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 ...
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 ...
in
Essen
Essen () is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Dortmund, as well as ...
. 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
Barre Phillips (October 27, 1934 – December 28, 2024) was an American jazz double bass, bassist. A professional musician since 1960, he moved to New York City in 1962, then to Europe in 1967. From 1972 he was based in southern France, where in ...
,
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 (saxophoni ...
, John Lindberg,
Charlie Mariano
Carmine Ugo Mariano (November 12, 1923 – June 16, 2009) was an American jazz saxophone, saxophonist who focused on the alto saxophone, alto and soprano saxophone. He occasionally performed and recorded on flute and nadaswaram as well.
Biogra ...
,
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
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
Wilber Morris recorded widely, and performed with su ...
,
Eric Vloeimans
Eric Vloeimans (; born 24 March 1963) is a Dutch musician, songwriter, and record producer.
Biography
Although he studied classical music as a child, he became interested in jazz at the Rotterdam Academy of Music. After graduating in 1988, he ...
,
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
Vincent Chancey (born February 4, 1950) is an American jazz hornist.
Early life and education
Chancey was born and raised in Chicago. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in music from the SIUC School of Music in 1973 and studied under Julius W ...
,
Kenny Wheeler
Kenneth Vincent John Wheeler, Order of Canada, 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 w ...
,
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, penny whistle, ...
and
Lee Konitz
Leon "Lee" Konitz (October 13, 1927 – April 15, 2020) was an American jazz Alto saxophone, alto saxophonist and composer.
He performed successfully in a wide range of jazz styles, including bebop, cool jazz, and avant-garde jazz. Konitz's ass ...
.
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 Len ...
, 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.
A 1979 concert was released on MPS Records as ''You Better Fly Away''. It features John Carter, Perry Robinson, Gianluigi Trovesi, Bernd Konrad, Theo Jörgensmann ...
(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 Len ...
,
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, penny whistle, ...
. 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 ''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 most often in avant-garde jazz and third stream. An award-winning composer, Koglmann has performed or recorded with Lee Konitz, Paul ...
'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, 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 ...
. 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 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 festival. Every year it features roughly 3,000 ar ...
(1999 and 2003). In addition he has played with the Polish twins
Marcin Oles and
Bartlomiej Oles 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 Scottish 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, Scotland, a ...
,
Dominic Lash
Dominic Lash (born 18 January 1980 in Cambridge, England) is a Bristol based double bassist and film theorist. He was formerly a central figure in the musicians' collective Oxford Improvisers. Important long-term musical collaborators include A ...
,
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)
* ''Axiomatic 473’ Exploration'', with Alessandro Ciccarelli and Lorenzo Santoro
Plus Timbre 2024)
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
Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants.
Aachen is locat ...
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 area, Ruhr industrial area, Bottrop adjoins Essen, Oberhausen, Gladbeck, and Dorsten. The city had been a coal-mining and ...
1991
* Jazzpreis des
Ruhrgebiet
The Ruhr ( ; , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr Area, sometimes Ruhr District, Ruhr Region, or Ruhr Valley, is a wikt:polycentric, polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 1,160/k ...
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 festiva ...
; colour, 72 min. director: Christoph Hübner (2001/2002)
External links
*
Interview at All About JazzTheo Jörgensmann Quartet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jorgensmann, Theo
1948 births
Avant-garde jazz clarinetists
Free jazz clarinetists
Modal jazz clarinetists
Free improvisation clarinetists
German jazz clarinetists
German jazz composers
German male jazz composers
German composers
People from the Province of Westphalia
People from Bottrop
Living people
21st-century German clarinetists
21st-century German male musicians
Klarinettenquartett Cl-4 members
Clarinet Contrast members