Peter Kowald

A pioneering figure in avant-garde improvisation, German bassist and tuba player Peter Kowald maintained a long association with the Globe Unity Orchestra while appearing on sessions and concerts alongside leading European and American free musicians. He took up the bass in 1960; by 1962 he had begun spending extended time at Peter Brötzmann’s studio, setting aside other pursuits to rehearse material by Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, and Ornette Coleman with a rotating cast of drummers and to study the works of John Cage and Karlheinz Stockhausen. Over subsequent decades the pair continued to record in occasional duo settings and in the Cooperative Trio with Andrew Cyrille. Kowald’s first professional engagement came in 1966 when Carla Bley and Michael Mantler hired him for their European tour that also featured Brötzmann. Shortly afterward he began working with additional German players and entered the Globe Unity Orchestra, remaining for twelve years and ten albums during which he composed, conducted, and occasionally shared leadership duties with Alexander von Schlippenbach. While visiting London he joined the Pierre Favre/Irène Schweizer quartet, an experience that opened further collaborations across Europe. Between 1973 and 1978, the year he left the orchestra, Kowald performed regularly in the Schlippenbach Trio alongside Evan Parker and Paul Lovens. Two years later he joined the London Jazz Composers’ Orchestra, staying until 1985. Throughout his career Kowald pursued projects that united music with dance, poetry, and visual art; he also documented numerous duo encounters with musicians from Europe, Japan, and the United States, among them bass pairings with Barre Phillips, Joëlle Léandre, and Barry Guy. During a period of residence in Greece he recorded with Floros Floridis and Ilias Papadopoulos. Solo bass statements include the album Was Da Ist, drawn from a self-described year spent at home that concluded in May 1995. Additional ensembles featured Fred Anderson, Wadada Leo Smith, and Gunter Sommer. An avid driver, Kowald undertook a solo U.S. tour by station wagon in 2000; afterward he settled in New York City and became deeply engaged with its creative-music community. In late September 2002, following a Brooklyn performance, he suffered a fatal heart attack at the apartment of fellow bassist William Parker.