“Five years ago, musicologist, sociologist and music critic Christian Broecking passed away. As a jazz researcher, author, critic and mediator, he had a decisive influence on German-language jazz discourse for decades. His work is characterised by analytical acuity, historical depth and a particular focus on the aesthetic, social and political dimensions of improvised music. Christian Broecking understood jazz not only as a musical practice, but also as a cultural resonance space – a place of experience, attitude and social debate.
In his interviews, especially with Black jazz musicians, he succeeded impressively in making their voices heard and at the same time giving them weight. Paying them respect and situating their work socially, politically and aesthetically was one of the central concerns of his thinking and actions. Broecking repeatedly insisted that jazz cannot be understood without acknowledging its roots in Black or Afro-diasporic culture – and that it is not enough to celebrate aesthetic forms if the cultural, political and often violent contexts of their emergence remain hidden.
Christian Broecking’s work is of utmost importance to the discourse on jazz. For me personally, there are few authors who have influenced my own engagement with jazz and improvisation in a comparable way. I am very grateful that I had the opportunity to meet Christian Broecking in person and to discuss shared questions with him directly. His death has deeply saddened me.
I am therefore all the more delighted to be able to dedicate an evening of remembrance and reflection on his work to Christian Broecking, together with his wife, jazz journalist Maxi Broecking. Using selected examples from his interviews, we will discuss central themes of his thinking and shed light on his comprehensive view of creative music. His daughters will also be present.
Another guest is Rainer Kern, founder and artistic director of the Enjoy Jazz Festival. He was closely associated with Christian Broecking and organised symposia with him as part of the festival and in collaboration with the Heidelberg Center for American Studies. He also established the Christian Broecking Lecture and founded the Christian Broecking Award, worth 10.000 euros, which is given each year to outstanding artists who are socially and politically engaged in their work and academic research.
As a long-time friend of Christian and Maxi Broecking, composer, musicologist, computer installation artist and trombonist George Lewis will also contribute a video message in which he discusses Christian Broecking’s significance for the discourse on jazz. Lewis emphasises that in his interviews, Christian Broecking ‘did not shy away from challenging his interlocutors to ask themselves the most difficult questions – questions about aesthetics, politics, identity and, what is particularly urgent today, the future of music.’”
(Mathias Maschat, exploratorium berlin)
Biography
“Five years ago, musicologist, sociologist and music critic Christian Broecking passed away. As a jazz researcher, author, critic and mediator, he had a decisive influence on German-language jazz discourse for decades. His work is characterised by analytical acuity, historical depth and a particular focus on the aesthetic, social and political dimensions of improvised music. Christian Broecking understood jazz not only as a musical practice, but also as a cultural resonance space – a place of experience, attitude and social debate.
In his interviews, especially with Black jazz musicians, he succeeded impressively in making their voices heard and at the same time giving them weight. Paying them respect and situating their work socially, politically and aesthetically was one of the central concerns of his thinking and actions. Broecking repeatedly insisted that jazz cannot be understood without acknowledging its roots in Black or Afro-diasporic culture – and that it is not enough to celebrate aesthetic forms if the cultural, political and often violent contexts of their emergence remain hidden.
Christian Broecking’s work is of utmost importance to the discourse on jazz. For me personally, there are few authors who have influenced my own engagement with jazz and improvisation in a comparable way. I am very grateful that I had the opportunity to meet Christian Broecking in person and to discuss shared questions with him directly. His death has deeply saddened me.
I am therefore all the more delighted to be able to dedicate an evening of remembrance and reflection on his work to Christian Broecking, together with his wife, jazz journalist Maxi Broecking. Using selected examples from his interviews, we will discuss central themes of his thinking and shed light on his comprehensive view of creative music. His daughters will also be present.
As a long-time friend of Christian and Maxi Broecking, composer, musicologist, computer installation artist and trombonist George Lewis will also contribute a video message in which he discusses Christian Broecking’s significance for the discourse on jazz. Lewis emphasises that in his interviews, Christian Broecking ‘did not shy away from challenging his interlocutors to ask themselves the most difficult questions – questions about aesthetics, politics, identity and, what is particularly urgent today, the future of music.’”
Biography
Christian Broecking (born 5 June 1957 in Flensburg; died 2 February 2021 in Berlin) was a German sociologist, musicologist, music critic, author, publisher and radio producer who had a lasting influence on jazz discourse in German-speaking countries for decades. Broecking studied sociology, musicology and journalism at the Free University of Berlin and received his PhD from the Technical University of Berlin in 2011 with a dissertation on the social relevance of African-American jazz (Der Marsalis-Komplex). He was programme director at Jazz Radio Berlin for many years (1994–1998), later editor-in-chief at Klassik Radio Frankfurt (2000–2003), and worked as a radio author for broadcasters such as HR and Deutschlandfunk. As a music journalist, he wrote regularly for newspapers and magazines, including taz, Berliner Zeitung, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Die Zeit and Jazzthing. Broecking also held teaching positions and guest lectureships at various colleges and universities in Germany and Switzerland, including in Berlin, Heidelberg, Frankfurt, Oldenburg and at the Winterthur Institute for Contemporary Music. He was also active as a lecturer, juror (including for the German Record Critics’ Award) and organiser, and curated international conferences on the social relevance of jazz. In 2004, he founded Broecking Verlag in Berlin, which published books on jazz musicians and improvised music, including interview volumes with personalities such as Herbie Hancock, Ornette Coleman and Sonny Rollins. As an editor, author and interviewer, Broecking left behind an extensive body of work that reflects on jazz as an aesthetic, social and political practice, always with a special focus on respect, cultural contexts and the African American experience. Christian Broecking’s work is characterised by a consistent combination of musical analysis, socio-cultural reflection and political sensitivity. His interviews are not only biographical documents, but also offer deep insights into issues of identity, racism, cultural recognition and aesthetic freedom – always with the aim of making voices heard that are easily overlooked in the mainstream. Christian Broecking died on 2 February 2021 in Berlin. He was 63 years old.
Obituaries
taz / Jörg Sundermeier
Die Zeit / Ulrich Stock
Jazzthing / Martin Laurentius
Selected Publications (Books)
Der Marsalis-Faktor. Gespräche zur afroamerikanischen Kultur in den 90er Jahren, Oreos, 1995.
Respekt!, Verbrecher Verlag, Berlin 2004
Black Codes, Verbrecher Verlag, Berlin 2005
Jeder Ton eine Rettungsstation, Verbrecher Verlag, Berlin 2007
Ornette Coleman – Klang der Freiheit, Creative People Books / Broecking Verlag, Berlin 2010
Herbie Hancock – Interviews, Creative People Books / Broecking Verlag, Berlin 2010
Sonny Rollins – Improvisation und Protest, Creative People Books / Broecking Verlag, Berlin 2010
Respekt! Die Geschichte der Fire Music (Neuausgabe mit aktualisiertem Nachwort), Verbrecher Verlag, Berlin 2011
Visualizing Respect – Jazzfotografien / Jazz Photography, Creative People Books, Berlin 2012
Der Marsalis-Komplex. Studien zur gesellschaftlichen Relevanz des afroamerikanischen Jazz zwischen 1992 und 2007 (Dissertation), Broecking Verlag, Berlin 2014
Gregory Porter. Jazz, Gospel & Soul, Creative People Books, Berlin 2015
Dieses unbändige Gefühl der Freiheit. Irène Schweizer – Jazz, Avantgarde, Politik, Creative People Books, Berlin 2016; engl. Übersetzung This Uncontainable Feeling of Freedom: Irène Schweizer, European Jazz, and the Politics of Improvisation, Broecking Verlag, Berlin 2021
