Jazz in Germany - The 1990s To The Present

The 1990s To The Present

In 1992, the jazz researcher Ekkehard Jost discerned two basic trends of the jazz scene: one, jazz as a repertoire music and two, jazz in stable and dynamic development. The latter survives through musical practice and is based on the origins of jazz. In the 1990s, even more than in the 1980s, the marketing of music styles dominated the music business, and jazz in particular. Helge Schneider, a well-known entertainer, knew how to integrate jazz into his own comedic art. Another well-known German jazz musician and entertainer is Götz Alsmann, as well as the successful trumpeter Till Brönner. A number of other jazz musicians became established through entertainment-jazz in the scene as well. However, these are not the only musicians who work as jazz musicians sometimes under difficult conditions in Germany, and who are responsible for creating such diverse styles of jazz.

In addition, between East and West Germany, an alignment of styles occurred, much to the detriment of the East German jazz culture. Over time, elements of jazz were increasingly integrated with other styles such as hip-hop, later Drum 'n' Bass and others, most prominently by the internationally successful duo Tab Two. These new styles of fusion were assessed as Acid Jazz or as Nu jazz. Today jazz elements can be found in a great variety of musical styles, such as German Hip-Hop, House, Drum 'n' Bass, dance music, and many others.

Jazz is in low demand on German television. Jazz clubs and other venues still must face the fact that the number of visitors is often difficult to predict and highly variable. Often, younger audiences stay away. Even for tax reasons (so-called "Ausländersteuer" i.e. foreigner tax), the major international musicians, in particular the modern creative musicians, who play in Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands, Italy and France, increasingly skip Germany on their routes and tours.

Although there are many more jazz musicians in Germany now than in the 1960s and 1970s, it is much easier for the public to form their own individual opinion of the jazz musicians and their music because of electronic media. Traditional opinion makers like public broadcasters' jazz editors are losing influence.

It is uncertain in which direction German Jazz will move in the future. The situation of Germany's most renowned jazz festival (JazzFest Berlin) is perhaps symptomatic for this: since the 1990s it has been regularly criticised, and its artistic directors fell back on highly elaborate concepts without a clear artistic line being visible.

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