[Dixielandjazz] Jazz in Russia and other east European countries.

[Marek Boym]

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> What I also learned when touring Dresden (former Eastern Germany) and Poland was that also during the time the Iron Curtain was effective, (that started really after WW2), there always have been bands playing jazz in those countries.

Well, not quite.
Fom 1949, when the Communists officially took over most of the East
European countries, until about 1953, jazz was not allowed.  As Bert
has stated, there were bands, but one could go to prison for playing
jazz.

I strogly recommend the Russian film "When the Saints Go Marching In"
(Swiatye Marshirooyut in Russian) which deals with this subject.


>Dresden had a big trad jazz festival long before the curtain dissapeared. This was possible since one influential person there loved it and said that jazz was the music of the poor African American slaves. So music from the people, not the American government.

Around 1953, the Communist authorities decided tah jazz was the
expression of the American Negroes struggle for equality, and allowed
it as such.  It spread like fire, with jazz bands sprining up
everywhere almost overningt.


In Dresden they even invited Western European bands.

In 1956, the first Sopot Jazz FEstival took place, with western bands.
 At the second, they had an American musician, Albert Nicholas.  In
1955, I believe, Acker Bilk played in Poland, inter alia, in the city
of Wroclaw where I lived.  He packed well over 10,000 people in the
Hala Ludowa (People's hall).


> Also in Poland there always were jazz bands active, kind of underground from the publicity, but it was not really secret in places like Warszawa.

The first well known Polish post-war band was not from from Warsaw but
from Lodz - Jerzy "Dudus" Matuszkiewicz's "Melomani."   When
rehearsing, they had vodka nad glasses ready, so, when raided for
making noise, they'd hide their instruments and pretend they had a
noisy party.

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Cheers
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