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German free jazz saxophonist Peter Brötzmann dies.

The recent death of the German saxophonist Peter Brötzmann (Remscheid, 6 March 1941-Wuppertal, 22 June 2023) has caused numerous international media outlets to echo the mournful event, and they all agree on a commonplace: Peter Brötzmann as “the father of German free jazz”… OK, OK… But Brötzmann was much more than that, and his wake could be placed as the ancestor of free rock (in the wild manner of King Crimson… when they got wild) or even of Japanoise, passing through his influence on another saxophonist without limits: the American John Zorn. I remember the character in the pages of Rockdelux.

© Photograph by Dagmar Gebers dated 1988, downloaded from Peter Brötzmann’s website.