Rabble Without A Cause
Wednesday December 21st, 2011 with Bernard Stepien
Christmas present from Berlin

There have been lots of reports lately in the press that things are changing in Berlin. Apparently, Berlin has become a major tourist mecca mostly because of culture of all sorts including and especially music. Classical, Rock or Jazz all have been thriving since the early '90s when the wall came down. However, as basic economics tells us, this had an impact on prices. Rents, once at symbolic levels, are now skyrocketing. Many attributed the low rents as a prime factor for the presence of a huge number of musicians in Berlin. This certainly helped, but low rents alone are far from being determining. A musician also needs something even more basic, a crowd. There has never been a shortage of such crowds in Berlin and now with all these tourists, this is even less of a problem. As an economist by training, I always watch insignificant indicators that most of my collegues would consider as superfluous. My true economic indicator this time came in the form of a Christmas present from a musician friend in Berlin, saxophonist Frank Paul Schubert. He sent me not just one, but three CDs either as a leader or sideman. All without any signs of arts funding, another sign that business must be good and especially all in improvised music rather than anything commercial like one would espect it from normal tourist business. These are: -A duo between saxophonist Frank Paul Schubert and trombonist Matthias Müller -A trio led by drummer Jörg Fischer -A trio led by drummer Willi Kellers