Bobby McFerrin doesn’t really need any accompaniment. He can conjure up a grooving rhythm section and several wind instruments using just his voice. Nevertheless, the American virtuoso vocalist – Don’t Worry, Be Happy – also enjoys working with a real big band. That’s easier said than done, because to do so McFerrin usually has to travel to Germany – along with trumpet players Randy Brecker and Dave Douglas, singer Patti Austin, guitarist John Abercrombie and arranger Jim McNeely. In the jazz world, Germany is one of the few countries that affords itself the luxury of professional orchestras. Bobby McFerrin most recently took advantage of that in August when he presented a swinging Chopin program with the NDR Big Band during the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival.
The fact that public-service broadcasting stations in Cologne, Hamburg and Frankfurt maintain big bands with full-time professional musicians has been acknowledged and appreciated on the other side of the Atlantic since they began inviting US stars to make guest performances. The WDR Big Band won three Grammy Awards for recordings with US musicians in 2007 and 2008, and this year it is the only orchestra from Europe to be listed among the first ten in the Critics’ Poll by Down Beat magazine.
Germany performs even better in other categories of the world-famous jazz magazine’s annual poll. Manfred Eicher was named Producer of the Year for the third time in a row, and his ECM company rose to first place among record labels. The Munich-based business has become the most important contemporary jazz label because music giants like Sony, Warner and Universal hardly publish any new recordings in the genre. You can’t make money fast with jazz. In addition to the Critics’ Poll, Eicher, 67, was also honored with the Down Beat Lifetime Achievement Award in April, which aims “to recognise the accomplishments and contributions of the jazz pioneers, entrepreneurs and clarion callers who work tirelessly to connect jazz artists with audiences around the world”.
Another label from Munich unexpectedly won a top place in this year’s Critics’ Poll. The 2010 Jazz Album of the Year by the Vijay Iyer Trio (Historicity) was published by ACT, the German company whose founder, Siegfried Loch, signed up the up-and-coming piano star last year. When asked about his “nose” for the business, the youthful-looking 70-year-old recalled Germans’ role in the history of jazz: Blue Note, the most important jazz label, was founded in New York City in 1939 by two immigrants from Berlin: Francis Wolff and Alfred Lion. When the two retired in 1969, Manfred Eicher launched ECM.
Loch and Eicher are very different. While Loch gained experience working in management positions for companies like Warner before founding ACT in 1992, graduate Classical bass player Eicher was a newcomer to the industry. In the last 40 years his company ECM has produced more than a thousand albums, which are famous for their clear sound. Eicher achieved his greatest success in 1972 when he made the acquaintance of pianist Keith Jarrett. Since then the American has recorded more than 70 albums for ECM – not only jazz, but also music by Bach, Mozart and Shostakovich. Although he never signed a contract with Eicher, Jarrett, who soon became a global star, has remained loyal to ECM. That is unusual.
Although jazz was born in America, Europe now plays a vital economic role. Decades ago, New York impresario George Wein, who organizes tours and festivals, said: “No Europe, no Jazz.” As early as 1992, Billboard reported that many US musicians would only earn half as much without performances in the Old World. America’s jazz musicians recognize that their music is appreciated more on the other side of the Atlantic than at home. While in the United States they mainly have to play in clubs where waiters serve steaks and drinks, fans in Berlin or London listen attentively in concert halls. “Europe has better wine, better food, better pianos and the best audiences,” said US pianist and band leader Carla Bley, whose albums continue to be distributed by ECM.
Additionally, there are better fees. After all, many jazz events in Scandinavia and Germany are supported with public funds. European musicians have occasionally complained that their US colleagues receive disproportionately more money than they do. Concert and festival organizers then usually remind them that there would be no money at all without the big names from America. Meanwhile, however, the picture is changing – not least because Eicher and Loch are also fostering European talent. Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek, for example, became a worldwide star with ECM. ACT also hopes German pianist Michael Wollny will celebrate similar successes to US star Vijay Iyer.////
