Jazz in Europa

“Jazz in Europe” or “European jazz”? Jazz has long since passed through its phase of emancipation in Europe. The self-confidence it has gained is spurring musicians to break away more and more from the American mainstream. Some of the developments in this music no longer originate in the birthplace of jazz, but are taking place on the Old Continent. The political and economic unification of Western Europe within the European Union and the upheaval in the states of the former Eastern Bloc are also having an impact on jazz. It reflects social sensibilities as well as uncertainty about the future. At the 3rd Darmstadt Jazzform in October 1993, three seemingly very different aspects of historical and contemporary jazz history in Europe were discussed, in which, upon closer inspection, surprising connections emerge: the years 1933 to 1945, the social upheaval in the countries of the former Eastern Bloc, and the connections between jazz and folklore.

From the Contents: Jazz in Europe, 1933–1945 Marko Paysan: Transatlantic Rhythm. Jazz Connections Between Germany and the U.S. Before 1945 Erik Wiedemann: Jazz in Denmark, 1933–1945 Kees Wouters: From the Wandervögel to the Wanderers Hot Club Theo Mäusli: Jazz and Spiritual National Defense. On the Reception of Jazz in Switzerland from 1933 to 1945 Jazz in Eastern Europe Walter Ojakäär: Jazz in Estonia. Hopes and Reality Virgil Mihaiu: Development and Problems of Jazz in Romania 1965 to 1993 Lubomír Doružka: Jazz in Czechoslovakia from 1945 to 1993 Bert Noglik: Eastern European Jazz in a Time of Upheaval. On the Transformation of the Senses in the Process of Social Change Workshop Discussion Misha Mengelberg Talks About His Music Jazz and Folklore Wolfram Knauer: “Musicianers” or: The Jazz Musician as a Folk Musician. Notes on the Relationship Between Jazz and Folklore Jürg Solothurnmann: The Alpine Jazz Herd. Contemporary Jazz and National Folklore—Do They Go Together? Erik Kjellberg: “Old Folklore in Swedish Modern.” On the Subject of Folk Music and Jazz in Sweden Ekkehard Jost: On the European in European Jazz.

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