Joachim-Ernst Berendt (20 July 1922 in Berlin – 4 February 2000 in Hamburg) was a German music journalist, author and producer specialized on jazz.

Life

Berendt's father, Ernst Berendt, was a Protestant pastor belonging to the Confessing Church who was imprisoned and died in the

Dachau concentration camp , , commandant = List of commandants , known for = , location = Upper Bavaria, Southern Germany , built by = Germany , operated by = ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) , original use = Political prison , construction ...

. J.-E. Berendt started studying Physics, but his studies were interrupted by his enlistment to the Wehrmacht. Already during the Nazi Germany years Berendt took an interest in jazz; enthusiasts in this period retreated to the underground. After World War II, he helped founding the Südwestfunk (SWF) radio network in the then French

occupation zone Germany was already de facto military occupation, occupied by the Allies of World War II, Allies from the real German Instrument of Surrender, fall of Nazi Germany in World War II on 8 May 1945 to the establishment of the East Germany on 7 Octo ...

of Germany. From 1950 until his retirement in 1987, he was in charge of the jazz department of the SWF. In 1952, the first German edition of Berendt's ''Jazz Book'' was published. It became a definitive book on jazz translated into many languages and is still being updated and reprinted. For almost 40 years, Berendt produced the jazz program of the Baden-Baden station of the German public radio and TV network ARD. His weekly TV show ''Jazztime Baden-Baden'' and his daily radio shows were pioneer work in promoting jazz in post-war Germany. Berendt later focused on world music and was one of its early promoters, founding a World Music Festival in 1965. Berendt initiated and organized many jazz festivals ( American Folk Blues Festival,

Berliner Jazztage JazzFest Berlin (also known as the Berlin Jazz Festival) is a jazz festival in Berlin, Germany. Originally called the "Berliner Jazztage" (''Berlin Jazz Days''), it was founded in 1964 in West Berlin by the Berliner Festspiele. Venues included B ...

, World Expo Osaka). He was the producer of many records, mainly for MPS Records, and supported the ''Jazz & Lyrik'' project, combining jazz performances with readings of poetry (not jazz poetry). Berendt was awarded, amongst others, the critic's award of German television, the culture award of Poland, and twice the Bundesfilmpreis. Berendt died on 4 February 2000 at the age of 77 after a traffic accident which he was involved in as a pedestrian. The accident happened in Hamburg, Berendt was on his way to a book promotion for his book ''Es gibt keinen Weg nur Gehen'' (''There Is No Way, Only Going''). Berendt's huge collection of records, books, magazines, photos and more is in the archive of the Jazzinstitut Darmstadt.

Later work

In 1983, Berendt published ''The World Is Sound: Nada Brahma'' and ''The Third Ear: On Listening to the World''. In these books Berendt investigates in listening in general, i.e. its medical, historical, physical, cultural and philosophical aspects. This turn to philosophy also saw him becoming a disciple of the Indian mystic Osho.Joachim Süss, Bhagwans Erbe, p.27

Works (selection)

* "Jazz: A Photo History." (Translated by William Odom), Schirmer Books 1979, . *Joachim-Ernst Berendt reads

Rainer Maria Rilke René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke (4 December 1875 – 29 December 1926), shortened to Rainer Maria Rilke (), was an Austrian poet and novelist. He has been acclaimed as an idiosyncratic and expressive poet, and is widely recogni ...

"Seelenlandschaften" (Landscapes of the Soul), with music from Philip Catherine, Krzysztof Zgraja,

Vladislav Sendecki Vladyslav Sendecki, known as Vladislav Sendecki, (born 1955 in Gorlice) is a Polish jazz pianist. In Polish, his name is spelled Władysław Sendecki. Since 1996 he has been permanently associated with the NDR Big Band as a composer and pianist. ...

Bibliography

* ''The Jazz Book'', Lawrence Hill & Company, New York * ''The World Is Sound: Nada Brahma: Music and the Landscape of Consciousness'', Inner Traditions * ''The Third Ear: On Listening to the World'' *''Klangräume'' (1996) *
The Return of Jazz: Joachim-Ernst Berendt and West German Cultural Change
', Andrew Wright Hurley
Berghahn Books
(2011)

References

External links