Christian Broecking facts for kids

Christian Broecking (born June 5, 1957 – died February 2, 2021) was a German expert who studied music and society. He was a music critic, writer, editor, and radio producer. He taught at universities and wrote many books about African-American music. He also interviewed famous jazz musicians like Max Roach, Herbie Hancock, Ornette Coleman, Sonny Rolins, Gregory Porter and Irène Schweitzer.

Who Was Christian Broecking?

Christian Broecking was born in Flensburg, a city in northern Germany. He went to the Free University of Berlin to study sociology and musicology. Sociology is the study of how people live together in groups and societies. Musicology is the study of music, its history, and how it's made. He earned his Ph.D., which is a very high university degree. His Ph.D. research looked at how African-American jazz music was important to society between 1992 and 2007. For his research, Broecking talked to African-American jazz musicians about their experiences and challenges.

A Career in Music and Writing

Christian Broecking helped start Berlin Jazz Radio in 1994 and worked there until 1998. He also worked for Klassik Radio Frankfurt. He was part of the jury for the Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik, a German award for music recordings. He also served on the jury for the 11th Annual Jazz Critics Poll in 2017.

His books like Der Marsalis Faktor, Respect!, Black Codes, and Jeder Ton eine Rettungsstation were very popular. He wrote articles about music and culture for many scholarly journals. Since 1995, he also created radio shows about jazz and African-American culture for German public radio. He taught music history and American studies at universities in Heidelberg, Frankfurt, Berlin and Oldenburg.

Important Books and Projects

In 2004, Broecking started his own publishing company called Broecking Verlag. Many of his books were published there. In 2012, he put together an exhibition of his photographs of jazz artists. This exhibition was called "Visualizing Respect" and featured famous people like Stanley Crouch, Dave Brubeck, and Ornette Coleman. He also published a book with the same title. His 2018 book, Respect! The history of Fire Music, had an introduction written by the American scholar and composer George E. Lewis.

Broecking also wrote for German newspapers and magazines. These included Süddeutsche Zeitung, Berliner Zeitung, taz, and Jazz thing magazine. He was also a writer for the online music section of Die Zeit. He taught music history in Switzerland. In 2007, he took part in a big international conference about jazz at Columbia University. He also organized international conferences at the Heidelberg Center for American Studies. These conferences discussed how jazz is important to society and how it became an art form.

Later Work and Legacy

From 2013 to 2016, Broecking worked on his last major book. It was a biography of the Swiss pianist and activist Irène Schweizer. This book explored her life and the role of jazz in Europe. It was first published in German and then in English. The English title is This uncontainable feeling of freedom: Irene Schweizer, European jazz, and the politics of improvisation.

Christian Broecking passed away on February 2, 2021, in Berlin after a long illness.

Christian Broecking's Books

• Christian Broecking, Der Marsalis-Faktor. Oreos, Waakirchen-Schaftlach 1995, ISBN: 3-923657-48-X
• Christian Broecking, Respekt!. Verbrecher, Berlin 2004, ISBN: 3-935843-38-0
• Christian Broecking, Black Codes. Verbrecher, Berlin 2005, ISBN: 3-935843-60-7
• Christian Broecking, Jeder Ton eine Rettungsstation. Verbrecher, Berlin 2007, ISBN: 978-3-935843-85-0
• Christian Broecking, Ornette Coleman - Klang der Freiheit. Creative People Books / Broecking Verlag Berlin 2010, ISBN: 978-3-938763-13-1
• Christian Broecking, Herbie Hancock - Interviews. Creative People Books / Broecking Verlag Berlin 2010, ISBN: 978-3-938763-12-4
• Christian Broecking, Sonny Rollins - Improvisation und Protest. Creative People Books / Broecking Verlag Berlin 2010, ISBN: 978-3-938763-29-2
• Christian Broecking, Respekt! Die Geschichte der Fire Music. Verbrecher, Berlin 2011, ISBN: 978-3-940426-67-3.
• Christian Broecking, Respekt! Die Geschichte der Fire Music. Creative People Books, Berlin 2018, ISBN: 978-3-938763-47-6.
• Christian Broecking, Visualizing Respect. Jazzfotografien / Jazz Photography. Creative People Books, Berlin 2012, ISBN: 978-3-938763-33-9.
• Christian Broecking, Der Marsalis-Komplex. Studien zur gesellschaftlichen Relevanz des afroamerikanischen Jazz. Creative People Books, Berlin 2014, ISBN: 978-3-938763-36-0.
• Christian Broecking, Gregory Porter. Jazz, Gospel & Soul. Creative People Books, Berlin 2015, ISBN: 978-3-938763-42-1.
• Christian Broecking, Dieses unbändige Gefühl der Freiheit. Irène Schweizer - Jazz, Avantgarde, Politik. Creative People Books, Berlin 2016, ISBN: 978-3-938763-44-5. English edition: This uncontainable feeling of freedom: Irene Schweizer, European jazz, and the politics of improvisation, translated from the German by Jeb Bishop, Broecking Verlag, Berlin, 2021, ISBN: 978-3-938763-52-0.