Globe Unity Orchestra

German pianist Alexander Von Schlippenbach launched the Globe Unity Orchestra in 1966, marking it as one of the first ambitious large-ensemble projects to emerge from the European free jazz movement. The ensemble came together initially to present his composition “Globe Unity,” a work commissioned for the Berliner Jazztage. Its original nineteen-piece roster merged saxophonist Peter Brotzmann’s trio and trumpeter Manfred Schoof’s quintet with additional pioneers of the style, most of them German, among them trombonist Albert Mangelsdorff, woodwind specialists 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. That debut concert proved both historic and wildly cacophonous, prompting Von Schlippenbach to maintain the orchestra and to guide it musically for the greater part of the following twenty years. Personnel shifted frequently; by the early seventies a stronger British contingent had joined, including guitarist Derek Bailey, saxophonist Evan Parker, trombonists Malcolm Griffiths and Paul Rutherford, trumpeter Kenny Wheeler, and drummer Han Bennink. Von Schlippenbach stepped away briefly in 1971 yet resumed direction the next year, after which the group began appearing more regularly beyond Germany. From 1974 onward, a larger share of its activity appeared on record, much of it issued by FMP. Over time the orchestra moved away from predetermined arrangements and ultimately embraced complete freedom. Following a twentieth-anniversary concert and recording project, however, the ensemble has remained largely inactive.