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".
Evan Shaw Parker is a British tenor and soprano saxophone player who plays free improvisation.
Peter Kowald was a German free jazz and free improvising double bassist and tubist.
Marilyn Crispell is an American jazz pianist and composer. Scott Yanow described her as "a powerful player... who has her own way of using space... She is near the top of her field." Jon Pareles of The New York Times wrote: "Hearing Marilyn Crispell play solo piano is like monitoring an active volcano... She is one of a very few pianists who rise to the challenge of free jazz." In addition to her own extensive work as a soloist or bandleader, Crispell is also known as a longtime member of saxophonist Anthony Braxton's quartet in the 1980s and '90s.
Barre Phillips is an American jazz bassist. A professional musician since 1960, he moved to New York City in 1962, then to Europe in 1967. Since 1972, he has been based in southern France where, in 2014, he founded the European Improvisation Center.
Irène Schweizer is a Swiss jazz and free improvising pianist. She was born in Schaffhausen, Switzerland.
Barry John Guy is an English composer and double bass player. His range of interests encompasses early music, contemporary composition, jazz and improvisation, and he has worked with a wide variety of orchestras in the UK and Europe. He studied at the Guildhall School of Music under Buxton Orr, and later taught there.
Carlos Zíngaro is a Portuguese violinist and electronic musician active in free improvisation.
Joëlle Léandre is a French double bassist, vocalist, and composer active in new music and free improvisation.
Paul William Rutherford was an English free improvising trombonist.
The Globe Unity Orchestra is a free jazz ensemble.
Alexander von Schlippenbach is a German jazz pianist and composer. He came to prominence in the 1960s playing free jazz in a trio with saxophonist Evan Parker and drummer Paul Lovens, and as a member of the Globe Unity Orchestra. Since the 1980s, Von Schlippenbach has explored the work of more traditional jazz composers such as Jelly Roll Morton or Thelonious Monk.
Manfred Schoof is a German jazz trumpeter.
Günter "Baby" Sommer is a German jazz drummer.
Toshinori Kondo was a Japanese avant-garde jazz and jazz fusion trumpeter.
Gerhard Rochus "Gerd" Dudek was a German jazz tenor and soprano saxophonist, clarinetist and flautist.
Buschi Niebergall was a German free jazz musician. His given name was Hans-Helmut, and late in life, his friends called him Johannes.
Paul Lytton is an English free jazz and free improvising percussionist.
Rudi Mahall is a contemporary jazz bass clarinetist.
Michael Griener is a German jazz percussionist.
