Buschi Niebergall (July 18, 1938 – January 9, 1990) was a German

free jazz Free jazz, or free form in the early to mid-1970s, is a style of avant-garde jazz or an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s, when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventi ...

music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

ian. His given name was Hans-Helmut, and late in life, his friends called him Johannes. Born in the city of

Marburg Marburg (; ) is a college town, university town in the States of Germany, German federal state () of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf Districts of Germany, district (). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has ...

into a family of academics (his father was a professor of theology and temporarily rector of the

University of Marburg The Philipps University of Marburg () is a public research university located in Marburg, Germany. It was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Prote ...

), Niebergall enrolled in medical school. Playing acoustic guitar, he got in contact with other musicians and quit his studies. As

double-bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched chordophone in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions such as the octobass). It has ...

player Niebergall became co-founder of several of the first and most influential

Free Jazz Free jazz, or free form in the early to mid-1970s, is a style of avant-garde jazz or an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s, when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventi ...

formations of Germany during the mid-1960s. Gunter Hampel's quintet ''Heartplants'' and ''Voices'' by the

Manfred Schoof Manfred Schoof (born 6 April 1936) is a German jazz trumpeter. Career Schoof was born in Magdeburg, Germany. He studied music in Kassel and Cologne, where one of his teachers was the big band leader Kurt Edelhagen. Schoof performed on Edelhagen' ...

quintet are two excellent examples of this independent European free jazz development. A founding member of the

Globe Unity Orchestra The Globe Unity Orchestra is a free jazz ensemble. Globe Unity was formed in autumn 1966 with a commission received by Alexander von Schlippenbach from the Berlin Jazz Festival. It had its debut at the Berliner Philharmonie on 3 November combinin ...

since 1966, Niebergall collaborated with many musicians playing freely improvised music, including

Peter Brötzmann Peter Brötzmann (6 March 1941 – 22 June 2023) was a German jazz saxophonist and clarinetist regarded as a central and pioneering figure in European free jazz. Throughout his career, he released over fifty albums as a bandleader. Amongst his m ...

Don Cherry Donald Stewart Cherry (born February 5, 1934) is a Canadian former ice hockey player, coach, and television commentator. He played one game in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Boston Bruins. After concluding a playing career in the A ...

Alfred Harth Alfred Harth, now known as Alfred 23 Harth or A23H, is a German multimedia artist, band leader, multi-instrumentalist musician, and composer who creatively mixes genres. Career Harth founded a free improvisation band, Just Music (band), Just M ...

Evan Parker Evan Shaw Parker (born 5 April 1944) is a British tenor and soprano saxophone player who plays free improvisation. Recording and performing prolifically with many collaborators, Parker was a pivotal figure in the development of European free ja ...

Alexander von Schlippenbach Alexander von Schlippenbach (born 7 April 1938) is a German jazz pianist and composer. He came to prominence in the 1960s playing free jazz in a trio with saxophonist Evan Parker and drummer Paul Lovens, and as a member of the Globe Unity Orch ...

Irène Schweizer Irène Schweizer (2 June 1941 – 16 July 2024) was a Swiss jazz and free improvising pianist. Life and career Schweizer was born in Schaffhausen, Switzerland on 2 June 1941. She performed and recorded numerous solo piano performances as well as ...

, and

John Tchicai John Martin Tchicai ( ; 28 April 1936 – 8 October 2012) was a Danish free jazz saxophonist and composer. Biography Tchicai was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, to a Danish mother and a Congolese father. The family moved to Aarhus, where he s ...

. During the early 1970s he played in

Albert Mangelsdorff Albert Mangelsdorff (September 5, 1928 – July 25, 2005) was a German jazz trombonist. Working mainly in free jazz, he was an innovator in multiphonics. Early life Mangelsdorff was born in Frankfurt on September 5, 1928, as the son of the book ...

's various quartets and quintets. After 1980 he chose a life in isolation in Frankfurt a.M., with the exception of occasional stints within a "Jazz und Lyrik" project.

Discography

As co-leader

* ''Listen/Hear'' (Ogun, 1975

977 Year 977 ( CMLXXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * May – Boris II, dethroned emperor (''tsar'') of Bulgaria, and his brother Roman manage to escape from captivity in Const ...

with NICRA * ''

Open Open or OPEN may refer to: Music * Open (band), Australian pop/rock band * The Open (band), English indie rock band * ''Open'' (Blues Image album), 1969 * ''Open'' (Gerd Dudek, Buschi Niebergall, and Edward Vesala album), 1979 * ''Open'' (Go ...

'' (FMP, 1977

979 Year 979 (Roman numerals, CMLXXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. It was the 979th year of the Common Era and the Anno Domini designation, the 979th year of the 1st millennium, the 79th year of the 10th century, ...

with

Gerd Dudek Gerhard Rochus "Gerd" Dudek (28 September 1938 – 3 November 2022) was a German jazz Tenor saxophone, tenor and Soprano saxophone, soprano saxophonist, clarinetist and flautist. Dudek studied clarinet privately and attended music school in the ...

and

Edward Vesala Edward Vesala (15 February 1945 – 4 December 1999), born Martti Vesala, was a Finnish avant-garde jazz drummer. Career Born in Mäntyharju, he began playing jazz and rock in the 1960s, in such bands as Blues Section and Apollo. In the 1970s ...

* ''Celeste'' (Trion, 1978

with

Michel Pilz Michel Pilz (28 October 1945 – 2 November 2023) was a German jazz clarinetist. Pilz was a clarinet student at the Luxembourg Conservatory in the mid-1960s. He then joined Manfred Schoof's ensemble in 1968, an association he would maintain in ...

and Uwe Schmitt

As sideman

With

* '' Machine Gun'' (Brö, 1968) * '' Fuck de Boere'' (Atavistic, 1968 001 * ''

Nipples The nipple is a raised region of tissue on the surface of the breast from which, in lactating females, milk from the mammary gland leaves the body through the lactiferous ducts to nurse an infant. The milk can flow through the nipple passively, ...

'' (Calig, 1969) * ''More Nipples'' (Atavistic, 1969

003 003, O03, 0O3, OO3 may refer to: * 003, former emergency telephone number for the Norwegian ambulance service (until 1986) * 1990 OO3, the asteroid 6131 Towen * OO3 gauge model railway * ''O03 (O2)'' and other related blood type alleles in the AB ...

* ''Born Free: The 12th German Jazz Festival'' (Scout, 1970) one track With

Marion Brown Marion Brown (September 8, 1931 – October 18, 2010) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, composer, writer, visual artist, and ethnomusicologist. He was a member of the avant-garde jazz scene in New York City during the 1960s, playing alongsi ...

* ''Gesprächsfetzen'' (Calig, 1968) With the

* ''Globe Unity 67 & 70'' (Atavistic, 1967 and 1970 001 * ''Live in Wuppertal'' (FMP, 1973) * ''For Example — Workshop Freie Musik 1969-1978'' (FMP, 1973

978 Year 978 ( CMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Battle of Pankaleia: Rebel forces under General Bardas Skleros are defeated by the Byzantine army loyal to Emper ...

one track * ''Globe Unity '74: Der Alte Mann Bricht...sein Schweigen'' (FMP, 1974) * ''Bavarian Calypso/Goodbye'' (FMP, 1975) * ''Pearls'' (FMP, 1975) * ''Jahrmarkt/Local Fair'' (Po Torch, 1975 and 1976

* ''Improvisations'' (Japo, 1977

* ''Compositions'' (Japo, 1979

980 Year 980 ( CMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Peace is concluded between Emperor Otto II (the Red) and King Lothair III (or Lothair IV) at Margut, ending the Franco-Germa ...

With

* ''Globe Unity'' (SABA, 1966

967 Year 967 ( CMLXVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Spring – Emperor Otto I (the Great) calls for a council at Rome, to present the new government under Pope John XIII. He ...

* ''The Living Music'' (Quasar, 1969) With

* ''Voices'' (CBS, 1966) * ''Ozvěny Jazzového Festivalu Praha 1966 - Lucerna'' (Supraphon, 1966

one track * ''The Early Quintet'' (FMP, 1966 and 1967

* ''Manfred Schoof Sextet'' (Wergo, 1967) * ''Jazz Jamboree 67 Vol. 1'' (Muxa, 1967

021 069 is: * in Brazil, the telephone area code for the city of Rio de Janeiro and surrounding cities (Greater Rio de Janeiro) * in China, the telephone area code for the city of Shanghai. * in Indonesia, the area code for the city of Jakarta and su ...

* '' European Echoes'' (FMP, 1969) With Michael Sell * ''Innovationen für 10 Instrumente'' (MISP, 1980) * ''Jugoslawische Quartette'' (MISP, 1981

982 Year 982 ( CMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Summer – Emperor Otto II (the Red) assembles an imperial expeditionary force at Taranto, and proceeds along the gulf coas ...

With others * ''Heartplants'' - Gunter Hampel (SABA, 1965) * ''The Numbered Improvisations'' -

Bernd Alois Zimmermann Bernd Alois Zimmermann (20 March 1918 – 10 August 1970) was a German composer. He is perhaps best known for his opera ''Die Soldaten'', which is regarded as one of the most important German operas of the 20th century, after those of Berg. Hi ...

(Tratto, 1966

969 Year 969 ( CMLXIX) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar, the 969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 1st millennium, the 69th year of the 10th century, and the 10th ...

* ''International Holy Hill Jazz Meeting 1969'' - various artists (Meno, 1969) * '' Actions'' -

and

Krzysztof Penderecki Krzysztof Eugeniusz Penderecki (; 23 November 1933 – 29 March 2020) was a Polish composer and conductor. His best-known works include '' Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima'', Symphony No. 3, his '' St Luke Passion'', '' Polish Requiem'', '' ...

(Philips, 1971) * ''Birds of Underground'' -

(MPS, 1972

973 Year 973 ( CMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Spring – The Byzantine army, led by General Melias ( Domestic of the Schools in the East), continues the op ...

* ''

Willi the Pig ''Willi the Pig: Live at the Willisau Jazz Festival'' is a live album by the John Tchicai–Irène Schweizer Group, led by saxophonist Tchicai and pianist Schweizer, who are joined by bassist Buschi Niebergall, and drummer Makaya Ntshoko. Featuring ...

'' -

and

(Willisau Live, 1975

976 Year 976 ( CMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * January 10 – Emperor John I Tzimiskes dies at Constantinople, after returning from a second campaign against ...

* ''Atmospheric Conditions Permitting'' - Jazzensemble Des Hessischen Rundfunks (ECM, 1978

995 Year 995 (Roman numerals, CMXCV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Japan * 17 May - Fujiwara no Michitaka (imperial regent) dies. * 3 June: Fujiwara no Michikane gains power and becomes Rege ...

* ''Ballade An Der Ruhr'' - Jan Wallgren/Bengt Ernryd Group (Dragon, 1979

* ''Jamabiko'' - Michel Pilz Quartett (MP, 1983

984 Year 984 ( CMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Spring – German boy-king Otto III (4 years old) is seized by the deposed Henry II, Duke of Bavaria ("the Wrangler"), wh ...

Source:

References

External links

Niebergall's FMP releases
{{DEFAULTSORT:Niebergall, Buschi Avant-garde jazz musicians German jazz double-bassists German male double-bassists People from Marburg 1938 births 1990 deaths 20th-century German musicians 20th-century double-bassists 20th-century German male musicians German male jazz musicians Globe Unity Orchestra members