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By Paul Acquaro
The story of the Peitz jazz competition, a competition that was based in 1973 within the German Democratic Republic (GDR) city of Peitz, is for good cause, straightforward to mythologize. Competition founders, Ulli Blobel and Peter “Jimi” Metag, each from the area, bought their profession begin with the competition, and whereas they took totally different paths after the competition was shut down by the authorities within the early Nineteen Eighties, the competition discovered its means again to the city in 2011.
When one pulls into the small village positioned on the shores of the Karpfenteich (which occur to be the most important synthetic ponds in Europe), it’s onerous to imagine that one upon a time, when this space, positioned on the northern finish of the brown coal mining space that stretches to town of Cottbus and past, was each one other nation and host to a competition that drew 1000’s of younger individuals to hearken to free jazz.
So, sure, I purchased into the mythology. I’ve a duplicate of Woodstock am Karpfenteich, the aforementioned boxset, a DVD concerning the competition, and most of the CD releases that have been created from the competition, the newest being German jazz woodwind legend Ernst Ludwig Petrowsky with the equally revered pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach and famend drummer Christian Lillinger entitled Luten at Jazzwerkstatt Peitz, taken from their 2011 look on the then newly reinstated competition. A number of weekends in the past, my spouse and I attended Jazzwerkstatt’s “50 Jahre Woodstock am Karpfenteich” occasion, which was an extended weekend of live shows starting at Institut Français Berlin within the Charlottenberg space with the launch of the latest Woodstock am Karpfenteich II e-book – an pleasing, and surprisingly shortly assembled account of the competition since its 2011 reboot. The quickness of the books creation isn’t any criticism, only a truth, as one of many contributors, Uwe Wernke, recalled on the occasion, that he acquired a name round Christmas 2022 from Blobel who stated let’s put out a follow-up to the primary Karpfenteich e-book. 4 months later, the e-book, crisp and glossy from the writer was on the market.
To this point, I’ve learn solely the primary chapter, which is Blobel’s participating recounting of his experiences since leaving the GDR and touchdown in Wuppertal within the West within the mid Nineteen Eighties. There are additionally chapters from long-term live performance attendees and supporters (Uwe Warnke, Thomas Krüger), critics and journalists (Bert Noglik, Christoph Dieckmann) and musicians (Friedrich Schoenfeld, Peter Ehwald, Walter Küssner, Gunter “Child” Sommer, Wolfgang Schmidtke). The second half of the quantity is an archive of all of the live shows held since 2006, when Blobel started the Jazzwerkstatt document label and making his means again into selling and supporting jazz.
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| Marc Schmolling |
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| Wolfgang Schmidtke Orchestra |
The weekend’s sequence of occasions was fascinating for its each its places in addition to its breadth of music. Main as much as the weekend, it celebrated the places of the Jazzwerkstatt occasions, first on the Institut Français, then on the Berliner Philharmonic’s small corridor (which is simply as spectacular as its greater brother, subsequent door), and over the weekend, the live shows have been held within the city of Peitz. On the opening, a pianist new to Jazzwerkstatt world, Marc Schmolling, carried out an brisk and targeted solo set. He started with a dramatic wave of his hand and for the following forty minutes saved the power flowing. After a really transient e-book discuss (I had anticipated a full-on studying) which was principally giving because of everybody who helped with the e-book, Wolfgang Schmidtke, lengthy acquainted with Jazzwerkstatt, took the stage along with his huge band. The group, filled with notables from the Berlin jazz scene and past, labored although a fastidiously organized set of music from the Kurt Weill track e-book (“you already know, Kurt Weill, the German Actual Ebook” joked a musician within the viewers to me). The preparations saved true to the unique feels of the songs, although with some updates to maintain the trendy ear attuned. My consideration picked up when the group dug into ‘Pirate Jenny’ from the Three Penny Opera, and one way or the other I practically missed ‘Mack the Knife’ because the well-known melody was deconstructed into wispy quotes.
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| Inside Colors: Julie Sassoon, Lothar Ohlmeier, Mia Ohlmeier. Photograph (c) Cristina Marx/Photomusix. |
The following evening on the Berlin Philharmonic’s Kammermusiksaal, pianist Julie Sassoon, alongside along with her companion Lothar Ohlmeier on saxophone and bass clarinet together with their daughter Mia on drums, delivered an exquisite set that had the reflective qualities of an ECM recording however with an additional jolt of power. Sassoon’s melodies are considerably spare however efficient and the trio was capable of generate an infectious concentrated power round them. Their set was adopted by guitarist Marc Ribot along with his Jazz Bins teams, specifically Joe Dyson on drums and Greg Lewis on Hammond B3 organ, who collectively explored the nexus of groove, soul and rock. They started with a shortly escalating rendition of James Brown’s “Ain’t it Funky Now,” and whereas it is the guitarist’s band by title, the efficiency was owned by Lewis’ figuring out contact on the B3 and Dyson’s otherworldly drumming. Ribot saved some his most ripping moments for the closing songs, particularly the penultimate one, which introduced out the guitar hero that – at the least – I used to be ready for.
Saturday, the celebration moved eastward to the church and the restored ruins of the seventeenth century Malzhausbastei in Peitz. We didn’t make it till the next day nonetheless, lacking live shows like ones from pianist Cecila Voccia, trumpeter Ryan Carniaux, and the singer Uschi Brüning.
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| Jiří Stivín and Joe Sachse |
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| Uwe Kropinski |
The following live performance adopted a fast change of venue over to the a lot smaller and intimate Malzhausbastei, the place a second e-book discuss was to be adopted by guitar marvel Uwe Kropinski. There was, nonetheless, an sudden twist: Kropinski’s distinctive customized made acoustic guitar had simply fallen onto the concrete flooring and the top inventory had damaged off. So, after a fast reintroduction of the Woodstock am Karpfenteich II e-book, the viewers’s consideration shifted to Kropinski who proceeded with a substitute guitar supplied by a neighborhood live performance goer. With much less frets and options than he’s accustomed to, he shortly reconfigured his method and performed a ravishing set of classically tinged compositions, together with one he launched as a ‘correct’ jazz tune. Kropinski ended with a flourish of surprising tones created with use of his customized “tremendous choose” and anybody unaware of his final minute guitar swap could be none the wiser.
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| Bruno Angeloni, Steffan Roth, Stephan Deller |
There was a break earlier than the following present, which was set to additionally occur on the Malzhausbastei, which although cozy, was actually too small of a venue for the gang that had proven up. Not desirous to miss out on the fiery free jazz trio of MOTUSNEU – saxophonist Bruno Angeloni, drummer Steffan Roth, and bassist Stephan Deller – we made positive to be again on the venue early. We grew to become alarmed although when 10 minutes earlier than the present individuals have been displaying up however not the musicians. A recon mission revealed that the live performance had been moved to the spectacular, cavernous Festungsturm, the sixteenth century medieval fortress in the course of the city. We ran and snapped up the final two seats, a bit frazzled. Rapidly nonetheless, the blazing melodic shards from Angeloni and telepathic reciprocation from Roth and Deller re-oriented us. The trio’s persistent sound rose and fell as Roth seamlessly switched between roiling pulse and energetic thrust.
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| Gundra Gottschalk, Gunter “Child” Sommer, Friedhelm Schoenfeld, Xu Fengxia |
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| Sylvia Courvoisier, Drew Gress, Kenny Wollensen |
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| Helge Leiberg’s evolving imagery |
A brief pause gave everybody a while to benefit from the sunny and delicate night climate, earlier than the live shows moved again to the church. The set kicked off with a multi-generational quartet that includes percussionist Gunter “Child” Sommer, woodwindist Friedhelm Schoenfeld, violinist Gundra Gottschalk and guzheng participant Xu Fengxia. The musical encounter was filled with playful free jazz pathos and an brisk enchantment, a duet between Gundra and Fengxia that lined a formidable vary tones and kinds, full with vocalizations and sudden twists. A duet between Sommer and Schoenfeld was equally participating, although following a extra anticipated path. Subsequent, New York’s Sylvia Courvoisier Trio, that includes the pianst together with bassist Drew Gress and drummer Kenny Wollensen, entranced the viewers for an hour. Huge open chords, galloping rhythms and tightly interlocking melodic tunes have been supported by expressive improvisations from all three musicians. Following a brief reconfiguration of the stage, a free improvising group with Almut Kühne on vocals, Ulrich Gumpert on piano, Lothar Fiedler on guitar, Heiner Reinhard on bass clarinet and tenor saxophone, and Willi Kellers on drums, complimented Helge Leiberg’s reside work, which he utilized to glass and manually manipulated on two overhead projectors. The impact was pleasant, playful, and typically fairly jarring because the “primitive” musical imagery blended with the smeary and typically surprisingly exact sounds of the band.
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| Stefan Schultze, Peter Ehwald, Tomasz Dąbrowski, Robert Landfermann, Mortiz Baumgärtner |
It was getting late and simply as we thought our musical consumption ranges have been about maxed out, the scene shifted again to the fortress with saxophonist Peter Ehwald main a formidable group that includes the trumpeter Tomasz Dąbrowski, pianist Stefan Schultze , bassist Robert Landfermann and drummer Mortiz Baumgärtner. Continuing with a delicate toughness, Ehwald led the band via an thrilling, cinematic set of music, closing the fiftieth anniversary weekend on a excessive observe.
This coming September, Jazzwerkstatt Peitz quantity 60 will likely be an “finish is the start” type of deal. Ulli Blobel is hanging up his organizer hat and passing the torch to the following era. His daughter Marie, who has already begun organizing live shows in Berlin, is taking the reigns. In the meantime, we’ll be wanting to see what the longer term brings.
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