Search - Peter Brotzmann :: Fuck De Boere (1968-70)

"De Boere" are still around all over this planet>>>

R. Hutchinson | a world ruled by fossil fuels and fossil minds | 10/30/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"F**K DE BOERE is a long-lost 36:33 concert recording of the Brotzmann Group from March 22, 1970 in Frankfurt, never before available on vinyl, plastic, or otherwise. Also included is a never before heard 17:34 live recording of "Machine Gun" from March 1968, preceding the infamous May 1968 recordings previously issued on FMP. A great release in Atavistic's Unheard Music series!



It's interesting to hear the early "take" of "Machine Gun" -- the structure is the same, but it isn't as tight, it doesn't have the jackhammer force of the well-known, slightly later version. "F**k de Boere" is performed by a tentet, and is in the same ballpark as "Machine Gun" relative to all the other music in the universe, but the line-up differs significantly. Brotzmann is joined by Evan Parker and Willem Breuker on sax, FOUR trombones, including Paul Rutherford, Han Bennink on drums, Fred van Hove on piano, and Derek Bailey on guitar. Bailey is a a major presence here (unlike on "Nipples), which may be a reason for some to check out "F**k de Boere," and the guitar and trombones create a unique timbre. There is a solo interlude for Bennink on percussion and vocals, sounding a bit like a manical Toshiro Mifune (the actor from the Kurosawa films). Overall, this 1970 performance, though intense in places, is rather loose and open, not tight and overpowering like the historic MACHINE GUN.



Brotz explains in the liner notes (in his inimitable woodcut all-caps block letters) how he met Johnny Dyani, the South African bass player, to whom he dedicated the piece. Dyani was a good storyteller, and all his stories of life under apartheid ended in the exclamation "F**k de Boere"! Brotz closes his February 2001 notes with this new dedication:



JOHNNY, WHEREVER YOU ARE, "DE BOERE" ARE STILL AROUND ALL OVER THIS PLANET, THEY WILL NEVER DIE OUT AND WE HAVE TO CONTINUE TO FIGHT AND F**K THEM.""