Live in Berlin ‘71

This two-CD set reissues three vinyl LPs: Couscouss de la Mauresque, Elements, and The End, all recorded in late August 1971 by Brötzmann, pianist Fred Van Hove, and drummer Han Bennink, with trombonist Albert Mangelsdorff. The music is flows from duo passages of surprising sensitivity (until Bennink decides he wants to go Dada-anarchist and strike everything within reach) to short but potent moments of four-man clatter, clang and blare. The balance between beauty and brutality puts all the players, Brötzmann especially, in an extremely flattering light — he has a reputation as a human hurricane, but his bandmates often talk about how closely he listens to them, and that’s evident here. No schtick, no bluster, no clichés: this is pure music, real-time four-way communication at its finest.