Next events

There are no events scheduled at this time.

The F.I.M. and its formats

The Forum for Improvised Music is an initiative promoting improvised music in Frankfurt.

Open stage for free improvisation
Following the performance by the ‘opener group’, the second part of the evening allows interested musicians to improvise and interact in various combinations.

Formationen+
F.I.M. engages established musicians to improvise in various combinations (5 groups). These groups are supported by additional (+) guest musicians.

Formationen+ F.I.M. Frankfurt meets…
To encourage networking F.I.M. invites national/international initiatives for improvised music once a year for a collective musical exchange.

Formationen+ Dance
Free interaction between musicians and dancers.

"Raumbespielungen"
Free interaction between musicians and dancers and improvisations open air and in public locations.

Female Duo
In an intimate concert setting, two protagonists of the national improvisation scene improvise in a duo format.

Upcoming Event

Monday, May 12, 2025: Open stage for free improvisation

Opener:

  • Jo Jena - guitar,
  • Bertram Ritter - drums

After a presentation by the opener, the stage is open to improv session musicians, who we put together in various formations.
To be able to play this demanding musical form at an appropriate level, we expect very good technical skills on the instrument.

Admission €7/€5, Kulturpass €1, session musicians free

About the opener:

Jo Jena (g) & Burtis Knight (a/k/a Bertram Ritter (dr)
founded the duo “Schney” in 2016 at the Franken-Akademie Schloß Schney during a party in the basement of a Bundeswehr simulation room. They initially tried to get highly talented people dancing with loops, breakbeats and dub versions of children's songs (which succeeded in some cases).

During the pandemic, while the two musicians were unable to play together directly, they returned to free jazz and avant-garde, each in isolation. Ritter remembered his teacher Wolfgang Schliemann, Milford Graves and Rashied Ali as exemplary drummers. With the help of his teacher Elliott Sharp in NYC, Jena emancipated himself (once again) from neo-romantic modern jazz and Munich reverb flags. He also recorded Schoenberg's Six Little Piano Pieces op. 19 in a version for electric guitar.

The duo then released their debut album as Jo Jena & Burtis Knight on their own label imm records in 2023. Dedicated to the memory of Peter Brötzmann, it will be realized for the first time in free jazz concert form at FiM at Club Voltaire. Burtis Knight plays drums; Jo Jena plays guitar, effects and hook synthesizer.

Jo Jena and Bertram Ritter
Jo Jena and Bertram Ritter (a k a Burtis Knight)

Bertram Ritter has been playing drums since the age of 15. Member of FiM during its instantiation as frankfurts indeterminables musiqwesen (from 1995). Collaborations with Alfred 23 Harth, Tom Heurich, Daniel Franqe, Heinz Sauer, Jürgen Wuchner (United Colors of Bessungen). Founding member of the bands Q, Perfumed Chambers, Nachttierhaus and Das Grüne Hemd.

Jo Jena has been playing guitar since the age of 10. He has played jazz and funk guitar in various Frankfurt formations such as Nachttierhaus, Shaba and Flowarea. In Berlin, he was previously one of 100 electric guitarists with Rhys Chatham or made street music with Philipp Gropper.As a composer and studio tinkerer, he established imm records in 2003 as an independent platform for experimental music (Musik | jo jena/imm).

Notifications

Always up to date: please enter your e-mail address here.

Musicians from previous openers and formations

Christine Abdelnour, Bülent Ates, Christoph Aupperle, Thomas Bachmann, Nik Bärtsch, Savas Bayrak, Isabelle Bodenseh, Michael Bossong, Paul Cannon, Nico Chientaroli, Tony Clark, Max Clouth, Elisabeth Coudoux, Marcel Daemgen, Marlies Debacker, Matthias TC Debus, Bob Degen, Christopher Dell, Erwin Ditzner, Mia Dyberg, Nigel Edwards, Izabella Effenberg, Peter Feil(†), Jörg Fischer, Fred Frith, Fe Fritschi, Valentin Garvie, Bernhard Gehrke, Martin Götte, Igor Grabez, Sebastian Gramss, Frank Gratkowski, Gerhard Gschlößl, Daniel Guggenheim, Fred Guntermann, Fabian Habicht, Peter Hanson, Alfred 23 Harth, Ruben Hausmann, Shay Hazan, Nicola Hein, Frederich Helbing, Christopher Herrmann, Matt Hollenberg, Oscar Jan Hoogland, Carl Ludwig Hübsch, Lutz Jahnke, Salim Javaid, Jo Jena, Wilbert de Joode, Willi Kappich, Aki Kitajima, Naoko Kikuchi, Peter Klohmann, Stefan Kohmann, Athina Kontou, Burkard Kunkel, Christof Lauer, Lömsch Lehmann, Martin Lejeune, Gunnar Lettow, Christian Lillinger, Abril Lukac (Tanz), Andrea Maria Maeder (Tanz), Rudi Mahall, Dominik Mahnig, Dirk Marwedel, Felix Mayer, Annick Moerman, Michael Moore, Oliver Potratz, Puschan Mousavi Malvani, Heiner Metzger, Nikolai Muck, Matthias Muche, Sana Nagano, Ali Neander, Andreas Neubauer, Mani Neumeier, Etienne Nillesen, Uwe Oberg, Richard Oberscheven (Tanz), Eric Plandé, Maria Portugal, Christian Ramond, Emma Rasmussen (Tanz), Ada Rave, Ulrich Raupach, Wolfgang Reimers, Vitold Rek, Michael Riessler, Jan Roder, Jazzmadass, Isabel Rößler, Chris Rücker, Eric Ruffing, Olaf Rupp, Silvia Sauer, Heinz Sauer, Angelika Sheridan, Uli Schiffelholz, Wolfgang Schliemann, Sue Schlotte, Martin "Schmiddi" Schmidt, Daniel Schmitz, Britta Schönbrunn (Tanz), Matthias Schubert, John Schröder, Ulrike Schwarz, Aleksandra M. Ścibor Infinity (Tanz), Danny Sher, Emilie Škrijelj, Dennis Sekretarev, Aleksandar Skoric, Jasper Stadhouders, Sebastian Sternal, Mieko Suzuki, Peter Stock, Tassos Tataroglu, Ziv Taubenfeld, Christof Thewes, Jan-Filip Tupa, Birgit Ulher, Harvey Valdes; Matthias Vogt, Luise Volkmann, Marta Warelis, Rainer Weber, Ingo Weiß, Uschi Wentzell, Bastian Weinig, Jürgen Werner, Jonas Westergaard, Katharina Wiedenhofer (Tanz), Philipp Wildenhues, Georg Wolf, Jürgen Wuchner(†), Eva Zöllner​, Kathrin Zurborg









Locations
Partner
Supporter