Globe Unity Orchestra

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Open air concert in Wuppertal (Laurentiusplatz), 1976
Globe Unity Orchestra, open air concert in Wuppertal (Laurentiusplatz), 1976
Alexander von Schlippenbach, Globe Unity Orchestra, Open Air Concert in Wuppertal (Laurentiusplatz), 1976
Peter Kowald, Globe Unity Orchestra, Open Air Concert in Wuppertal (Laurentiusplatz), 1976
Gerd Dudek, Globe Unity Orchestra, Open Air Concert in Wuppertal (Laurentiusplatz), 1976
Albert Mangelsdorff, Globe Unity Orchestra, Open Air Concert in Wuppertal (Laurentiusplatz), 1976

The Globe Unity Orchestra is an ensemble in big band format that has played a key role in shaping the European free jazz tradition and is dedicated to new improvisation and contemporary music.

After the ensemble was relatively small in the 1980s and 1990s, since 2006 it has consisted of a relatively large saxophone section ( Evan Parker , Ernst-Ludwig Petrowsky , Gerd Dudek , Rudi Mahall , bcl), a trumpet section ( Kenny Wheeler , Manfred Schoof , Axel Dörner , Jean-Luc Cappozzo ) and trombone section ( Paul Rutherford , George Lewis , Jeb Bishop , Hannes Bauer), Alexander von Schlippenbach  (p) and the two drummers Paul Lovens and Paul Lytton .

history

The Globe Unity Orchestra was initially created for a commissioned composition on the occasion of the Berlin Jazz Days 1966 through the merger of two groups: the Peter Brötzmann trio on the one hand (in addition to Brötzmann (saxophone) consisting of Peter Kowald (b, tuba) and Sven-Åke Johansson  (dr)) and the Manfred Schoof Quintet (next to Schoof (tp) with Gerd Dudek (ts); Alexander von Schlippenbach (p); Buschi Niebergall  (b) and Jaki Liebezeit  (d)). The Schlippenbach composition "Globe Unity", performed in Berlin on November 3, 1966, was performed four weeks later in the studio with the addition of Kris Wanders , Willem Breuker and Gunter Hampel as well as with the vibraphonist Karl Berger , the trumpeter Claude Deron, the tuba player Wilhelm Lietzmann and Mani Neumeier (instead of Johansson) recorded and edited by Saba. With the exception of the 1970s, when the formation was reactivated by Kowald, the musical direction lay solely with Alexander von Schlippenbach. The list of musicians who have formed part of the Globe Unity Orchestra over the years is long: Hannes Bauer  (tb), Anthony Braxton (as, cl), Rüdiger Carl (as, ts), Günter Christmann  (tb), Jürg Grau  (tp), Toshinori Kondō  (tp), Steve Lacy  (ss), Paul Lovens (drums), Paul Lytton (drums), Albert Mangelsdorff  (tb), Evan Parker (ss, ts), Michel Pilz (bcl, cl, bars), Ernst-Ludwig Petrowsky (as, cl, fl), Enrico Rava  (tp), Paul Rutherford (tb), Heinz Sauer (ss, ts), Bob Stewart (tuba), Kenny Wheeler  (tp).

It can be divided into three phases: In the first from 1966 to 1970 the formation was completely under the influence of the new playing criteria of free jazz; in the second, also known as the “Wuppertal Phase” because of Kowald's substantial involvement (until 1977), classical pieces (e.g. the Solidarity Song by Hanns Eisler or the Wolverine Blues by Jelly Roll Morton ) were performed and Fluxus elements were allowed, as well as with other ensembles (from the radio choir to the accordion ensemble and the Greek folklore band) played together. The third phase, which continues to this day with a smaller formation, is almost exclusively characterized by constantly changing improvisations instead of fixed compositions and the longstanding experience of jazz musicians.

“The improvisational processing of these impulses in a large ensemble is a complicated process, dependent on numerous factors, which is largely closed to empirical research, and there is still no recipe for the success of an improvised piece. Reduced to such a minimum of concept, which in our case came about by itself and determines the form, the improvisational potential can then be unleashed, in which the unexpected also occurs and shows what Bernd Alois Zimmermann calls the “utopia one liberated music "called."

Discography

  • 1966: Alexander Schlippenbach - Globe Unity , Saba / MPS 15 109 ST (later Crystal 45305)
  • 1973: Live in Wuppertal , FMP 0160
  • 1973: For example , FMP R123 (one track)
  • 1974: The old man breaks ... his silence , FMP S4
  • 1974: Hamburg '74 , FMP 0650
  • 1975: Bavarian Calypso / Good bye , FMP S6
  • 1975: Rumbling , FMP CD 40 (partial cast: Globe Unity Special )
  • 1975/1976: Funfair / Local Fair , Po Torch PTR / JWD 2
  • 1977: Improvisations , JAPO 60021
  • 1977: Pearls , FMP 0380
  • 1979: Compositions , JAPO 60027
  • 1982: Intergalactic Blow , JAPO 60039
  • 1986: 20th Anniversary , FMP CD45
  • 2001: Globe Unity 67 & 70 , Atavistic / Unheard Music Series (rec. 1967/1970)
  • 2002: Globe Unity 2002 , Intakt CD 086
  • 2006: Globe Unity - 40 Years , Intakt CD 133
  • 2010: Baden Baden '75 FMP CD137 (rec. 1976)
  • 2013: FMP S 6… plus FMP / Destination Out (rec. 1975)
  • 2013: And now the Sportschau Trost (rec. 1975, single)
  • 2014: 50 years of Jazz Fest Berlin Berliner Festspiele (rec. 1966)
  • 2018: Globe Unity - 50 Years Intakt (rec. 2016)

literature

50 years of the Globe Unity Orchestra - from left to right. Alexander von Schlippenbach, Evan Parker, Henrik Walsdorff, Gerd Dudek, Paul Lytton, Rudi Mahall, Axel Dörner, Ryan Carniaux, Christof Thewes and Paul Lovens (Darmstadt, September 30, 2016)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Schlippenbach 2002, in the booklet to Globe Unity 2002