Globe Unity Orchestra
is a free jazz ensemble.
Globe Unity was formed in autumn 1966 with a commission received by Alexander von Schlippenbach from the Berlin Jazz Festival. It had its debut at the Berliner Philharmonie on 3 November combining Gunter Hampel's quartet with Manfred Schoof' s quintet and Peter Brötzmann's trio : Hampel (bcl,fl); Willem Breuker (bs,ss); Schoof (tp) with Gerd Dudek (ts); Alexander von Schlippenbach (p); Buschi Niebergall (b) and Jaki Liebezeit (d) on one side, Brötzmann (saxophones), Peter Kowald (b, tuba), Sven-Åke Johansson (d) on the other.
During the next years this core group was completed by other European and American musicians: Johannes Bauer (tb), Anthony Braxton (as, cl), Willem Breuker (ts), Rüdiger Carl (as, ts), Günter Christmann (tb), Gunter Hampel (bcl), Toshinori Kondo (tp), Steve Lacy (ss), Paul Lovens (drums), Paul Lytton (drums), Albert Mangelsdorff (tb), Evan Parker (ss, ts), Michel Pilz (bcl, cl, bars), Ernst-Ludwig Petrowsky (as, cl, fl), Enrico Rava (tp), Paul Rutherford (tb), Heinz Sauer (ss, ts), Bob Stewart (tuba), and Kenny Wheeler (tp).
The Orchestra has been described as providing "the most remarkable assemblies of outside jazz talent since the AACM big bands".
The final concert in the group's main lifetime was at the Chicago Jazz Festival in 1987.
The 40th anniversary line-up for the 2006 concerts and recordings were the saxophone players Evan Parker, E.-L. Petrowsky, G. Dudek, Rudi Mahall (bcl)), the trumpets Kenny Wheeler, M. Schoof, Axel Dörner, Jean-Luc Cappozzo and trombonists P. Rutherford, George Lewis, Jeb Bishop, J. Bauer) with Alexander von Schlippenbach (p), and drummers P. Lovens und P. Lytton.
From AllMusic guide:
One of the earliest large-group endeavors attempted in the European free jazz movement, the Globe Unity Orchestra was founded by German pianist Alexander Von Schlippenbach in 1966, at first for the specific purpose of performing his composition "Globe Unity," which was commissioned for the Berliner Jazztage. Initially, the 19-piece orchestra combined saxophonist Peter Brotzmann's trio and trumpeter Manfred Schoof's quintet with a phalanx of other early giants of European free jazz (mostly from Germany); they included, among many others, trombonist Albert Mangelsdorff, woodwind players Gunter Hampel and Willem Breuker, vibist Karl Berger, bassists Buschi Niebergall and Peter Kowald, and drummers Jaki Liebezeit (of the rock group Can) and Sven-Åke Johansson. The initial performance was a historic and rousingly cacophonous success, and Von Schlippenbach kept the group going, serving as its musical director for most of the next two decades. Naturally, the membership fluctuated quite a bit; by the early '70s, the group had more of a British presence, with players like guitarist Derek Bailey, saxophonist Evan Parker, and trombonists Malcolm Griffiths and Paul Rutherford, plus trumpeter Kenny Wheeler and drummer Han Bennink. Von Schlippenbach left for a bit in 1971, but returned the following year, and the group began playing outside of Germany more often beginning in 1974, which also marked the point at which more of their music was preserved on record (much of it on FMP). As the orchestra evolved, it relied less and less on structured arrangements, eventually becoming completely free. However, since a 20th-anniversary celebration and recording session, the group has mostly been silent.
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