E27 - Free Jazz, Revolution and the Politics of Peter Brötzmann

For this episode we have a discussion of the book Peter Brötzmann: Free-Jazz, Revolution and the Politics of Improvisation with its author Daniel Spicer and long time comrade and fellow radical theorist / free jazz musician Richard Gilman-Opalsky. In it we discuss the countercultural and artistic milieus that shape Brötzmann as an artist, the importance of his work as an organizer and catalyst, and the weird and unfortunate way that radical politics is increasingly edited out of the history of free jazz. More about the book. Here Daniel Spicer has written “the first ever, full-length, English-language biography of one of the most fascinating and inspiring personalities in the history of Western improvised music – and one of the key artistic figures to emerge from the socio-cultural tumult of the 1960s. Drawing on extensive interviews with Brötzmann and key associates, it traces the German saxophonist’s crucial role as a pioneer of European free jazz, his restless travels and collaborations and his eventual superstardom, examining the life and work of a fiercely uncompromising artist with a reputation for gruff intensity and total commitment. Digging deep into the history and aesthetics of free jazz in Europe and beyond, it provides detailed analysis of music by Brötzmann and other major figures, while positioning Brötzmann’s work – and the wider free jazz milieu – in the context of the revolutionary left-wing, humanist and utopian ideals that inspired and underpinned it. Both intimate and wide-ranging, it tells the story of a man and a music that changed the world.” Bios: Daniel Spicer is a writer, broadcaster, improviser and poet. He writes about music for The Wire, Jazzwise, Songlines, WeJazz and The Quietus. He is the author of The Turkish Psychedelic Music Explosion: Anadolu Psych (1965 – 1980). Richard Gilman-Opalsky is professor of political theory and philosophy in the School of Politics and International Affairs at the University of Illinois. He is the author of numerous books including the recently released Communist Ontologies. An Inquiry into the Construction of New Forms of Life (co-written with Bruno Gullì). Intro / outdo music: Unreleased bootleg of the Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet - Live in London, April 2011 The Minor Compositions podcast is in made in collaboration with Firefly Frequencies: https://fireflyfrequencies.org