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Theodor Franz Jörgensmann (born 29 September 1948) is a German jazz clarinetist.


Activities

Theo Jörgensmann belongs to the second generation of
European free jazz European free jazz is a part of the global free jazz scene with its own development and characteristics. It is hard to establish who are the founders of European free jazz because of the different developments in different European countries. One c ...
musicians. He was part of the clarinet renaissance in the jazz and improvising music scene. Jörgensmann is one of a few clarinet players for whom unaccompanied solo recordings are a significant part of his work. He started to play clarinet when he was 18 years old. From 1969 until 1972 Jörgensmann took private lessons from a music teacher at the
Folkwang Hochschule The Folkwang University of the Arts is a university for music, theater, dance, design, and academic studies, located in four German cities of North Rhine-Westphalia. Since 1927, its traditional main location has been in the former Werden Abbey in E ...
in Essen. At the same time he started working with fellow musicians from the Ruhr industrial area. During this time he was also a chemical laboratory assistant. After a one and half year hitch in the German Army Jörgensmann worked with handicapped children and studied social pedagogics, but he never brought it to a conclusion. Since 1975 he has been a professional musician. During a career spanning three decades as a free improviser Jörgensmann has worked with (among many others) Mike Richmond, Barre Phillips,
Kent Carter Kent Carter (born June 14, 1939 in Hanover, New Hampshire) is an American jazz bassist. His father, Alan Carter, founded the Vermont Symphony Orchestra. He is also the grandson of American artist, Rockwell Kent. He worked in Steve Lacy's group, ...
, John Lindberg,
Charlie Mariano Carmine Ugo Mariano (November 12, 1923 – June 16, 2009) was an American jazz saxophonist who focused on the alto and soprano saxophone. He occasionally performed and recorded on flute and nadaswaram as well. Biography Mariano was born in ...
,
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 ...
, Eric Vloeimans,
Jeanne Lee Jeanne Lee (January 29, 1939 – October 25, 2000) was an American jazz singer, poet and composer. Best known for a wide range of vocal styles she mastered, Lee collaborated with numerous distinguished composers and performers who included Gunte ...
, John Fischer, Vincent Chancey,
Kenny Wheeler Kenneth Vincent John Wheeler, OC (14 January 1930 – 18 September 2014) was a Canadian composer and trumpet and flugelhorn player, based in the U.K. from the 1950s onwards. Most of his performances were rooted in jazz, but he was also active i ...
,
Paul McCandless Paul Brownlee McCandless Jr. (born March 24, 1947) is an American multi-instrumentalist and founding member of the American jazz group Oregon. He is one of the few jazz oboists. He also plays bass clarinet, English horn, flute and soprano saxoph ...
and Lee Konitz. From 1975 to 1977 he led the group Clarinet Contrast, consisting only of clarinets, with
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 ...
, Hans Kumpf, Bernd Konrad and Michel Pilz. At the end of the 1970s he was leader of one of West Germany's best-known jazz groups. At the beginning of the 1980s he took part in a
Clarinet Summit Clarinet Summit was a project organized by producer Joachim-Ernst Berendt in 1979. The 1979 concert was released on MPS Records as ''You Better Fly Away''. It features John Carter, Perry Robinson, Gianluigi Trovesi, Bernd Konrad, Theo Jörgens ...
(which was created by Joachim E. Berendt and himself) with John Carter,
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 ...
,
Gianluigi Trovesi Gianluigi Trovesi (born 1944) is an Italian jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer. He has won various Italian jazz awards. He also teaches in Italy. Early life Trovesi was born in Nembro near Bergamo in Lombardy in 1944. He studied harmony ...
and others. Since those days Jörgensmann has been involved in numerous international projects. In 1985 Jörgensmann toured Europe with bassist Barre Phillips and reed player
Paul McCandless Paul Brownlee McCandless Jr. (born March 24, 1947) is an American multi-instrumentalist and founding member of the American jazz group Oregon. He is one of the few jazz oboists. He also plays bass clarinet, English horn, flute and soprano saxoph ...
. He was a member of Willem van Manen's ''Contraband'' (1985–1998),
Andrea Centazzo Andrea Centazzo (born 1948) is an Italian-born American composer, percussionist, multimedia artist and record label founder. Music career Centazzo was born in Udine, Italy. In the 1970s he played percussion in avant-garde jazz with John Zorn, S ...
's ''Mitteleuropa Orchestra'' (1983–1985), John Fischer's ''Interface'' (1981–1996) and
Franz Koglmann Franz Koglmann (born 22 May 1947) is an Austrian jazz composer. He performs on both the trumpet and flugelhorn in a variety of contexts, most often within avant-garde jazz and third stream contexts. An award-winning composer, Koglmann has perfor ...
's ''Pipetet'' (1983–1985). At the same time he was also leader of '' Klarinettenquartett Cl-4'' and co-founder of large ensemble ''Grubenklangorchester''. In 1987 Jörgensmann was the subject of a documentary film, ''Theo Jörgensmann, Bottrop, Klarinette'', directed by Christoph Hübner. Between 1983 and 1993 he held a lectureship for clarinet and ensemble at
University of Duisburg The old University of Duisburg was a university in Duisburg, Germany. History Its origins date back to the 1555 decision to create a university for the unified duchies at the Lower Rhine that were later to be merged into Prussia. After the foundati ...
, and from 1993 until 1997 he was a lecturer for free improvising at ''Music Therapeutics Institute'' of
Witten/Herdecke University Witten/Herdecke University is a private, state-recognized, nonprofit university in Witten, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was the first German private institution of higher education to receive accreditation as a "Universität", a status r ...
. In company with the music-scientist Rolf-Dieter Weyer, Jörgensmann wrote a philosophical book about improvising in music. In 1997 he started the Theo Jörgensmann Quartet, which toured in North America in 1999, 2001, and 2003, including playing twice at
Montreal International Jazz Festival The Festival International de Jazz de Montréal ( en, Montreal International Jazz Festival) is an annual jazz festival held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Montreal Jazz Fest holds the 2004 Guinness World Record as the world's largest jazz fes ...
(1999 and 2003). In addition he has played with the Polish twins Marcin Oles and
Bartlomiej Oles Bartlomiej Brat Oles (born 1973 in Sosnowiec, Poland) is a jazz and free improvisation drummer, composer and record producer. He is the twin brother of Marcin Oles and Art-director of the Polish independent Jazz Label Fenommedia. Career Bartlom ...
since 2003. The album Oleś Jörgensmann Oleś, ''Directions'', was chosen by [Polish internet jazz magazine ''Diapazon'' as Record of the Year in 2005. Since 2008 he is a member of Trio Hot with Albrecht Maurer, violin and Peter Jacquemyn, bass, and in 2009 he started the Deep Down Clarinet Duo with the contrabass clarinet player Ernst Ulrich Deuker. They also work together in the Tribal Trio, a clarinet trio with the French-American clarinetist Etienne Rolin. In 2009 Jörgensmann performed a few concerts with younger musicians from UK (
Seb Rochford Sebastian Rochford is a British drummer and composer. He has recorded and released music as leader of the British band Polar Bear, as Kutcha Butcha and as part of numerous collaborations. Early life Rochford was born in Aberdeen and has a large ...
, Dominic Lash, Shabaka Hutchings and Noel Taylor) in London. In 2011 he formed the Freedom Trio with bassist Christian Sydney Ramond and acoustic guitar player Hagen Stüdemann. After a twelve-year break, he also works together again with pianist Bernd Köppen. Currently Jorgensmann is also working again with Clarinet Summit. The members of the group are Perry Robinson, Gianluigi Trovesi, Bernd Konrad, Albrecht Maurer, Sebastian Gramss and Günther "Baby" Sommer. In 2018, Jörgensmann was artist in residence at Singers Festival Warsaw, the biggest festival of Jewish culture in Poland.


Discography


As leader

* ''In Time'' (A&M, 1977) * ''Straightout!'' (Europhon, 1978) * ''Live at Birdland Gelsenkirchen'' (Europhon, 1978) * ''Go Ahead Clarinet'' (CMP, 1978) * ''Song of BoWaGe'' (CMP, 1979) * ''You Better Fly Away'' with Clarinet Summit (MPS, 1980) * ''Next Adventure'' (CMP, 1981) * ''Deep Blue Lake'' with John Fischer (ReEntry, 1984) * ''Zeitverdichtung'' (Konnex, 1986) * ''Fur Den Letzten Gast'' with Bernd Koppen (Senti, 1986) * ''Tauwetter'' (Kip, 1989) * ''Introitus'' with Hans-Gunther Wauer (Kip, 1990) * ''Live at Music Academy'' with Federico Sanesi (BMM, 1993) * ''Aesthetic Direction'' (Konnex, 1994) * ''Merseburger Begegnung'' with Hans-Gunther Wauer (Kip, 1994) * ''Swiss Radio Days Volume Three'' with John Fischer (ReEntry, 1994) * ''Ta Eko Mo'' (Z.o.o., 1997) * ''So I Play'' (Kip, 1997) * ''Snijbloemen'' (hatOLOGY, 2000) * ''Pagine Gialle'' with Eckard Koltermann (hatOLOGY, 2001) * ''To Ornette - Hybrid Identity'' (hatOLOGY, 2002) * ''Fellowship'' (hatOLOGY, 2005) * ''Alchemia'' with Oles Brothers (hatOLOGY, 2007) * ''New Conception of Duo'' Hagen Studemann (Konnex, 2010) * ''Melencolia'' with Albrecht Maurer (Nemu, 2011) * ''Blue in Blue'' with Karoly Binder (BMM, 2011) * ''Bucksch'' (Konnex, 2014) * ''Elements in Candor'' with Krzysztof Dys, Michael Marcus (For Tune, 2016)


Selected compositions

*''Snijbloemen'' a composition for clarinet, vibes, bass and percussion. (2000) Recorded Hat-Hut records hatOLOGY 539 *''Die Eroberung des Schönen'' an experimental opera for 3 writers, 1 actor, 1 painter and 1 musician. (1995) WDR-Tv production. *''Der Garten'' a dance-theater-piece for 2 dancers, clarinet, bass clarinet, sound-maschine and percussion. (1994) Choreography: Claudia Lichtblau. Composition: Theo Jörgensmann/Eckard Koltermann *''Hommage á Béla Bartók'' chamber music for violin, clarinet, bass clarinet and contra bass. (1994) *''Aesthetic direction'' chamber music for violin, violoncello, clarinet, bass clarinet and percussion (1993)


Theory

Jörgensmann wrote in his book ''Kleine Ethik der Improvisation'': "To find the right balance between communication of motion and non-communication is the major part of improvised music; that communication of motion as a part of interaction in music is an opportunity to create a new structure of time, which the listener could perceive as a new kind of musical space; that the idea of jazz does not depend on a specific material and special form; that the essential aspect of jazz is the fact that jazz musicians discovered the fourth dimension of time in music (they call it swing)."''Kleine Ethik der Improvisation: vom Wesen, Zeit und Raum, Material und Spontangestalt'', by Theo Jörgensmann & Rolf-Dieter Weyer, with silhouettes of Hermann "Es" Richter


Publications

* ''Kleine Ethik der Improvisation: vom Wesen, Zeit und Raum, Material und Spontangestalt'', by Theo Jörgensmann & Rolf-Dieter Weyer, with silhouettes of Hermann "Es" Richter


Awards

* Kunstförderpreis der Stadt Aachen 1980 * Kulturpreis der Stadt
Bottrop Bottrop () is a city in west-central Germany, on the Rhine–Herne Canal, in North Rhine-Westphalia. Located in the Ruhr industrial area, Bottrop adjoins Essen, Oberhausen, Gladbeck, and Dorsten. The city had been a coal-mining and rail cent ...
1991 * Jazzpreis des
Ruhrgebiet The Ruhr ( ; german: Ruhrgebiet , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr area, sometimes Ruhr district, Ruhr region, or Ruhr valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 2,800/km ...
s - Jazz Pott 2018


References

* ''Die Klarinette'' documentary film, NDR-tv (1987) * ''Der Monolog'' a film by Reinald Schnell; WDR-tv production (1990) * '' Wagner Bilder'' a film and video-installation with a.o. Bochumer Symphoniker,
Christoph Schlingensief Christoph Maria Schlingensief (24 October 1960 – 21 August 2010) was a German theatre director, performance artist, and filmmaker. Starting as an independent underground filmmaker, Schlingensief later staged productions for theatres and festivals ...
; colour, 72 min. director: Christoph Hübner (2001/2002)


External links

*
Interview at All About Jazz

Theo Jörgensmann Quartet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jorgensmann, Theo Avant-garde jazz clarinetists Free jazz clarinetists Modal jazz clarinetists Free improvisation clarinetists German jazz clarinetists German jazz composers Male jazz composers German male composers German composers People from the Province of Westphalia People from Bottrop 1948 births Living people 21st-century clarinetists 21st-century German male musicians Klarinettenquartett Cl-4 members Clarinet Contrast members