Peter Brötzmann was a German jazz saxophonist and clarinetist regarded as a central and pioneering figure in European free jazz. Throughout his career, he released over fifty albums as a bandleader. Amongst his many collaborators were key figures in free jazz, including Derek Bailey, Anthony Braxton and Cecil Taylor, as well as experimental musicians such as Keiji Haino and Charles Hayward. His 1968 Machine Gun became "one of the landmark albums of 20th-century free jazz".
Han Bennink is a Dutch drummer and percussionist. On occasion his recordings have featured him playing soprano saxophone, bass clarinet, trombone, violin, banjo and piano.
Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation is the sixth album by jazz saxophonist and composer Ornette Coleman, released on Atlantic Records in September 1961: the fourth of Coleman's six albums for the label. Its title named the then-nascent free jazz movement. The recording session took place on December 21, 1960, at A&R Studios in New York City. The sole outtake from the album session, "First Take," was later released on the 1971 compilation Twins and subsequent CD reissues of Free Jazz.
Machine Gun is the second album by German avant-garde jazz saxophonist Peter Brötzmann, originally released on his BRÖ label in 1968.
Nipples is a 1969 album by free jazz saxophonist Peter Brötzmann, originally released on the Calig record label. The title track is performed by a sextet comprising Brötzmann, Evan Parker, Derek Bailey (guitar), Fred Van Hove (piano), Han Bennink (drums), and Buschi Niebergall (bass). The other track featured, "Tell a Green Man", is performed by a quartet made up of Brötzmann, Van Hove, Niebergall, and Bennink.
Straight Lines is an album by the American jazz reedist Ken Vandermark, recorded in 1998 and released on Atavistic. The Joe Harriott Project, a pianoless quartet with four members of the Vandermark 5, plays the music of the Jamaican saxophonist Joe Harriott, transcribed and arranged by Vandermark. Three tunes are from the album Free Form and four from Abstract.
Irène Schweizer & Han Bennink is a live album by pianist Irène Schweizer and drummer Han Bennink. It was recorded in January 1995 at Jazzclub Moods in Zürich, Switzerland, and was released by Intakt Records in 1996.
The Dried Rat–Dog is an album by saxophonist Peter Brötzmann and drummer Hamid Drake. It was recorded in May 1994 at Sparrow Sound Design in Chicago, and was released in 1995 by Okka Disk.
Actions is a live album featuring debut performances of works by composer Krzysztof Penderecki and trumpeter and composer Don Cherry. It was recorded on October 17, 1971, at the Donaueschingen Festival in Donaueschingen, Germany, and was released on LP later that year by Philips. The music was performed by an ensemble called The New Eternal Rhythm Orchestra, composed of top European improvisors. In 1998, the album was reissued on CD by Transparency Records. It was remastered and reissued again in 2001 by Intuition Records.
Alarm is a live album by saxophonist Peter Brötzmann. It was recorded on November 12, 1981, at NDR Studio 10 in Hamburg, Germany, during the 164th NDR-Jazzworkshop, and was released in 1983 by FMP/Free Music Production. On the album, Brötzmann is joined by saxophonists Willem Breuker and Frank Wright, trumpeter Toshinori Kondo, trombonists Hannes Bauer and Alan Tomlinson, pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach, bassist Harry Miller, and drummer Louis Moholo. In 2006, the album was reissued on CD by Atavistic Records as part of their Unheard Music Series.
Fuck de Boere: Dedicated to Johnny Dyani is a live album by saxophonist Peter Brötzmann containing two tracks recorded at the Frankfurt Jazz Festival in Frankfurt, Germany. Track one, "Machine Gun," was recorded on March 24, 1968, several months before the studio recording that resulted in the album of the same name, and features Brötzmann with saxophonists Willem Breuker, Gerd Dudek, and Evan Parker, pianist Fred Van Hove, bassists Buschi Niebergall and Peter Kowald, and drummers Han Bennink and Sven-Åke Johansson. On track two, the title track, recorded on March 22, 1970, Brötzmann is joined by Breuker and Parker on saxophone, Niebergall, Malcolm Griffiths, Paul Rutherford, and Willem Van Manen on trombone, Van Hove on piano and organ, Derek Bailey on guitar, and Bennink on drums. The album was released in 2001 by Atavistic Records as part of their Unheard Music Series. The album is dedicated to South African bassist Johnny Dyani, who, according to Brötzmann, frequently shouted "Fuck de boere!" when discussing life under apartheid.
Pica Pica is a live album by saxophonist Peter Brötzmann, trombonist Albert Mangelsdorff, and drummer Günter Sommer. It was recorded on September 18, 1982, at the Stadthalle in Unna, Germany during Jazzfest Unna, and was released in 1984 by FMP/Free Music Production. In 2006, the album was reissued on CD by Atavistic Records as part of their Unheard Music Series.
Berlin Djungle is a live album by the Brötzmann Clarinet Project, led by Peter Brötzmann, and featuring an eleven-piece band that was assembled for a concert at JazzFest Berlin. Documenting a performance of a single 47-minute work, it was recorded on November 4, 1984, at the Delphi Theater in Berlin, and was released on vinyl in 1987 by FMP/Free Music Production. In 2004, it was reissued on CD by Atavistic Records as part of their Unheard Music Series. On the album, Brötzmann is joined by clarinetists Tony Coe, J.D. Parran, Ernst-Ludwig Petrowsky, Louis Sclavis, and John Zorn, trumpeter Toshinori Kondo, trombonists Alan Tomlinson and Johannes Bauer, double bassist William Parker, and drummer Tony Oxley.
Schwarzwaldfahrt is an album by saxophonist Peter Brötzmann and percussionist Han Bennink. It was recorded during May 9–11, 1977, in the open air of the Black Forest in Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany, using a Stellavox tape recorder, and was initially released on vinyl later that year by the FMP label. In 2005, Atavistic Records reissued the album on CD as part of their Unheard Music Series, with previously unreleased tracks. The album was reissued on vinyl in 2012 by the Cien Fuegos imprint of Trost Records, and, in 2022, Trost reissued it again in limited quantities, accompanied by a 120-page book containing photos and an essay by novelist David Keenan.
3 Points and a Mountain is a live album by saxophonist Peter Brötzmann, pianist Misha Mengelberg, and percussionist Han Bennink. It was recorded on February 26, 1979, at the Akademie der Kunste in Berlin, and was initially released on vinyl later that year by the FMP label. In 2000, FMP reissued the album on CD, with previously unreleased tracks, under the title 3 Points and a Mountain... Plus, and, in 2022, it was reissued on vinyl by the Cien Fuegos imprint of Trost Records.
European Echoes is an album by trumpeter Manfred Schoof on which he is joined by members of the Manfred Schoof Orchestra, a large ensemble of free jazz musicians. Consisting of a single half-hour track, it was recorded during June 1969 in Bremen, Germany, and was issued on vinyl later that year by FMP as the label's inaugural release. It appeared in three editions, each of which had its own cover design. In 2002, the album was reissued on CD by Atavistic Records as part of their Unheard Music Series, and in 2013, it was reissued on vinyl by Cien Fuegos, an imprint of Trost Records.
Open is a live album by saxophonist Gerd Dudek, double bassist Buschi Niebergall, and drummer Edward Vesala. It was recorded during April 7–9, 1977, at the Workshop Freie Music held at the Academy of Arts in Berlin, and was initially released on vinyl by the FMP label in 1979. In 2004, Atavistic Records reissued the album on CD as part of their Unheard Music Series.
Brötzmann/Van Hove/Bennink is an album by saxophonist Peter Brötzmann, pianist Fred Van Hove, and drummer Han Bennink. It was recorded on February 25, 1973, in Bremen, Germany, and was initially released on vinyl later that year by the FMP label. In 2003, it was reissued on CD by Atavistic Records as part of their Unheard Music Series, and in 2015, it was reissued on vinyl by Cien Fuegos, an imprint of Trost Records.
Jazz Bunker is a live double album by Han Bennink, Eugene Chadbourne, and Toshinori Kondo. Featuring a wide variety of instrumentation, it was recorded during February 1980 at the Jazz Bunker in Rotterdam, Holland, and was not released until 2000, when it was issued on CD by Golden Years of New Jazz, an imprint of Leo Records.
Amplified Trio is an album featuring the Dutch drummer Han Bennink, along with John Coxon and Ashley Wales of the electronic music duo Spring Heel Jack. Released in 2007, the album was produced by Treader, a label operated by Coxon and Wales.
