Peter Brotzmann: Lost & Found

Lost & Found finds iconic free jazz reedman Peter Brötzmann recording both solo and live for the first time ever. Throughout the 50-plus years of music-making, his live recordings are probably the best at capturing the essence of this great man's passion; and further, hearing him without accompaniment is a direct line into his thoughts.

Previous solo efforts like this one are found on Free Music Production, a label he helped christen with Jost Gebers in 1969. As with Solo (FMP, 1976), No Nothing (FMP, 1991), Nothing To Say (FMP, 1996), Right As Rain (FMP, 2001) and 14 Love Poems (FMP, 2004) Brötzmann plays multiple instruments. Here, he adds a searing alto saxophone to tenor saxophone, b-flat clarinet and his trademarked tarogato.

This magnificent recording's signature piece might just be the stream-of-consciousness "Got A Hole In It." Brötzmann opens with an insistent tenor attack that whistles into the upper register until a sense of exhaustion is felt. He then softens his tone, firing quick twisting lines that turn into familiar snarls before ending the track with a version of Thelonious Monk's "Crepuscule with Nellie." With this musical stroke, the avatar of free jazz reaches into jazz history, simultaneously coupling his original expression with perhaps the most pioneering and unorthodox voice ever to make music.