Alfred Harth, now known as Alfred 23 Harth or A23H, is a German

multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradition ...

artist, band leader, multi-instrumentalist musician, and composer who creatively mixes genres.

Career

Harth founded a free improvisation band,

Just Music Just Music were a West German avant-garde music ensemble, an interchangeable collective of classically trained instrumentalists founded at the , Frankfurt/Main in 1967 by multi-instrumentalist Alfred Harth. An inherent anti-commercial bias kept th ...

(1967 to 1972), which in 1969 was recording number 1002 on the

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

based label ECM. In 1967 he opened the platform ''centrum freier cunst'' in

Frankfurt/Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its nam ...

— a meeting point for live free music, art exhibitions, experimental poetry, action, and happening events. He formed the group E.M.T. (1972 to 1975) with artist and pianist Nicole Van den Plas from

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

and

Sven-Åke Johansson Sven-Åke Johansson (born 1943 in Mariestad) is a Swedish composer, drummer, poet, author and visual artist associated with European free jazz and free improvisation, who has lived in Berlin since 1968. Johansson is one of the first European free ...

from

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. E.M.T. implemented

Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (Zurich), Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 192 ...

elements, integrating European Music Tradition by using fragments of composers (

Edvard Grieg Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the foremost Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use of ...

Schumann Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...

). In 1975 he had just returned from three months in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, playing there with some greats of the Loft scene:

Perry Robinson Perry Morris Robinson (September 17, 1938 – December 2, 2018) was an American jazz clarinetist and composer. He was the son of composer Earl Robinson. Early life and education Robinson was born and grew up in New York City. He attended the Le ...

, John Fischer, Jay Clayton, a.o. and met

Heiner Goebbels Heiner Goebbels (born 17 August 1952) is a German composer, conductor and professor at Justus-Liebig-University in Gießen and artistic director of the International Festival of the Arts Ruhrtriennale 2012–14. His composition ''Stifters Dinge ...

in Frankfurt/Main with whom in 1976 he recorded a first LP ''Vier Fäuste für Hanns Eisler'' ( FMP/SAJ 08), including works from

Hanns Eisler Hanns Eisler (6 July 1898 – 6 September 1962) was an Austrian composer (his father was Austrian, and Eisler fought in a Hungarian regiment in World War I). He is best known for composing the national anthem of East Germany, for his long artisti ...

Duo Goebbels/Harth The Duo Goebbels/Harth (1975–1988), combining German composer, music-theatre director and keyboardist Heiner Goebbels and German composer, multi-media artist and saxophonist Alfred 23 Harth became famous for its adaptation of and departure fro ...

(1975 to 1988). Meanwhile, also having established the Sogenanntes Linksradikales Blasorchester to bring political music to the streets within student's protest actions, they played a lot of concerts and festivals all over Europe. Harth's activities became more & more diversified: In 1980 he recorded a meeting of mixed styles from jazz, punk and classical music for the label JAPO/ ECM. He invited Christoph Anders, Goebbels,

Paul Lovens Paul Lovens (born 6 June 1949) is a German musician. He plays drums, percussion, singing saw, and cymbals. He has performed with the Aardvark Jazz Orchestra and Berlin Contemporary Jazz Orchestra. He was born in Aachen, Germany. In the early ...

, composer

Rolf Riehm Rolf Riehm (born 15 June 1937) is a German composer who wrote stage and orchestral works as well as music for ensembles and solo instruments. He began as an oboist and music teacher and was later a professor of music theory at the Hochschule für ...

, and

Annemarie Roelofs Annemarie Roelofs (born 1955) is a Dutch trombone player, violinist, and professor at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts. She was a member of Henry Cow and the Feminist Improvising Group. Biography Roelofs studied violin at ...

for this project-LP, ''Es herrscht Uhu im Land'' using words by

Kurt Schwitters Kurt Hermann Eduard Karl Julius Schwitters (20 June 1887 – 8 January 1948) was a German artist who was born in Hanover, Germany. Schwitters worked in several genres and media, including dadaism, constructivism, surrealism, poetry, sound, pain ...

a.o.. This record's musical program led to more focused work in the group

Cassiber Cassiber were a German avant-rock group founded in 1982 by German composer and saxophonist Alfred 23 Harth, Alfred Harth, German composer, music-theatre director and keyboardist Heiner Goebbels, English drummer Chris Cutler from Henry Cow and G ...

(with Anders,

Chris Cutler Chris Cutler (born 4 January 1947) is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of other bands, including Art Bears, Ne ...

, Goebbels and Harth) from 1982 on. The Duo Goebbels/Harth had become a highly creative nucleus for many enterprises. In 1983 Burkhard Hennen asked Harth to form an "all star“ combination for the

Moers Festival The Moers Festival is an annual international music festival in Moers, Germany. The festival has changed from concentrating on free jazz to including world and pop music, though it still invites many avant-garde jazz musicians. Performers at Moers ...

. This group became

Duck and Cover "Duck and cover" is a method of personal protection against the effects of a nuclear explosion. Ducking and covering is useful in offering a degree of protection to personnel located outside the radius of the nuclear fireball but still within su ...

for which he conceived a main structural composition idea in relation to contemporary politics. In 1984 the Duo Goebbels/Harth created a musical theatre piece, ''Nach Aschenfeld'' together with the author and director FK Waechter and actors Heinz-Werner Kraehkamp and Michael Altmann. This was mounted at the Residenztheater in Munich where they played live within the stage scenery on a huge number of instruments, some partially self made, a kind of role model for Heiner Goebbels's ''Musik Theater'' in his later years. The same year Harth made an LP ''Melchior'' with his theatre composition for

Frank Wedekind Benjamin Franklin Wedekind (July 24, 1864 – March 9, 1918) was a German playwright. His work, which often criticizes bourgeois attitudes (particularly towards sex), is considered to anticipate expressionism and was influential in the de ...

's play Spring Awakening at

National Theatre Mannheim The Mannheim National Theatre (german: Nationaltheater Mannheim) is a theatre and opera company in Mannheim, Germany, with a variety of performance spaces. It was founded in 1779 and is one of the oldest theatres in Germany. History In the 18 ...

played by

Bob Degen Bob Degen Jr (born January 24, 1944 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, United States) is an American jazz pianist. Much of his work has been in the trio format. Life and Career Degen was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania in 1944. Both of his parents wer ...

and himself and Cassiber put out its second CD, ''Beauty and the Beast'', released in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

. In 1987 the Duo Goebbels/Harth had been recorded live at the

Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville The Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville is an annual international music festival held in Victoriaville, Quebec that showcases contemporary music. The festival is known for its small scale (usually no more than 20 performan ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and came to an end in 1988. In 1992 Harth managed to put out a best-of album in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, ''Goebbels Heart'', and in 2007 a double CD of the duo's first two LPs, in Great Britain. Parallel to the collaboration with Heiner Goebbels, Harth founded several groups during the 1980s, including a two time working project (LP ''This Earth!'' on ECM 1264 in 1983) with

Paul Bley Paul Bley, CM (November 10, 1932 – January 3, 2016) was a jazz pianist known for his contributions to the free jazz movement of the 1960s as well as his innovations and influence on trio playing and his early live performance on the Moog and ...

Trilok Gurtu Trilok Gurtu (born 30 October 1951) is an Indian percussionist and composer whose work has blended the music of India with jazz fusion and world music. He has worked with Terje Rypdal, Gary Moore, John McLaughlin, Jan Garbarek, Joe Zawinul, M ...

Maggie Nicols Maggie Nicols (or Nichols, as she originally spelled her name as a performer) (born 24 February 1948), is a Scottish free-jazz and improvising vocalist, dancer, and performer. Early life and career Nicols was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, as Mar ...

Barre Phillips Barre Phillips (born October 27, 1934, in San Francisco, California, United States) 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 south ...

and himself, then ''Notes On Planet Shikasta'' (1987, without Gurtu, additive

Phil Minton Phil Minton (born 2 November 1940) is a British avant-garde jazz/ free-improvising vocalist and trumpeter. Minton is a highly dramatic baritone who tends to specialize in literary texts: he has sung lyrics by William Blake with Mike Westbrook's ...

) using fragmented words by

Doris Lessing Doris May Lessing (; 22 October 1919 – 17 November 2013) was a British-Zimbabwean novelist. She was born to British parents in Iran, where she lived until 1925. Her family then moved to Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), where she remain ...

, and an international group

Gestalt et Jive Gestalt et Jive were a multinational avant-rock group founded in West Germany in 1984 by multi-instrumentalist Alfred Harth, comprising Steve Beresford ( UK), Anton Fier ( US), Alfred Harth (FRG), Peter Hollinger (FRG), Ferdinand Richard ( F) an ...

(1984 to 1988). In 1984 Harth co-organized the ''Marry the World By Conference Call'' at the gallery ‘waschSalon’ which he maintained during the years 1984 to 1991, and where he also had invited

William S. Burroughs William Seward Burroughs II (; February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) was an American writer and visual artist, widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodern author who influenced popular cultur ...

for an exhibition of his ''Paintings On Paper''. In 1985 Harth adapted the number 23 in his name and short name A23H. In 1986 A23H cooperated at the first ''under water concert'' organized by Micky Remann in a pool in Frankfurt (

Guinness Book of Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

). Harth had a duo with

John Zorn John Zorn (born September 2, 1953) is an American composer, conductor, saxophonist, arranger and producer who "deliberately resists category". Zorn's avant-garde and experimental approaches to composition and improvisation are inclusive of jaz ...

, and a trio with

Peter Brötzmann Peter Brötzmann (born 6 March 1941) is a German saxophonist and clarinetist. Biography Early life Brötzmann was born in Remscheid, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. He studied painting in Wuppertal and was involved with the Fluxus movement ...

and

Sonny Sharrock Warren Harding "Sonny" Sharrock (August 27, 1940 – May 25, 1994) was an American jazz guitarist. He was married to singer Linda Sharrock, with whom he recorded and performed. One of only a few prominent guitarists who participated in the firs ...

in 1986/7. In 1989 Harth created the performance ''Wenn Gott tot ist, dann ist er im Himmel'' with a sound collage of original interviews with

Jean Baudrillard Jean Baudrillard ( , , ; 27 July 1929 – 6 March 2007) was a French sociologist, philosopher and poet with interest in cultural studies. He is best known for his analyses of media, contemporary culture, and technological communication, as w ...

Villem Flusser Villem is an Estonian masculine given name. It is a cognate of the English language William and the German Wilhelm and may refer to: * Villem Gross (1922–2001), Estonian writer and journalist *Villem Grünthal-Ridala (1885–1942), Estonian p ...

Friedrich Kittler Friedrich A. Kittler (June 12, 1943 – October 18, 2011) was a literary scholar and a media theorist. His works relate to media, technology, and the military. Biography Friedrich Adolf Kittler was born in 1943 in Rochlitz in Saxony. His fami ...

a.o., and composed the CD ''Sweet Paris'' in 1990 which implements recorded German texts read by foreign language speaking street pedestrians in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. During the transition phase of the opening of the East Harth was a member of

Lindsay Cooper Lindsay Cooper (3 March 1951 – 18 September 2013) was an English bassoon and oboe player and composer. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and the ...

's group

Oh Moscow ''Oh Moscow'' is a 1991 live album by English experimental musician and composer Lindsay Cooper. It is a recording of a song cycle of the same name performed at the 7th Victoriaville Festival in Quebec, Canada on 8 October 1989. The work was com ...

(1987 to 1993, words by singer and film director

Sally Potter Charlotte Sally Potter (born 19 September 1949) is an English film director and screenwriter. She is known for directing ''Orlando'' (1992), which won the audience prize for Best Film at the Venice Film Festival. Early life Potter was born an ...

), he had founded a postmodern group

Vladimir Estragon Vladimir Estragon were an avant-rock group founded in West Germany in 1988 by German composer and reed player Alfred Harth with FM Einheit, Ulrike Haage, and Phil Minton ( UK). In 1980 Harth produced the LP ''Es herrscht Uhu im Land'' on JAPO/E ...

(1988/89, comprising

Einstürzende Neubauten (, 'Collapsing New Buildings') is a German experimental music group, formed in West Berlin in 1980. The group is currently composed of founding members Blixa Bargeld (lead vocals; guitar; keyboard) and N.U. Unruh (custom-made instruments; perc ...

drummer

FM Einheit Frank-Martin Strauß, better known as F.M. Einheit and also known as Mufti, (born 18 December 1958, in Dortmund) is an industrial and electronic musician and actor from Germany. While primarily known for his percussion work with the influential ...

) referring in its titles to

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish novelist, dramatist, short story writer, theatre director, poet, and literary translator. His literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal and tragicomic expe ...

and

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...

, a Trio Trabant a Roma (1990/1, Lindsay Cooper, Phil Minton, himself), a duo Parcours Bleu a Deux with Heinz Sauer (1990 to 1992), and a QuasarQuartet (1992/3,

Simon Nabatov Simon Nabatov (born 11 January 1959) is a Russian-American jazz pianist. Early life Nabatov was born in Moscow on 11 January 1959. His parents were Leon, a professional pianist and choir conductor who was a native of Belarus, and Regina. Nabatov ...

Vitold Rek Vitold Rek (* October 18, 1955 in Rzeszów, Poland as Witold E. Szczurek) is a double bassist, composer and music educator. He studied classical double bass at the Academy of Music in Kraków when Krzysztof Penderecki was rector there. His playing ...

Mark Dresser Mark Dresser (born September 26, 1952) is an American double bass player and composer. Career Dresser was born in Los Angeles, California, United States. In the 1970s, he was a member of Black Music Infinity led by Stanley Crouch and performed w ...

Vladimir Tarasov Vladimir Ilich Tarasov (russian: Владимир Ильич Тарасов; born 7 February 1939 in Moscow) is a Russian animator and animation director. He is best known for his Soviet-era science fiction short films, such as ''The Pass, Cont ...

, himself). 1993 to 1995 Harth worked out his art project ''Gedankenhotel'' that had no audiences, but just events with 10 "guests" that had been documented in 10 maps. Also in 1993 he formed the FIM (1993 to 2001, Frankfurts Indeterminables Musiqwesen) a platform for many local avantgarde music activities including the group Imperial Hoot (1998 to 2000). In 1995 Harth created a first dedication to

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

in a Deutsches Jazz Festival Frankfurt event ''Han Guk – Land des unerfüllten Wunsches'' together with Dougie Bowne,

Fred Hopkins Fred Hopkins (October 11, 1947 – January 7, 1999) was an American double bassist who played a major role in the development of the avant-garde jazz movement. He was best known for his association with the trio Air with Henry Threadgill and St ...

, David Murray and himself. In 1996 he produced a re-mix CD album ''Pollock'' using out-of-print Alfred Harth LPs, and triggered an internet label ''recout''. In 1997-8 he re-arranged, conducted, and performed the

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo and Juliet'', the story is set in the mid-1 ...

at the main theatre in Frankfurt. In 2000 Harth formed the Trio Viriditas (2000 to 2002) in New York together with

Wilber Morris Wilber Morris (November 27, 1937 - August 8, 2002) was an American jazz double bass player and bandleader. He was the brother of the cornetist, composer, and conductor Butch Morris.Allmusic/ref> Wilber Morris recorded widely, and performed with ...

and

Kevin Norton Kevin Norton (born January 21, 1956) is an American percussionist and composer active in the New York City jazz and contemporary music scenes. He has performed and recorded with a diverse group of musicians, including Anthony Braxton, Paul Dunmal ...

. Harth and his wife, the Korean artist Yi Soonjoo, wanted to relocate to New York where they both had a grant at OMI/New York, but then in 2001 to 2002 they had a grant at Ssamzie Space in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

and loved to stay on where Harth created the ''LaubhuetteStudio Seoul''. There in the years 2003 to 2006, he produced a ''Mother of Pearl-CD series'' of five editions including a DVD containing animated sequences of his drawings. Each disc devoted to a specific Korean theme, inviting also many Korean musicians to contribute their sound sources to this project. In 2004 Harth became a member in

Otomo Yoshihide is a Japanese composer and multi-instrumentalist. He mainly plays guitar, turntables, and electronics. He first came to international prominence in the 1990s as the leader of the experimental rock group Ground Zero, and has since worked in ...

's Japanese formations for almost five years. He composed for Korean ballet and on a recent solo disc ''micro saxo-phone, edition III'' (2011, released in the US on KSE), he had been experimenting with rudimentary "doublespeak" texts besides using contact microphones to "electrify" his saxophones by the means of electric devices as the

Kaoss Pad The Kaoss Pad is an audio sampling instrument and multi-effects processor originally launched by Korg in 1999. It allows users to record and process audio samples and apply various effects using an X-Y touchscreen. Features Kaoss Pads allow use ...

a.o. Also he even bows the contrabassclarinet and saxophone bodies, as well amplifying the keys, the saliva and needle springs to extend once more the saxophone's language since he began to "electrify" his saxophone on the LP ''Plan Eden'' (

Creative Works Records Creative Works Records is an independent Swiss record label. History The label ''Creative Works Records'' was founded in 1983 by Mike Wider in Root (canton of Lucerne). Wider, who at that time had helped build up a recording studio in Lucerne a ...

) in 1986. In 2007 Harth created the European quartet 7k Oaks together with Massimo Pupillo ( Zu), Fabrizio Spera and Luca Venitucci in Rome. In 2008 he had a premiere on a tour in Switzerland with the trio Taste Tribes together with Guenter Mueller and

Hans Joachim Irmler Faust (English: "fist") are a German rock band from Hamburg. Formed in 1971 by producer and former music journalist Uwe Nettelbeck, the group was originally composed of Werner "Zappi" Diermaier (b.1949), Hans Joachim Irmler (b.1950), Arnulf M ...

from the legendary group

Faust Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust ( 1480–1540). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a pact with the Devil at a crossroads ...

. In 2009 Harth formed the duo Gift Fig together with composer

Carl Stone Carl Stone (born Carl Joseph Stone, February 10, 1953) is an American composer, primarily working in the field of live electronic music. His works have been performed in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, Australia, South America, and the ...

by the premiere of ''Adler_Kino 1166 – 1215'' in Frankfurt/Main. In 2013 and A23H toured in North West America including a performance at the

Vancouver International Jazz Festival The Vancouver International Jazz Festival is an annual summer event in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The festival grew out of a local jazz scene that centred on Vancouver Co-op Radio ( CFRO-FM), a community radio station, in the early 1980 ...

. Harth took part in the exhibitions ''The Name Is Burroughs - Expanded Media'' 2012 at

ZKM The ZKM , Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe (until March 2016: ZKM Center for Art and Media Technology), a cultural institution, was founded in 1989. and since 1997 is located in a listed industrial building in Karlsruhe, Germany, a former muni ...

Karlsruhe, ''Real DMZ 2013'' at

Artsonje Center Artsonje Center is a private art museum in Seoul, Korea, located in Samcheong-dong, a neighborhood adjacent to known for its numerous art galleries, cafes, restaurants and boutiques. Founded in 1998, the museum introduces current and experiment ...

and ''Universal Studios'', 2014 at

Seoul Museum of Art The Seoul Museum of Art is an art museum operated by Seoul City Council and located in central of Seoul, South Korea. History A girl named Jayla opened the museum first after getting the idea from another museum. It was opened in the Gyeonghuig ...

, 2016

sound art Sound art is an artistic activity in which sound is utilized as a primary medium or material. Like many genres of contemporary art, sound art may be interdisciplinary in nature, or be used in hybrid forms. According to Brandon LaBelle, sound art ...

cooperation with the Korean artist Sora Kim at

National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA) is a contemporary art museum with four branches in Gwacheon, Deoksugung, Seoul and Cheongju. The museum was first established in 1969 as the only national art museum in the country ...

(MMCA), Korea. To play

's music Harth took part in

Henry Cow Henry Cow were an English experimental rock group, founded at the University of Cambridge in 1968 by multi-instrumentalists Fred Frith and Tim Hodgkinson. Henry Cow's personnel fluctuated over their decade together, but drummer Chris Cutler, b ...

, Music for Films,

News from Babel News from Babel were an English avant-rock group founded in 1983 by Chris Cutler, Lindsay Cooper, Zeena Parkins and Dagmar Krause. They made two studio albums with several guest musicians (including Robert Wyatt) and disbanded in 1986. History ...

and

at the

Barbican Centre The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhi ...

, London on 21 November as part of the EFG

London Jazz Festival The London Jazz Festival is a music festival held every November. It takes place in London venues such as the Barbican and the Royal Festival Hall and in smaller jazz clubs, such as Ronnie Scott's and the Vortex Jazz Club. It is produced by Seri ...

; at the

Lawrence Batley Theatre The Lawrence Batley Theatre is a theatre in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England which offers drama, music, dance and comedy. The theatre is named after Lawrence Batley, a local entrepreneur and philanthropist, who founded a nationwide cash an ...

, Huddersfield on 22 November as part of the

Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival The Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (also known by the acronym HCMF, stylised since 2006 as the lowercase hcmf//) is a new music festival held annually in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. Since its foundation in 1978, it has featured ...

and at the Teatro Diego Fabbri in

Forlì Forlì ( , ; rgn, Furlè ; la, Forum Livii) is a ''comune'' (municipality) and city in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, and is the capital of the province of Forlì-Cesena. It is the central city of Romagna. The city is situated along the Via E ...

, Italy on 23 November 2014. In 2015 he collaborated with Chris Cutler founding a group Hope, a commission for the 46th Deutsches Jazzfestival with

Kazuhisa Uchihashi Kazuhisa Uchihashi (内橋和久, ''Uchihashi Kazuhisa'') is a Japanese guitarist involved in free improvisation music. Born in 1959 in Osaka, Uchihashi began to play the guitar at age 12, playing in various rock bands, though he later studied j ...

, Mitsuru Nasuno. In 2018 Harth toured with his group Revolver 23 by an invitation by the Jazz in Autumn Festival in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. In 2019 he was invited to show his art work at the Seongbuk Documenta 6 at the Choi Manlin Museum in

, in 2020 he participated at the JazzKorea Festival ''Alive!''. Alfred Harth is an

Honorary Citizen Honorary citizenship is a status bestowed by a city or other government on a foreign or native individual whom it considers to be especially admirable or otherwise worthy of the distinction. The honour usually is symbolic and does not confer an ...

. A23H founded many other bands, composes for film, TV, theatre, ballet, radio plays, and has exhibitions of his art works. Since 2011 A23H extends his

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ter ...

radius by also touring in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

with the Shanghai Quintet and working in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

Macao Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

Group formations and discography (selection)

– A23H/Thomas Cremer/Dieter Herrmann/Johannes Krämer/Thomas Stoewsand/Witold Teplitz/ Peter Stock/Franz Volhard : * ''Just Music'' ECM1002, Germany, 1969 * ''4.Januar 1970'' - A23H/Nicole Van den Plas/Thomas Cremer/Peter Stock/Franz Volhard, 1970 * ''Born Free''

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

, 1970 E.M.T. – A23H/

/Nicole van den Plas : * ''Canadian Cup of Coffee'' FMP, 1974 * ''E.M.T. live at Fabrik Hamburg in 1973'', SAJ-CD, 2012

: * ''Vier Faeuste fuer Hanns Eisler'' FMP, 1976 +

Recommended Records Recommended Records (RēR) is a British independent record label and distribution network founded by Chris Cutler with Nick Hobbs in March 1978. RēR features largely "Rock in Opposition" and related music, but it also distributes selected mus ...

,2007 * ''Vom Sprengen des Gartens'' FMP, 1978+

,2007 * ''Indianer fuer Morgn'' Riskant, 1981 * ''Zeit wird knapp'' Riskant, 1981 * ''Frankfurt/Peking'' Riskant, 1984 * ''Live in Victoriaville'' victo,LP + CD, 1987Couture, François
Live à Victoriaville: review
at allmusic.com * ''Goebbels Heart'' evva, 1992 Sogenanntes Linksradikales Blasorchester ("So-called left-radical brass band"): * ''Mit Gelben Birnen''

Trikont The leftist publishing house Trikont was founded in 1967 in Munich by Gisela Erler and others. The record label has its origins in the protest and alternative movements of the 1970s and derived its name from geographical concept 'Trikont', which r ...

, 1977/80 + DoubleCD in 1999

– A23H/Christoph Anders/

: * ''Man or Monkey?'' (2xLP Riskant, Germany + CD

, UK)), 1982 * ''Beauty and the Beast'' (LP Riskant, Germany + LP and CD

, UK), 1984 * ''The Cassiber Box'', 6 CDs + DVD

, UK, 2013

– A23H/

Tom Cora Thomas Henry Corra (September 14, 1953 – April 9, 1998), better known as Tom Cora, was an American cellist and composer, best known for his improvisational performances in the field of experimental jazz and rock. He recorded with John Zorn, B ...

Fred Frith Jeremy Webster "Fred" Frith (born 17 February 1949) is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer, and improviser. Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock ...

Dagmar Krause Dagmar Krause (born 4 June 1950) is a German singer, best known for her work with avant-rock groups including Slapp Happy, Henry Cow, and Art Bears. She is also noted for her coverage of songs by Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill and Hanns Eisler. Her ...

/ George E. Lewis : * '' Rē Records Quarterly Vol.1 No.2''

, 1986

– A23H/

Steve Beresford Steve Beresford (born 6 March 1950) is a British musician who graduated from the University of York He has played a variety of instruments, including piano, electronics, trumpet, euphonium, bass guitar and a wide variety of toy instruments, such ...

Anton Fier Anton Fier (June 20, 1956 – September 14, 2022) was an American drummer, producer, composer, and bandleader. Family Fier, known as Tony, was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to Ruthe Marie Fier and Anton J. Fier Jr., a former Marine and electrician. ...

/Peter Hollinger/ Ferdinand Richard/Uwe Schmitt : * ''Nouvelle Cuisine''

Moers Music Moers Music is a German jazz record label that was founded by Burkhard Hennen in Moers, Germany. The label started in 1974 under the name Ring but was changed three years later due to a conflict with a Canadian record label that had the same name. ...

, Germany 1985 * ''Gestalt et Jive Trio'' Creative Works Records, Switzerland 1986 * ''Neowise'', Al Maslakh, Lebanon 2020 Duo Alfred 23 Harth/

: * ''Anything Goes'' Creative Works Records, 1986 * ''Plan Eden'' Creative Works Records, 1987 Duo Brötzmann/23 Harth : * ''Go-No-Go'' FMP, 1987

's OH MOSCOW – A23H/

Hugh Hopper Hugh Colin Hopper (29 April 1945 – 7 June 2009) was a British progressive rock and jazz fusion bass guitarist. He was a prominent member of the Canterbury scene, as a member of Soft Machine and other bands. Biography Early career Starting in ...

Marilyn Mazur Marilyn Mazur (born January 18, 1955) is an American-born Danish percussionist. Since 1975, she has worked as a percussionist with various groups, among them Six Winds with Alex Riel. Mazur is primarily an autodidact, but she has a degree in ...

/Elvira Plenar/

: * ''

'' (victo, Canada,1989)

– A23H/

/Ulrike Haage/

: * ''Three Quarks For Muster Mark''

enja Enja Records is a German jazz record company and label based in Munich which was founded by jazz enthusiasts Matthias Winckelmann and Horst Weber in 1971. The label's first release was by Mal Waldron, and early releases included European and Ja ...

/tiptoe,LP + CD 1989 Domestic Stories – A23H/

Lutz Glandien Lutz Glandien (born 1954) is a Berlin-based German avant garde composer and musician. He has composed a number of classical and electroacoustic pieces, released four solo albums, and collaborated with English percussionist Chris Cutler to r ...

: * ''Domestic Stories''

,UK 1991 QuasarQuartet – A23H/

/Vitold Rek) * ''POPendingEYE'' free flow music, 1992 Trio Trabant a Roma – A23H/

: * ''State Of Volgograd'' FMP, 1994 Imperial Hoot – A23H/Guenter Bozem/Marcel Daemgen/

Christoph Korn Christoph is a male given name and surname. It is a German variant of Christopher. Notable people with the given name Christoph * Christoph Bach (1613–1661), German musician * Christoph Büchel (born 1966), Swiss artist * Christoph Dientzenho ...

: * ''Secrets of Development'' Blue Noises,1999 Trio Viriditas – A23H/

) * ''waxwebwind@ebroadway''

Clean Feed Records Clean Feed Records is a jazz record label founded in Lisbon, Portugal, in 2001. The label's roster includes Ray Anderson, Tim Berne, Carlos Bica, Anthony Braxton, Mark Dresser, Ellery Eskelin, Peter Evans, Scott Fields, Fight the Big Bull, Cha ...

, Portugal, 2002 * ''Live at Vision Festival VI'' Clean Feed Records, 2008 Otomo Yoshihide New Jazz Orchestra (ONJO) – A23H/

Sachiko M Sachiko Matsubara (Japanese: 松原幸子; born 1973), better known by her stage name Sachiko M, is a Japanese musician. Her first solo album, ''Sine Wave Solo'', was released in 1999. Working in collaboration with Ami Yoshida under the name Cosmo ...

Axel Dörner Axel Dörner (born 26 April 1964 in Cologne, Germany) is a German trumpeter, pianist, and composer. Biography Dörner studied piano in the Dutch town Arnhem (1988–89) and at the Music Academy in Cologne (1989–1996). From 1991 he studied t ...

Mats Gustafsson Mats Olof Gustafsson (born 29 October 1964) is a Swedish free jazz saxophone player. Career Gustafsson came to the attention of lovers of improvised music as part of a duo with Christian Munthe (started in 1986), as member of Gunter Chri ...

Toshimaru Nakamura Toshimaru Nakamura is a Japanese musician, active in free improvisation and Japanese Onkyokei, onkyo. He began his career playing rock and roll guitar, but gradually explored other types of music, even abandoning guitar, and started working on ...

Cor Fuhler Cornelis William Hendrik Fuhler (3 July 1964 – 19 July 2020) was a Dutch/Australian improvisor, composer, and instrument builder associated with free jazz, experimental music and acoustic ecology. He played piano by manipulating sound with elec ...

/Tsugami Kenta/Aoki Taisei/Okura Masahiko/Ishikawa Ko/Unami Taku/Takara Kumiko/

Kahimi Karie , better known by her stage name , is a Japanese singer, songwriter and photographer. Her music is closely associated with the Shibuya-kei aesthetic. Karie sings in English, French and Japanese, among other languages. Karie began her music caree ...

/Mizutani Hiroaki/ Yoshigaki Yasuhiro) * ''ONJO'' doubtmusic, Japan, 2005 * ''Out to Lunch'' doubtmusic, 2005 * ONJO live Vol.1 ''series circuit'' doubtmusic, 2007 * ONJO live Vol.2 ''parallel circuit'' doubtmusic, 2007 Otomo Yoshihide's Invisible Songs – A23H/

/Yoshigaki Yasuhiro/

/ Leonid Soybelman/ Kondo Tatsuo/ Nasuno Mitsuru/Kawai Shinobu/

Yamamoto Seiichi is a Japanese musician. While perhaps most famous for his role as guitarist for the noise rock band Boredoms, he has released multitudes of records both as a solo artist and with several other musicians and bands, in addition to composing the sou ...

/ Jim O'Rourke * ''Sora'' East Works Entertainment, Japan, 2007 7k Oaks – A23H/Luca Venitucci/

Massimo Pupillo Domenico Massimo Pupillo (1922 – 12 December 1999) was an Italian film director. Life and career Puplillo was born in Rodi Garganico, Apulia in 1922. He started his career in film through his acquaintance Fernandel as Marcel Pagnol's assistant ...

/Fabrizio Spera * ''7000 Oaks ''

Die Schachtel Die, as a verb, refers to death, the cessation of life. Die may also refer to: Games * Die, singular of dice, small throwable objects used for producing random numbers Manufacturing * Die (integrated circuit), a rectangular piece of a semicondu ...

, Italy, 2007 * ''Entelechy'' Die Schachtel, 2011 Taste Tribes – A23H/ Guenter Mueller/

/samples by

Eruption Several types of volcanic eruptions—during which lava, tephra (ash, lapilli, volcanic bombs and volcanic blocks), and assorted gases are expelled from a volcanic vent or fissure—have been distinguished by volcanologists. These are often ...

Kawabata Makoto Kawabata Makoto ( ) is a Japanese musician and founding member of the band Acid Mothers Temple. He was part of one line-up of Gong when Acid Mothers Temple and Gong briefly fused into one group. Band history Kawabata is chiefly famous for his l ...

* ''Taste Tribes'' For4ears, Switzerland, 2008 Duo Gift Fig – A23H/

* ''Gift Fig'', KSE, USA, 2012 Revolver 23 – A23H/Nicola L. Hein/Marcel Daemgen/Joerg Fischer * ''Kirschblüten mit verstecktem Sprengstoff'', Moloko Plus, Germany, 2019

Discography of special projects (selection)

* "Es herrscht Uhu im Land“ JAPO/ ECM – A23H/Christoph Anders/

, 1981 * "This Earth!“ ECM1264 – A23H/

, 1983 * "Sweet Paris“ free flow music, 1991 * "Pollock“ Orkestrion Schallfolien, – A23H/Peter Fey/Frank Rothkamm/

Elliott Sharp Elliott Sharp (born March 1, 1951) is an American contemporary classical composer, multi-instrumentalist, and performer. A central figure in the avant-garde and experimental music scene in New York City since the late 1970s, Sharp has released ...

, 1996 * print-on-demand internet-label "recout.de�

: 1996–2000 * cottage industry label LaubhuetteStudio, since 200

MOTHER-OF-PEARL-SERIES (1.-5.,made in

), 2003–200

* 1. "eShip sum“ / * 2. "nu:clear re:actor“ * 3. DVD "T_error“ / CD "kr ./. jp“ / * 4. "Seoul Milk“ * 5. "NUN" Expedition (New York) – A23H/Chris Dahlgren/

Jay Rosen Jay Rosen (born May 5, 1956) is a writer, and a professor of journalism at New York University. Rosen is a contributor to ''De Correspondent'' and a member of the George Foster Peabody Awards board of directors. Biography Rosen has been on ...

/Hans Tammen * ''Expedition''

ESP-Disk ESP-Disk is a New York-based record company and label founded in 1963 by lawyer Bernard Stollman. History Though it originally existed to release Esperanto-based music, beginning with its second release (Albert Ayler's ''Spiritual Unity''), ESP b ...

, USA 2006 Homura Trio (

) – A23H/Yoriyuki Harada/Choi Sun Bae * ''Homura'' off note, Japan 2007 Dead Country (

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

) – Şevket Akinci/Umut Çağlar/Murat Çopur/Kerem Öktem/A23H * ''Gestalt et Death'' Al Maslakh, 2012 The Expats (

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

) -

Samm Bennett Samm Bennett is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Samm Bennett is a singer and songwriter, a drummer and percussionist, and a player of string instruments such as the stick dulcimer (sometimes called a dulcitar) and the ...

/A23H * ''The Expats'', KSE, USA 2013 concept recordings * ''micro-saxo-phone'' series, vol.II on Laubhuette Productions, 2008, vol.III + IV on KSE, USA 2011 + 2013 * ''As Yves Drew A Line.Estate'', Re Records Hong Kong, 2013 * ''Five Eyes'', Moloko Plus, 2014 - A23H/ Nicole Van den Plas/

Wolfgang Seidel Wolfgang Seidel (4 July 1926 – 1 March 1987) was a racing driver from Germany. He participated in 12 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 2 August 1953. He scored no championship points. Seidel often entered cars under his ow ...

, Germany * ''Malcha'', Moloko Plus, 2016 - A23H/ Nicole Van den Plas/Wolfgang Seidel/ Fabrizio Spera * ''Campanula'', Moloko Plus, 2017 - A23H/John Bell * ''Zisch!'' Split-LP w/

Jonathan Meese Jonathan Meese (born January 23, 1970 in Tokyo) is a German painter, sculptor, performance artist and installation artist based in Berlin and Hamburg. Meese's (often multi-media) works include paintings, collages, drawings and writing. He also d ...

Mama Baer Mama Baer (born Andrea Katharina Ingeborg Göthling; 29 October 1981) is a German sound recordist of noise music and post-industrial music. She is a filmmaker and visual artist at Flensburg. She has had solo and group art exhibitions around the worl ...

Kommissar Hjuler Kommissar Hjuler (born Detlev Hjuler; 1967) works as a sound recordist in the field of Noise and Post-industrial music, visual artist, film maker and police officer at Flensburg, a town on the German border with Denmark. He often works together wit ...

, Germany, 2017 * ''Laubhuette Productions'' , Moloko Plus, 2020 * ''Sweet Paris Reloaded'' , Moloko Plus, 2022

References

* Wagner, Christoph. ''Brüche und Kontinuität'', Alfred 23 Harth, in “Neue Zeitschrift für Musik”, Schott Music, Mainz, Germany, 6/2007 * Lake, Steve; Griffiths, Paul. ”Horizons Touched – The Music of ECM”, Granta Books, London * Schwab, Juergen. ''Der Frankfurt Sound''. Frankfurt/Main: Societaetsverlag, 2004. * Repecaud, Dominique. ''Musique Action''. Vandoeuvre, France: CCAM, 1993. * Quinke, Ralph. ''jazz + more''. Kiel, Germany: Nieswand Verlag, 1992. * Allen, Clifford (2009)
"Alfred Harth: Forty Years of Synaesthetic Improvisation"
''

All About Jazz ''All About Jazz'' is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, ''Jazz Near ...

'', 5 January 2009; lengthy interview * Morley, Simon (2013)
"An interview with Alfred Harth"
''

Asymptote In analytic geometry, an asymptote () of a curve is a line such that the distance between the curve and the line approaches zero as one or both of the ''x'' or ''y'' coordinates tends to infinity. In projective geometry and related contexts, ...

'', Issue Oct 2013; lengthy interview

External links

Alfred Harth biography since the year 2000
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harth, Alfred 23 Living people German artists German multi-instrumentalists German composers Year of birth missing (living people) Clean Feed Records artists FMP/Free Music Production artists Place of birth missing (living people)