Through his songs and poems, Wolf Biermann criticized the state and party system of the GDR more radically than any other poet. Beginning in 1965, the GDR leadership attempted to silence Wolf Biermann by imposing a total ban on his performances and publications. But the poet did not yield; his sharp criticism ultimately led to his expatriation in November 1976.
Wolf Biermann and the ZentralQuartett have known each other since the 1970s and have been friends and companions ever since.
The ZENTRALQUARTETT was founded in the early 1970s in the GDR and set new standards in the field of free jazz. The musicians conveyed the rebellion for freedom that Wolf Biermann embodied in his songs through their improvisations and compositions: “The quartet personified what made ‘free’ jazz in the GDR so special: the spontaneous and the structured, the hymnal and the elegiac, the outburst and the new beginning.” (MDR Figaro). The ironic allusion to the SED’s governing body, the Central Committee, through the name ZENTRALQUARTETT, also reveals another side: This jazz was not only an expression of resistance and nonconformity, but also an expression of a kind of humor that is likely lacking in all dictatorships—and is therefore feared by those in power.
