Central Quartet

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Central Quartet (Synopsis)
General information
Genre (s) Creative jazz
founding 1973
Website www.intaktrec.ch
Founding members
Conny Bauer
until 1975, from 1984 until 2016
Ernst-Ludwig Petrowsky
Ulrich Gumpert
Günter "Baby" summer
Current occupation
Christof Thewes
Ernst-Ludwig Petrowsky
Ulrich Gumpert
Günter "Baby" summer
former members
Klaus Koch
1975 to 1978
Temporary members
Manfred Hering

The Zentralquartett is a German group of creative jazz . The quartet, which initially appeared under the name Synopsis , was one of the most important bands for free jazz in the GDR .

Career

The quartet was founded under the name Synopsis for the Jazz Jamboree in Warsaw in 1973, where the rhythm section of the rock jazz band SOK at the time wanted to perform. There the newly formed band had an overwhelming success: their radical free jazz found international recognition in Warsaw. It “also meant that the official GDR cultural policy perceived free jazz in its own country as internationally recognized and had to revise its own views on the good and bad in music.” The appearance of Synopsis in Warsaw thus led to a “paradigm shift” in the jazz culture of the GDR, which had an impact on all of Germany. A first radio production from the GDR from 1974 was published in the same year on FMP in West Berlin; shortly afterwards another recording was made on the radio that could appear on Amiga . On both records, themes came into play that were freely resolved and reassembled again: folk music, hymn, modal and ostinato structures.

The bassist Klaus Koch took over from Conny Bauer in 1975 . The group existed until about 1978, during which time Ulrich Gumpert occasionally played valve trombone . By 1978, those involved had individualized their musical language and made a name for themselves with their own bands, solo appearances and other projects, "that the quartet secretly broke up".

In March 1984, on the occasion of a series of concerts in Paris, on the initiative of Sommers, it was re-established in the original line-up of 1973. Since then the name Zentralquartett has been used for the group . On the group's red poster, the heads of the musicians were mounted one behind the other like the ideological “classics” Marx, Engels and Lenin.

The initially ironic allusion of the band's name to the Central Committee in GDR times turns out to be quite consistent from a historical perspective, because the four musicians formed a central musical institution of GDR jazz: “The gang of four personifies, so to speak, what is 'free' jazz made something special in the GDR: spontaneous and structured, hymnic and elegiac, outbreak and departure ”. The ensemble, which still exists today, has "developed an independent style that casually combines elements of folk, free and traditional jazz".

In the meantime, Manfred Hering (saxophone) can occasionally be heard instead of Petrowsky in the Zentralquartett .

Since April 2016 Christof Thewes has been playing the trombone instead of Conny Bauer. In an interview with Jazz thing , Bauer stated that he did not want to take part in the planned production and the concerts of the Central Quartet with Wolf Biermann because he did not see himself as the accompanist of a songwriter .

In April 2018 they appear as Das neue Zentralquartett. In addition to Gumpert, Sommer and Thewes, Henrik Walsdorff (as) plays in place of Petrowsky.

Discography

Synopsis

Central Quartet

  • Günter Sommer et trois vieux amis (= C. Bauer, Gumpert, Petrowsky): Ascenseur pour le 28 , 1984 (NATO 329)
  • Zentralquartett 1990 (Zong 2170019, Re-Issue: Intakt 069 CD)
  • Plié 1994 (Intakt 037 CD)
  • Careless Love 1998 (Intakt 050 CD)
  • 11 Songs - From Teutschen Landen 2006 (Intakt 113 CD)
  • The Kiss - The ZK In Leipzig, Live 2014
  • … Do a couple of square laps! 2016 (with Wolf & Pamela Biermann)

literature

  • Rainer Bratfisch (ed.): Free tones - The jazz scene in the GDR . Ch.links, Berlin 2005
  • Josh Sellhorn : Jazz - GDR - facts. Performers, discographies, photos, CD . Neunplus 1 Edition Kunst, Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-936033-19-6 , pp. 142f.

Web links

swell

  1. ^ New bin : Announcement of the Central Quartet 2008
  2. ^ Bert Noglik : Long live the Central Quartet: History of a cult band of "free jazz" in the GDR in Jazzzeitung 7/2003.
  3. ↑ Bert Noglik: From “Synopsis” to the “Central Quartet” - Part II. MDR Figaro , archived from the original on August 31, 2004 ; Retrieved June 4, 2009 .
  4. ↑ Reiner Kobe, Jazz Podium 11/2001. See website C. Bauer / Zentralquartett ( Memento from June 29, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  5. ^ Günter Baby Sommer: Günter Baby Sommer. Current Groups. Archived from the original on January 5, 2015 ; Retrieved January 5, 2015 .
  6. ^ [1] Ulrich Gumpert's website. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
  7. ^ [2] Jazz thing website. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
  8. ^ [3] Zig Zag Jazz Festival 2018. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
  9. ↑ Meetings