No doubt many people will say that the death of Peter Brotzmann is a great loss to free jazz and that he will be sorely missed. For me it would have been a much greater loss to music has he never existed. I am so grateful that Peter Brotzmann blasted his way into my life six decades ago. The last time I saw him play was in Toulouse à few years back at the Goethe Institute. He looked exhausted, but when he started to play it was as if another spirit took over. With his bristling beard and moustache he looked like bulldog hanging onto life for all he was worth.