Günter "Baby" Sommer (born 25 August 1943) is a German jazz drummer.

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Quick Facts Background information, Also known as ...

Günter Sommer
Sommer at Moers Festival, 2020
Background information
Also known as	Günter "Baby" Sommer
Born	(1943-08-25) August 25, 1943 (age 80) Dresden, Germany
Genres	Avant-garde jazz, Free jazz, Free improvisation
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instrument(s)	Drums
Years active	1960s–present
Labels	Intakt Records, FMP, Moers Music, ILK Music, Euphorium Records, JazzHausMusik, Splasc(h)

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Sommer was born in Dresden on 25 August 1943.^[1] His first instrument was the trumpet, which he studied at school.^[1] He started playing the drums aged 15 or 16.^[1] He studied music at Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber in Dresden.^[2] A solo percussion album, Hormusik, was released by FMP in 1979.^[2] In the same year, FMP also released a trio album recorded with Peter Kowald and Wadada Leo Smith.^[2] He has worked with Smith intermittently throughout his career.^[2] During the 1980s he also worked with Peter Brötzmann, Irene Schweizer, Cecil Taylor, and with the writer Gunter Grass.^[2] In the early 1990s he began leading a trio with Didier Levallet, then with Theo Jörgensmann, and joined in 1995 for 13 years as drums professor the faculty at Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber.^[2] His usual nickname Baby is due to a comparison, homage to the multifaceted US drummer Baby Dodds.^[3]

• Gruppe Synopsis with Synopsis (Amiga, 1974)
• Hormusik (FMP, 1979)
• Touch the Earth with Wadada Leo Smith (FMP, 1980)
• Dedication with Hans-Günther Wauer (FMP, 1982)
• Hormusik Zwei (Nato, 1983)
• If You Want the Kernels You Have to Break the Shells with Peter Kowald (FMP, 1983)
• Pica Pica with Peter Brotzmann and Albert Mangelsdorff (FMP, 1984)
• Percussion Summit with John Purcell, Urszula Dudziak (Moers Music, 1984)
• Verschrankte Konstruktion with Hans-Günther Wauer (Amiga, 1986)
• Live at Taktlos with Irène Schweizer and Maggie Nicols (Intakt, 1986)
• Irène Schweizer & Günter Sommer (Intakt, 1988)
• The Storming of the Winter Palace with Irene Schweizer (Intakt, 1988)
• Reserve with Peter Brotzmann (FMP, 1989)
• In East Berlin with Cecil Taylor (FMP, 1989)
• Riobec with Cecil Taylor (FMP, 1989)
• Cordes Sur Ciel with Didier Levallet (European Music/Sud-Ouest, 1990)
• Camino Fatal with Ekkehard Jost (Fish Music, 1990)
• Cappuccini Klang with Peter Kowald (Splasc(h), 1992)
• Sachsische Schatulle: Hormusik III (Intakt, 1993)
• Merseburger Begegnung with Hans-Günther Wauer (Kip, 1994)
• BIB with Sylvain Kassap, Didier Levallet (FMP, 2002)
• Wokonda with Achim Jaroschek (Konnex, 2003)
• Between Heaven and Earth with Conny Bauer and Peter Kowald (Intakt, 2003)
• Hic Sunt Leones with Frank Paul Schubert (Jazz Haus, 2007)
• Delphinius & Lyra with Raymond MacDonald (Clean Feed, 2007)
• Wisdom in Time with Wadada Leo Smith (Intakt, 2007)
• Abbara with Rafik Schami (Intakt, 2008)
• Peitzer Grand Mit Vieren (Jazzwerkstatt, 2009)
• Live in Jerusalem (Kadima Collective, 2009)
• Songs for Kommeno (Intakt, 2012)
• Jesper Lovdal Gunter Sommer (ILK Music, 2012)
• Dry Swing & Tandem Spaces with Oliver Schwerdt (Euphorium, 2013)
• Three Seasons (HGBS, 2014)
• Sources with Johannes Enders (Moderntunemusic, 2016)
• Fundstuecke with Gabriele Hasler (Laika, 2016)
• Le Piccole Cose (Intuition, 2017)
• Baby's Party (Intakt, 2018)
• Grande Casino with EUPHORIUM_freakestra (Euphorium, 2018)
• One For My Baby And One More For The Bass with Barry Guy and Oliver Schwerdt (Euphorium, 2020)
• Karawane with The Lucaciu 3 (Intakt, 2022)