Gerd Dudek was a German musician equally adept at improvising or composing on reeds, flute, and sahnai. He studied clarinet privately and attended music school in the '50s before joining a big band led by his brother Ossi until 1958. During the early '60s, he played in the Berliner Jazz Quintet for two years, in Karl Blume's group, and in Kurt Edelhagen's orchestra until 1965. Then he became interested in free music and joined Manfred Schoof's quintet. Dudek took part in the first sessions of the Globe Unity Orchestra in 1966, and played with them at various times into the '80s. He also worked with many other European free musicians and composers, among them Alexander Schlippenbach, Albert Mangelsdorff, Loek Dikker, and the Waterland Ensemble and European Jazz Quintet. Dudek played in a trio that recorded at the Workshop Freie Musik in Berlin in 1977; later he played in groups led by Mal Waldron and Tony Oxley. Gerd Dudek died on November 3, 2022, at the age of 84. ~ Ron Wynn, Rovi