length of the festival will be broadcast live on the radio.
While the festival was held every two years from the 1960s to the 1980s, it has been held annually since the early 1990s - as in the first decade of its existence. Peter Kemper , who had been co-responsible for programs since the 1980s, retired from his position as hr editor in 2015, and the station's jazz editor, Guenter Hottmann, also retired from the planning group. As successors to Olaf Stötzler, Claus Gnichwitz and Jürgen Schwab were introduced, regular contributors to the station's jazz program.
Discographic notes
- German Jazz Festival 1954 - 1955 (Bear Family, 8-CD, ed. 1990, with the Two Beat Stompers , Hans Koller , Jutta Hipp , Hugo Strasser , Kurt Edelhagen , Paul Kuhn , Rolf Kühn , Fred Bunge , Johannes Rediske , Heinz Schönberger , Delle Haensch , Glen Buschmann , Helmut Brandt , Freddy Christmann , Wolfgang Lauth and others)
- From the German Jazz Festival 1964 (Be Jazz 2016, with hr-Jazzensemble , Zagreb Jazz Quartet , Klaus Doldinger Quartet feat Inge Brandenburg + Rolf Kühn and the groups of Karl Drewo and Michael Naura )
- Eje Thelin At the German Jazz Festival (Dragon 1964 or Be Jazz 2016)
- Annie Ross & Pony Poindexter with the Berlin All Stars feat. Carmell Jones & Leo Wright Recorded at the 10th German Jazz Festival in Frankfurt (Saba 1966)
- Modern at the German Jazz Festival 1966 (Be Jazz 2015, with Albert Mangelsdorff, Horst Jankowski , Hans Koller , Don Menza , Max Greger , Rolf Kühn, Klaus Doldinger , Wolfgang Schlüter )
- More Modern at the German Jazz Festival 1966 (Be Jazz 2015, with Les Double Six and the combos by Irene Schweizer , Gunter Hampel , Charles Lloyd , Don Cherry , Claudio Szenkar / Klaus Weiss )
- Free at the German Jazz Festival 1966 (Be Jazz 2016, with the combos by Peter Brötzmann , Manfred Schoof , Wolfgang Dauner , Joe Viera , Dick van der Capellen )
- Peter Brötzmann Fuck De Boere (Dedicated to Johnny Dyani ) (rec. 1968 and 1970, Atavistic 2001)
- Born Free: The 12th German Jazz Festival (originally 3 LPs on Scout 1970, 9 CDs on Be Jazz 2016)
- Phil Woods & His European Rhythm Machine At the Frankfurt Jazz Festival (rec. 1970, Embryo 1971)
- Gunter Hampel & Galaxie Dream Band Transformation (birth 1976)
- Archie Shepp , George Adams , Heinz Sauer Frankfurt Workshop ´78: Tenor Saxes ( Circle Records 1978)
- Art Ensemble of Chicago with Don Pullen Fundamental Destiny (rec. 1991, AECO 2007)
literature
- Jürgen Schwab: The Frankfurt sound. A city and its jazz history (s). Societäts-Verlag, Frankfurt a. M. 2005, ISBN 3-7973-0888-4 .
- Bernhard Koßmann, Hessischer Rundfunk (Ed.): Inventory 11 - German Jazz Festival 1953–1992. Frankfurt a. M. 1994. Klaus Doldinger
Web links
- Hessischer Rundfunk: German Jazz Festival (with festival history and video clips)
- 70 years of jazz in Hessen - Hessischer Rundfunk web special
- Literature on the German Jazz Festival in the Hessian Bibliography
Individual evidence
- ↑ Two ancestors from the organization of the back German Jazz Festival: Farewell to formative figures. In: Offenbach Post. November 25, 2015