‘Fugitive Sounds: Brötzmann, Free Jazz, and the Undercommons of Organisation’ by Daniel Spicer reviewed by Stevphen Shukaitis (opens in new tab)

A central figure in European free jazz, Peter Brötzmann (1941–2023) was a German saxophonist and clarinettist whose work, particularly since the late 1960s, helped define the sound and politics of improvised music on the continent. Emerging from the postwar West German art scene, his playing combined an abrasive, high-intensity sonic vocabulary with a deep commitment to collective practice and transnational collaboration. There is a tendency when approaching a figure like Peter Brötzmann to r...