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

Career

Sommer was born in Dresden on 25 August 1943. His first instrument was the trumpet, which he studied at school. He started playing the drums aged 15 or 16. He studied music at Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber in Dresden. A solo percussion album, Hormusik, was released by FMP in 1979. In the same year, FMP also released a trio album recorded with Peter Kowald and Wadada Leo Smith. He has worked with Smith intermittently throughout his career. During the 1980s he also worked with Peter Brötzmann, Irene Schweizer, Cecil Taylor, and with the writer Gunter Grass. 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. His usual nickname Baby is due to a comparison, homage to the multifaceted US drummer Baby Dodds.

Discography