Gunnar Geisse (born 1962 in

Gießen Giessen, spelled in German (), is a town in the German state () of Hesse, capital of both the district of Giessen and the administrative region of Giessen. The population is approximately 90,000, with roughly 37,000 university students. Th ...

is a German musician, improviser, composer, and interpreter. He plays several string instruments including guitar, banjo, mandolin, and a variety of instruments from Central Asia, among them the Uzbek and the Persian dotâr. Gunnar Geisse has been living in Munich, Germany since 1985.

Musical career

Gunnar Geisse began his career in his early youth as a rock guitarist. With the end of his schooling he gravitated in the direction of jazz. Attending an

Ornette Coleman Randolph Denard Ornette Coleman (March 9, 1930 – June 11, 2015) was an American jazz saxophonist, trumpeter, violinist, and composer. He is best known as a principal founder of the free jazz genre, a term derived from his 1960 album '' Free Ja ...

concert at the Moers Jazz Festival in Germany, he saw Coleman carried onto the stage in a coffin, jump out dressed in a glittering disco outfit and play in the

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 ...

style that he helped create. After this key experience, Geisse bought toy plastic saxophones for the members of his band and threw away his original plan to play jazz standards. It was during this time that

improvisation Improvisation, often shortened to improv, is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. The origin of the word itself is in the Latin "improvisus", which literally means un-foreseen. Improvis ...

and an experimental approach became the foundation of his understanding of music. His first professional engagement was with the "New York Broadway Ensemble" with which he toured throughout Europe for the next two years. The avant-garde combo "Brother Virus" which along with Geisse included Werner Klausnitzer, Patrick Scales, and Maurice de Martin, achieved fame at the end of the 1980s. It would leave a major impression on Geisse. The band was invited to play at the Knitting Factory in New York, and was one of the first bands to play serious improvised music "live" on prime time German TV – Dagobert Lindlau's "Veranda". With "Brother Virus" Gunnar Geisse took the first steps on his own musical journey, a journey that was already apparent in his earlier development. In 1991 Enja Records released the "Brother Virus" album "Happy Hour". Geisse lost the two middle fingers on his right hand in a mountain climbing accident in 1992. With the severity of the injury and subsequent operations, it was unclear as to whether Geisse would be able to continue his playing career. It was during his hospital stays that he was able to contemplate the implications of 20th century new music compositional techniques, and in so doing discovered his deep interest in structure. He wrote his first composition during one of his hospital stays. For him to have a good aural understanding of the piece, he proceeded to overdub the tracks – some 200 in total. Out of his interest in structure, Geisse worked together with the Institute for Experimental Physics at the University of Magdeburg in the area of complexity theory, non-linear phenomena and simulation, and inserted structural models of nature into his music. The recording was released under the title "AtEM". While judging a music composition competition, Hans Zender - conductor of the SWR symphony orchestra und professor for composition at the College of Music and Arts in Frankfurt, Germany - took notice of Geisse's extraordinary music. Subsequently Gunnar Geisse received a stipend to compose at the prestigious Schloss Solitude Academy for one year. It was at Solitude that he composed "Das diskrete Jetzt" (The Discrete Now). He delved deeper into the phenomena of musical time. On a renewed search for natural structural references, he received suggestions and impetus from the Institute for Medical Psychology at the Ludwig-Maximilian University (LMU) in Munich on the theme "time and its perception". The classic compositional parameters of tempo, meter, and rhythm are pushed into the background by this broadening of perspective through a psychological perception of time. Gunnar Geisse has received various awards and stipends, including the Musical Achievement Award of the City of Munich, and the Schloss Solitude Academy's Composition Stipend.

Musical Collaborations

Gunnar Geisse has played with musicians from the three major areas of his musical life: experimental/improvised music, new music, and contemporary jazz. They include: Richard Barrett,

Marty Cook Marty Cook (born May 1947) is an American jazz trombonist. Biography Cook was born in New York (state), New York and raised in Ohio, where he began playing trombone at age seven. He played in New York in the late 1960s, recording with Marzette W ...

, Phil Durrant, Vinko Globokar,

Barry Guy Barry John Guy (born 22 April 1947, in London, England) is an English composer and double bass player. His range of interests encompasses early music, contemporary composition, jazz and improvisation, and he has worked with a wide variety of or ...

, Franz Hautzinger, Jason Kahn, Thomas Lehn, Michael Lentz, George Lewis, David Moss, Günter Müller,

Olga Neuwirth Olga Neuwirth (; born 4 August 1968) is an Austrian contemporary classical composer, visual artist and author. She is famed especially for her operas and music theater works, many of which have treated sociopolitical themes. She has emphasized an ...

, Phill Niblock, Evan Parker, Giancarlo Schiaffini, Ignaz Schick, Ed Schuller, Mike Svoboda, Gary Thomas, Wu Wei, Xu Fengxia. Gunnar Geisse has worked with or played works of Hans-Jürgen von Bose,

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and Extended technique, non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one ...

Peter Maxwell Davies Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (8 September 1934 – 14 March 2016) was an English composer and conductor, who in 2004 was made Master of the Queen's Music. As a student at both the University of Manchester and the Royal Manchester College of Music ...

Fred Frith Jeremy Webster "Fred" Frith (born 17 February 1949) is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer, and improviser. Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as a founding member of the English avant-rock group Henry ...

, Gérard Grisey,

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, Tom Johnson,

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, Anestis Logothetis, Chico Mello, Josef Anton Riedl,

Gioacchino Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. He gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote man ...

Dieter Schnebel Dieter Schnebel (14 March 1930 – 20 May 2018) was a German composer, theologian and musicologist. He composed orchestral music, chamber music, vocal music and stage works. From 1976 until his retirement in 1995, Schnebel served as professor of e ...

, James Tenney,

Kurt Weill Kurt Julian Weill (; ; March 2, 1900April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer active from the 1920s in his native country, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for hi ...

, Jörg Widmann, Christian Wolff, and Udo Zimmermann. He has also played as soloist under the direction of Stefan Asbury, Paul Daniel, Peter Eötvös, Franck Ollu, and Lothar Zagrosek with the

Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra The Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (, BRSO) is a German radio orchestra. Based in Munich, Germany, it is one of the city's four orchestras. The BRSO is one of two full-size symphony orchestras operated under the auspices of Bayerischer Rundf ...

(BR), The Bavarian State Opera Orchestra, the

Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra The Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra (German: ''Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR'') was a German radio orchestra based in Stuttgart in Germany. History The ensemble was founded in 1945 by American occupation authorities as the orches ...

(SWR), the Stuttgart City Orchestra, and the Munich City Theatre Orchestra on Gärtnerplatz. Gunnar Geisse was/is a member of the following ensembles: Brother Virus, le petit chien, ICI ensemble, Go Guitars, Berlin Jazz Composers Ensemble, Fractal Gumbo, NIE Quartett.

Discography

*2008 ICI ENSEMBLE & Olga Neuwirth, NEOS (to be released in the fall of 2008) *2007 Gunnar Geisse "MEtA", CS creative sources records *2007 ICI ENSEMBLE & George Lewis, PAO *2006 ICI ENSEMBLE "The Wisdom Of Pearls", PAO/BR *2005 GO GUITARS & SINGER PUR "Electric Seraphim", K&K Verlagsanstalt Edition Kloster Maulbronn *2003 Maurice de Martin BERLIN JAZZ COMPOSERS ENSEMBLE "Transylvaniana", CHAOS Records *2002 Marty Cook "Fractal Gumbo", TUTU records *2001 Adam Pierończyk "Digivooco" feat. Gary Thomas, PAO *2001 Michael Lentz & GO GUITARS "ENDE GUT. Sprechakte", edition selene/BR *2000 Gunnar Geisse "AtEM", NYX *2000 Drum For Your Life "Glückmann", Samara Tone *1999 le petit chien "woof.", Enja Records *1992 No Distance "different guitars", Outside Records *1991 Brother Virus "Happy Hour" ( Knitting Factory NYC), TUTU/ Enja Records *1987/88 Gunnar Geisse "ballads", MGI records/Intercord (also available as LP) With William Parker *'' Winter Sun Crying'' (NEOS Jazz, 2009 011 - with the ICI Ensemble

Literature

*Article "

Süddeutsche Zeitung The ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'' (; ), published in Munich, Bavaria, is one of the largest and most influential daily newspapers in Germany. The tone of ''SZ'' is mainly described as centre-left, liberal, social-liberal, progressive-liberal, and ...

" 6 December 2007 "Außen Glanz innen Gräben" *Article "Jazzzeit" N° 64, January/February, 2007, Sirus W. Pakzad, "Aus München?!" *Article "Süddeutsche Zeitung", 5 May 2004, Tobias Söldener, "Fremde Welten" *Article "Süddeutsche Zeitung - Münchner Kultur", 8 July 1999, Alex Rühle, "Eine Formel für musikalische Lust" *Article "Süddeutsche Zeitung - Feuilleton", 18 May 1998, Markus Scherer, "Der Rhythmus des Seins" *Article "Down Beat" 1993, Publisher: Kevin Maher, Review: "Brother Virus - Happy Hour", p. 48 *Article "JazzTimes" 1993, Publisher: Glenn Sabin, Review "Brother Virus - Happy Hour", p. 55

References

External links

Go Guitars pages on Gunnar Geisse„musica viva“ the Bavarian Radio references concerning Gunnar Geisse
{{DEFAULTSORT:Geisse, Gunnar German male musicians 1964 births Living people