Latest News

Company vacation from July 15 - 28

The KKI will be closed for two weeks from July 15 to 28 due to vacation. We will take our summer vacation and recharge our batteries for the second half of the year. We wish everyone good weather & great musical experiences! We will be open again on Monday, July 29th.

Retirement of our dear colleague Andreas Herrmann

It is with great sadness that we bid farewell to our esteemed and beloved colleague Andreas Herrmann, who will be retiring in mid-July. He has been part of our small team since 2017, in other words: for seven years. He looked after our magazines and journals as well as our technology on a part-time basis. As a dedicated computer nerd and music technologist, he was able to get almost everything up and running again that had actually given up the ghost. He is also a passionate craftsman and has supported us in word and deed with repair and renovation work. Most recently, he was particularly involved in the planning of our new shelving system and the construction of our kitchen. But he has also always been able to contribute his music-related knowledge. In his main profession, Andreas was a music teacher, initially for many years in the Bremen school service, and for the last few years as a teacher of practical school instrumental playing (piano & guitar) at the Bremen University of the Arts. We wish Andreas a good start to his well-deserved retirement and are already looking forward to his flying visits and lunches together as well as to his musical activities, for which he will now have more time.

New FaMI intern in June/July

From June 24 to July 5, Sebastian Walow is completing a two-week internship at the KKI. He is currently training to become a specialist in media and information services (FaMI) at the State and University Library in Bremen and is in his second year of training. We are grateful for his cooperation and are happy to give him an insight into our day-to-day work. FaMI interns visit us regularly and are always welcome.

Music exchange & DJ sets on June 21
as part of the "Open Day" of the University of the Arts

The Department of Music at the University of the Arts is organizing an "Open Day" on Friday, June 21, as part of the worldwide "Fête de la Musique". The KKI will be represented with a music exchange in the inner courtyard of the university. Here you can buy duplicates of all kinds (LPs, CDs, books and magazines) for little money. In addition, Nico Thom will provide adequate sound for the courtyard and play summer music. Food and drinks will also be provided. A warm invitation to all!
Here is the complete program for the "Open Day" of the HfK:
https://www.hfk-bremen.de/en/events/tag-der-offenen-tuer-musik/11876

KKI head has completed "training as a trainer"

In 2025, the KKI is planning to set up a training position for a specialist in media and information services (FaMI) with a focus on "Information & Documentation" or to act as a training company. In order to be able to do this, Nico Thom (Head of KKI) has completed several weeks of further training or what is known as "training of trainers" (AdA) at the Bremen Training and Further Education Center (AFZ).

Konstantin Wecker Collection taken over from Ruth Riedo from Lucerne (Switzerland)

Another donation reached us recently from Lucerne (Switzerland). Collector Ruth Riedo personally brought us her Konstantin Wecker Collection from there. The collection includes vinyl albums, vinyl singles, CDs, MCs and sound foils by the well-known German singer-songwriter from Munich, as well as recordings by other artists with whom Konstantin Wecker (born in 1947) has collaborated. There are also recordings of Wecker's music for films and radio plays. You get a good impression of the work of this versatile artist, who was also active as an author and actor. As he is still active, we can look forward to further works by him.

Collection of sheet music received from Thomas Thalacker

Berlin-based collector Thomas Thalacker has sent us duplicates of his fantastic sheet music collection. It mainly consists of songs with piano accompaniment from the first half of the 20th century, primarily from German and English-speaking countries. He himself runs a website on which his impressive collection is presented: https://www.notenmuseum.de

New intern for six weeks

From the beginning of June to mid-July, Arne Sieb is completing a six-week internship at KKIå“. We are delighted to have his support and are happy to give him an insight into our varied day-to-day work.

Interview with Nico Thom in the Frankfurter Rundschau
on Gigi D'Agostino's song "L'amour toujours"

Excerpts from an interview with Nico Thom have been published in the Frankfurter Rundschau. It is about the current scandal in connection with the song "L'amour toujours" by Gigi D'Agostino, to which right-wing slogans were sung at several events. The KKI director attempts to classify and rehabilitate the artist and song.
The article by Felicitas Breschendorf can be read here:
https://www.fr.de/panorama/lamour-toujours-sylt-verbote-experte-bedeutung-gigi-d-agostino-fans-eurodance-rassismus-zr-93103639.html

KKI participates in the call of the Landesmusikrat Bremen for the European elections on June 9th

As an institutional member of the Landesmusikrat Bremen e.V., we support the joint call for the European elections on June 9th. #duhastdiewahl #machdeinkreuz #stimmtfuereuropa

In keeping with this, we have found sheet music from "Le Chant de l'Europe" from 1973 in our collections. The music is by Jacques Mendel, the text by Igor Mrozinski. The sheet music was published by Éditions Musicales M. Camia in Paris.

KKI sells duplicates - wholesaler wanted

We are looking for a wholesaler for vinyl records who would like to buy our duplicates - preferably all at once. In total, we have around 2,500 albums of popular music in the broadest sense (jazz to punk). We also have quite a few classical records (approx. 500) and classical CDs (approx. 500) that we would also like to sell. In addition, we have duplicates of books and magazines for sale. Interested parties please contact us to arrange a specific viewing appointment. Please no pearl-picker requests!

Intern returns

Peter Handke has already completed a three-month KKI internship from January to March 2024. He is now returning in May for another one-month internship. We are delighted to have his renewed support and look forward to continuing our good cooperation!

Hartmut Neimke collection of shellac records and posters handed over to KKI

Hartmut Neimke from Bremen has bequeathed us a small but fine collection of shellac records. It contains cheerful German hits, marches and brass band music from the first half of the 20th century (e.g. Otto Reutter, the Great UFA Dance Orchestra or Walter Emmrich's Stabsmusikkorps). He also gave us some posters from the 1960s announcing concerts with traditional jazz. These include, for example, a tastefully designed announcement of the 7th German Amateur Jazz Festival from 1961, which took place in the Bremen Glocke.

New intern for three months

From mid-April to mid-July, Oliver Görlach is completing a three-month internship at KKI. We are delighted to have his support and are happy to give him an insight into our varied day-to-day work.

Recently

Cooperation with the transnational project "Nazi injustice 'Degenerate Music' -
Persecuted swing dancers and jazz musicians in northwest Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland"

We have started working with the young project team led by Natalie Reinsch (historian). We are excited about the upcoming project milestones and look forward to the hybrid mediation formats on the topic.
More information here: https://www.bremer-buendnis.de/ns-unrecht-entartete-musik

KKI dance party as part of the CLUBNIGHT of the jazzahead! trade fair (April 12)

The evening in the jazz club of the Bremen University of the Arts (HFK) is entitled "The HFK Jazz Bass World". After three formations have presented live jazz with a focus on bass, Nico Thom, head of the Klaus Kuhnke Institute for Popular Music, will be DJing. He will be playing bass-heavy tracks that are located in the spectrum of funk, soul, hip-hop and drum & bass and have clear references to jazz. Sophisticated arrangements are combined with well-hung beats and lively improvisations. Fusion jazz with a dance guarantee!
Date: Friday, April 12, 11:30 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Location: jazz club of the University of the Arts / Mensa 13 (Dechanatstraße 13-15, 28195 Bremen)
More information: https://jazzahead.de/festival/#cn-program