[Dixielandjazz] The Nazi Rules for Dance Orchestras

[Stephen G Barbone]

Joseph Skvorecky was a writer, as well as a Czech dissident peer of  
Vaclav Havel when that country was ruled by Russia after WW 2. In a  
novella, "The Bass Saxophone, he describes the Nazi rules for dance  
bands as posted in Czechoslovakia after the German occupation during  
that war. We've seen variations of these rules before, however the  
below may be the most accurate. (From The Atlantic entertainment  
archive)

Cheers,
Steve Barbone
www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband

Skvorecky ever relayed was here in the intro to The Bass Saxophone,  
where he recalls -- faithfully, he assures us ("they had engraved  
themselves deeply on my mind") -- a set of regulations, issued by a  
Gauleiter -- a regional official for the Reich -- as binding on all  
local dance orchestras during the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia.  
Get this:

Pieces in foxtrot rhythm (so-called swing) are not to exceed 20% of  
the repertoires of light orchestras and dance bands;
in this so-called jazz type repertoire, preference is to be given to  
compositions in a major key and to lyrics expressing joy in life  
rather than Jewishly gloomy lyrics;
As to tempo, preference is also to be given to brisk compositions over  
slow ones so-called blues); however, the pace must not exceed a  
certain degree of allegro, commensurate with the Aryan sense of  
discipline and moderation. On no account will Negroid excesses in  
tempo (so-called hot jazz) or in solo performances (so-called breaks)  
be tolerated;
so-called jazz compositions may contain at most 10% syncopation; the  
remainder must consist of a natural legato movement devoid of the  
hysterical rhythmic reverses characteristic of the barbarian races and  
conductive to dark instincts alien to the German people (so-called  
riffs);
strictly prohibited is the use of instruments alien to the German  
spirit (so-called cowbells, flexatone, brushes, etc.) as well as all  
mutes which turn the noble sound of wind and brass instruments into a  
Jewish-Freemasonic yowl (so-called wa-wa, hat, etc.);
also prohibited are so-called drum breaks longer than half a bar in  
four-quarter beat (except in stylized military marches);
the double bass must be played solely with the bow in so-called jazz  
compositions;
plucking of the strings is prohibited, since it is damaging to the  
instrument and detrimental to Aryan musicality; if a so-called  
pizzicato effect is absolutely desirable for the character of the  
composition, strict care must be taken lest the string be allowed to  
patter on the sordine, which is henceforth forbidden;
musicians are likewise forbidden to make vocal improvisations (so- 
called scat);
all light orchestras and dance bands are advised to restrict the use  
of saxophones of all keys and to substitute for them the violin-cello,  
the viola or possibly a suitable folk instrument.

Being a Nazi, this public servant obviously didn't miss an opportunity  
to couch as many of these regulations as he could in racist or anti- 
Semitic terms. Such, after all, are the National Socialist equivalent  
of soothing conventional wisdom. But that's just it: If you're a Nazi,  
and you can pass something you don't like off as a "Negroid excess,"  
or a manifestation of "Jewish Fremason-ry," it helps you with the kind  
of Nazi cred you need insulate yourself from having to justify what's  
wrong with the music as music. More than that, it helps you hide your  
fear of the deeper resonance the music has with people as people. In  
an interview given in Prague in 1968, relayed in Talkin' Moscow Blues,  
Skvorecky noted that "jazz is, above all, a kind of fraternity."  
That's not an entirely obvious thought if you come from the same part  
of the world jazz itself does.