CONRAD SCHNITZLER & KEN MONTGOMERY – CAS-CON II - Konzert in der Erlöserkirche, Ost-Berlin, 3.9.1986

Beschreibung

The first contact between Conrad Schnitzler, who lived in West Berlin, and Jo?rg Thomasius, who was based in the east party of the city, came about in the late 1970s. In 1985, Schnitzler visited Thomasius in East Berlin for the first time. In the meantime, Thomasius had released cassettes in the GDR both as a soloist and with his group DFO (Das freie Orchester). The following year, the idea of a joint concert in East Berlin’s Erlo?serkirche was born. In the GDR, it was not possible to hold events in public without a so-called state „classification“. DFO did not have this permit at that time and so public performances were only possible in the context of private or church institutions.
In 1982 Schnitzler had already met the New York musician Ken Gen Montgomery, who then regularly performed Schnitzlers‘ compositions live at various venues worldwide. And so Schnitzler also produced 4 cassettes especially for his concert in East Berlin, which were sent by courier from West to East Berlin.
On the evening of 3.9.1986, the privately announced and illegal concert took place in the Erlo?serkirche in East Berlin/GDR. Montgomery mixed Schnitzler’s music live from the tapes. Jo?rg Thomasius recorded the performance and released the recording in 1987 on his own underground cassette label Kro?tenkassetten. The elaborately restored original recording is now being released for the first time on LP and CD under the title „CAS-CON II“. In addition to photos and contemporary documents, it also includes Jo?rg Thomasius‘ and Ken Gen Montgomery’s written memories of this very special evening.