Peter Brötzman has performed at the festival twice previously, in 1978 and 1987. So it's been a while since we were able to enjoy this German reed player who ranks as one of the architects of European free improvised jazz. His tentet, which was founded six years ago, includes top Chicago scene players, like reed player Ken Vandermark, trumpet player Joe McPhee, bass player Kent Kessler and drummer Hamid Drake. Why from Chicago? Because, from the early nineties on, the windy city has been flooded by a true wave of new jazz, with experimentation going on in many fields. Brötzmann was moved by this new musical development and the city in which it occurred. He felt at home, worked with many people and felt comfortable with the musical outlook there. His tentet (completed by reed players Mars Williams and the Norwegian Mats Gustafsson) is a group of open-minded jazz improvisers who don't balk at experiments.
