Latest News
KKI Music Exchange at the beginning of summer on June 21
at the University of the Arts Bremen
On Wednesday, June 21, 2023, our next Music Exchange will take place in the foyer of the University of the Arts (Department of Music, Dechanatstrasse 13-15). Just in time for the beginning of summer, we will offer doubles from the Klaus Kuhnke Institute (sound and image carriers, books, magazines, etc.) for sale. Between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. you can make bargains and buy great music in sound, picture and writing - mainly popular music, but also early, classical and new music, as well as music of the world. The Music Exchange is open to all, that is HfK members and external guests.
The Bremen Archives Working Group (including the KKI)
receives the 2023 Recognition Award from the Wittheit
The KKI is part of the Bremen Archives Working Group, which brings together 40 archives from Bremen and Bremerhaven. On May 2, the Wittheit zu Bremen, a scientific society of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, awarded the Bremen Archives Working Group a recognition prize for local history research, more precisely for "securing and processing important Bremen sources as well as successful public relations work". We are pleased together with the colleagues of the working group and take the award as an incentive for a committed continuation of the cooperation. We would also like to thank Sigrid Dauks, Director of the University Archives of the University of Bremen, for accepting the award and for her speech of thanks. More information about the working group can be found here: https://www.bremer-archive.de
KKI founder Peter Schulze gives up the artistic direction
of the Bremen trade fair jazzahead!
With a warm embrace Claudia Roth (the German Minister of State for Culture and Media) said goodbye to Peter Schulze (the Spiritus Rector of the KKI) from his position as Artistic Director of the Bremen trade fair jazzahead!. He shared this leadership for many years with Prof. Ulrich Beckerhoff, who also stepped down to pass on the artistic direction to Götz Bühler.
The Jazz Institute Darmstadt as guest at KKI
In the context of the Bremen trade fair jazzahead! the dear and esteemed colleagues from the Jazz Institute Darmstadt (Germany) have visited us. With Arndt Weidler and Marie Härtling we talked shop and indulged in culinary and musical delights. Long live jazz and the "international understanding" power of archival expertise!
We are present at the jazzahead!... with a gift and a presentation
The Bremen trade fair jazzahead! is coming up and we are of course there again. This time we had an extra giveaway produced that promotes the KKI with the slogan "Where Jazz Is Popular", because of course jazz is popular with us! In addition, we have developed an animated presentation together with the jazz department of the University of the Arts Bremen, which will be shown during the Clubnight on Friday (28.04.) in the jazz club or the Mensa of the UA Bremen. The show starts at 7:30 pm.
By the way: If you would like to have a guided tour through the archive rooms of the KKI beforehand, you can come to the KKI on 28.04., at 6:15 pm. The tour can be offered in German and English.
Another move of the Mohns Mohnssen Collection
At the beginning of 2022, we took over the large collection of Bremen's Mohns Mohnssen in his will, who passed away in 2021. 300 boxes of the finest US country music. The only question was: Where to put them? First we rented an external storage facility. Then we moved them to our archive rooms in the University of the Arts Bremen, where they stood around in the hallway for a few months. Now they have been moved again - props to the hard-working colleague Till! - and are now no longer blocking the vinyl shelves.
Sale of two studio tape machines
We have parted with two historic studio tape machines (models from the 1950s and 1960s respectively) that had been sitting unused in our archives for many years. A passionate collector from Trier won the bid. We therefore know that they are in good hands. A win-win situation.
Two weeks Easter vacation from March 27 to April 10, 2023
We're taking two weeks to hunt for Easter eggs and take a deep breath, then start the new semester with momentum. We wish everyone a pleasant holiday season!
KKI-Workshop in the context of the Spring School of the University of the Arts Bremen
We contributed to the Spring School of the UA Bremen with a one-hour online workshop. Here is the description text:
"Musicians and artists should also deal with archiving, because it can be extremely helpful in professional and private life. Nowadays, the topic of archiving is described with terms such as document, knowledge or information management, whereby the digital organization and storage of files plays an increasingly important role. However, paper documents such as contracts, certificates, notes, pictures, photos and the like also need to be systematized and stored for the long term in order to be readily usable for private or professional purposes. Archiving also includes sorting out and disposing of old and unused documents or AV media (sound and image carriers). The crash course wants to give assistance for the (working) everyday life of musicians and artists and present practical examples that can be applied quickly and easily. Insights will be given into the working methods of the Klaus Kuhnke Institute of the University of the Arts Bremen, which is an archive as well as a research center for popular music and stores all kinds of auditory and visual media."
Redesign of the KKI access
After more than thirty years, we have redesigned the access to the KKI. Our intention was to tie in with the corporate design of our web presence. The simple black-grey-white painting is broken up by two accents. These are the translucent original colors (yellow and green). In this way, the historical layers of the KKI are to be appreciated.
Help wanted for research project on Bremen's pop music history
The KKI has just started a research project with the working title "Bunte Stadtmusik - Populäre Musik in Bremen und umzu". We would like to work up the music history of the city of Bremen and the immediate surrounding area for the field of non-classical music. We are interested in all relevant music styles - from rock to pop, from punk to hip hop, from techno to metal, from folk to blues and of course jazz. No matter if you are a singer-songwriter, a world musician or a reggae artist from Bremen or the surrounding area or if you know any of them, please contact us to tell us your personal stories. Club owners, event organizers, musician initiatives, studio, festival or record label operators are also welcome to contact us to tell us about their activities in the past (and present). Of course, we are also looking for pictures and texts about solo artists, bands, locations, competitions or associations that have made, offered or promoted popular music (in the broadest sense) in Bremen or the surrounding area. Just call or send an email to kontakt@klaus-kuhnke-institut.de.
Recently
2023 - The year of the big clean-up at KKI
We have set ourselves a lot of goals for 2023. After more than thirty years in the same premises, we want to really clean up and sort out in order to create order and space. Over the years, we have accumulated a lot of things that are no longer usable - for example, a lot of electronic waste (old and broken computers and ailing hi-fi equipment). Of course, we don't throw away anything that could still be used in any way. We are fans of upcycling and sharing concepts and pay attention to the sustainable use of the objects or items entrusted to us.
High-end sound at KKI
We are in love... with our "new" high-end speakers from Ohm (NY/USA). Strictly speaking, they are not even that new (year of manufacture 1975!), but they still sound fantastic! An incredible pleasure for the ears and a true reference sound! We are moved to tears. In addition, these wooden 360-degree speakers are also eye-catching. Gorgeous!
Cooperation with Bremen-based music publisher/label Fuego
We have always been on friendly terms with the Bremen-based music publisher/label Fuego, which is run by Friedel Muders. Now we are intensifying our exchange and cooperating on two eBook projects. On the one hand, the first (English-language) volume of our "Bremen's Contributions to Transnational Popular Music Research" will soon be published by Fuego under the title "Toddlers/Children's Songs. The Popular Music of the Youngest?". On the other hand, we are planning to republish the "History of Popular Music" (2 volumes) in 2024, which was last published by the three founders of the archive (Kuhnke, Miller & Schulze) in 1998 via Bear Family Records.
Study of the Don Quixote - Reception in Jazz
Prof. Dr. Hans Christian Hagedorn, a user of our archive, who researches and teaches as a Germanist and literary scholar in Spain, has made the results of his research available to us. We are pleased to refer to his English-language study on the reception of Don Quixote (Cervantes) in jazz. It can be viewed at the following open access link: https://analescervantinos.revistas.csic.es/index.php/analescervantinos/article/view/511
Mourning for colleague Hubert Notzon
On January 12, we received the sad news of the unexpected passing of our dear colleague Hubert Notzon. For more than 20 years he was the "good spirit" at the gate of the Department of Music at the University of the Arts Bremen. We saw him every day and had a chat from time to time. He was always obliging and helpful. We miss him and remember the transience of life.
The new year starts with the "Influenza Blues"
For weeks now, the flu wave has been taking the breath away of the whole of Germany. It has now also reached the KKI. Unfortunately, we therefore have to start the new year with a sick note. This week (January 2-8) the KKI will be closed. Nevertheless, we wish everyone a healthy 2023!