Cambridge University Press 978-1-108-73192-8 — A People's Music Helma Kaldewey Frontmatter More Information A PEOPLE’S MUSIC A People’s Music presents the first full history of jazz in East Germany, drawing on new and previously unexamined sources and eyewitness accounts. Helma Kaldewey chronicles the experiences of jazz musi- cians, fans, and advocates, and charts the numerous policies state socialism issued to manage this dynamic art form. Offering a radi- cal revision of scholarly views of jazz as a musical genre of dissent, this vivid and authoritative study marks developments in the pro- duction, performance, and reception of jazz decade by decade, from the German Democratic Republic’s beginning in the 1940s to its end in 1990, examining how members of the jazz scene were engaged with (and were sometimes complicit with) state officials and agen- cies throughout the Cold War. From postwar rebuilding, to Stalinism and partition, to détente, Ostpolitik, and glasnost, and finally to its acceptance as a national art form, Kaldewey reveals just how many lives jazz lived. helma kaldewey (Ph.D., Tulane University) is a musicologist, his- torian, longtime teacher, and researcher in the history of jazz. She has written and produced films about New Orleans’ music culture in partnership with German public media. © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-108-73192-8 — A People's Music Helma Kaldewey Frontmatter More Information new studies in european history Edited by peter baldwin, University of California, Los Angeles christopher clark, University of Cambridge james b. collins, Georgetown University mia rodríguez-salgado, London School of Economics and Political Science lyndal roper, University of Oxford timothy snyder, Yale University The aim of this series in early modern and modern European history is to publish outstanding works of research, addressed to important themes across a wide geographical range, from southern and central Europe to Scandinavia and Russia, from the time of the Renaissance to the present. As it develops, the series will comprise focused works of wide contextual range and intellectual ambition. A full list of titles published in the series can be found at: www.cambridge.org/newstudiesineuropeanhistory © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-108-73192-8 — A People's Music Helma Kaldewey Frontmatter More Information A PEOPLE’S MUSIC Jazz in East Germany, 1945–1990 HELMA KALDEWEY Tulane University © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-108-73192-8 — A People's Music Helma Kaldewey Frontmatter More Information University Printing House, Cambridge cb2 8bs, United Kingdom One Liberty Plaza, 20th Floor, New York, ny 10006, usa 477 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, vic 3207, Australia 314-321, 3rd Floor, Plot 3, Splendor Forum, Jasola District Centre, New Delhi - 110025, India 103 Penang Road, #05-06/07, Visioncrest Commercial, Singapore 238467 Cambridge University Press is part of the University of Cambridge. It furthers the University’s mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of education, learning and research at the highest international levels of excellence. www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9781108731928 doi: 10.1017/9781108645638 © Helma Kaldewey 2020 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2020 First paperback edition 2021 A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication data Names: Kaldewey, Helma, 1962- author. Title: A people’s music / Helma Kaldewey. Description: New York : Cambridge University Press, 2020. | Series: New studies in European history | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: lccn 2019029220 | isbn 9781108486187 (hardback) | isbn 9781108486187 (ebook) Subjects: lcsh: Jazz--Germany--20th century--History and criticism. | Jazz--Germany (East)--History and criticism. | Jazz--Social aspects--Germany--History--20th century. | Jazz--Political aspects--Germany--History--20th century. | Music and state--Germany--History--20th century. Classification: lcc ml3509.g3 k3 2020 | ddc 781.650943/1--dc23 lc record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019029220 isbn 978-1-108-48618-7 Hardback isbn 978-1-108-73192-8 Paperback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-108-73192-8 — A People's Music Helma Kaldewey Frontmatter More Information Contents List of Figures page vii Preface xiii Chronology xxiii List of Abbreviations xxvi 1 Jazz in Weimar and Nazi Germany, 1918–1945 1 Jazz in a Defeated Nation 4 Americanization and the Crisis of Culture 8 Cultural Identity and Bildungsbürgertum 12 National Socialism, War, and Defeat (1933–1945) 16 2 Jazz in the Soviet Zone, 1945–1949 27 “The Show Must Go On”: Rebuilding German Musical Life in Soviet Germany 28 African American Music in the Worker’s Revolution 40 The Politics of Race at the Berlin Philharmonic 45 Cold War in the Arts: Socialist Realism versus Cultural Freedom 49 German Jazz Is “Up to Date” 55 “Shades of Uncle Adolf” and Air Lift Stomp 66 3 Jazz in the Founding Years of the GDR, 1949–1961 75 Art for World Peace 80 Hoten Verboten: In Search of a National Dance Culture 91 Jazz: The People’s Music 106 The Truth about America 122 Berlin in Crisis: State Surveillance and the Building of the Wall 131 4 Jazz behind the Wall, 1961–1971 143 Jazz behind the Iron Curtain 147 The Jazz Resolution of the Central Committee 158 Jazz und Lyrik with “Josh” 164 “It’s a Wonderful World”: Louis Armstrong in the GDR 170 A Jazz Resurgence, 1965–1971 182 v © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-108-73192-8 — A People's Music Helma Kaldewey Frontmatter More Information vi Contents 5 The Rise of New Jazz, 1971–1979 194 Satchmo and the Black Panthers 197 Bach and Coltrane: Free Jazz in the GDR 204 The STASI at Woodstock 214 Jazz as Diplomacy and Jazz Now 225 6 “A National Treasure”: Jazz Made in the GDR, 1980–1990 244 The Leipzig Jazz Festival 247 Jazz Nationalized: The Weimar Festival 253 Gorbachev, Liberalization, and the Road to 1989 260 A Coda for Jazz? The Fall of the Wall 266 Archival Sources 280 Appendix 287 Bibliography 291 Index 303 © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-108-73192-8 — A People's Music Helma Kaldewey Frontmatter More Information Figures 1.1 Rehearsal of the jazz band Weintraub’s Syncopators with ballet in Berlin. From ullstein bild via Getty Images. Editorial #549701947 page 7 1.2 National Socialist propaganda, Der Rote Krieg, ca. 1930. “The Red War: Mother or comrade? Human or machine? God or devil? Blood or gold? Race or crossbreed? Folk song or jazz? National Socialism or Bolshevism?” From Bundesarchiv, Plak 002-038-011 17 1.3 Image produced for the exhibition Degenerate Music featuring caricature of an African American jazz musician with Star of David, Düsseldorf, 1938 19 1.4 Deutschland, Land der Musik. Poster produced by Lothar Heinemann in 1938 for Deutsche Reichsbahn (German National Railway) 20 1.5 Karlheinz Drechsel as a boy with his parents in Dresden, 1944. Private collection of Karlheinz Drechsel, used by permission 23 1.6 Burning corpses in Dresden-Altmarkt, February 25, 1945. Fourteen-year-old Drechsel witnessed the bombing and explored the city in its immediate aftermath. Photograph by Walter Hahn, Deutsche Fotothek, Hauptkatalog: #0314620 25 1.7 Scenes at the Reichstag in Berlin showing a Russian soldier and an American soldier with a bronze bust of Adolf Hitler atop a damaged globe as Allied forces occupy Berlin at the end of WWII. July 14, 1945. Photo by Daily Mirror/ Mirrorpix via Getty Images. Editorial #592037722 26 vii © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-108-73192-8 — A People's Music Helma Kaldewey Frontmatter More Information viii List of Figures 2.1 Young jazz entrepreneurs Karlheinz Drechsel (right) and Berthold Hinze (left) in Dresden, December 1947. Private collection of Karlheinz Drechsel, used by permission 39 2.2 Title page of Negro Songs, from Lawrence Gellert, Protestlieder des Amerikanischen Negerproletariats, Lied der Zeit: Berlin, 1949; ROBA/Hamburg 42 2.3 Melodia Rhythmiker at Naumburg 1951, with band lineup. Private collection of Wolfgang Muth/Gerhard Hopfe, used by permission 57 2.4 The Titania-Palast, Berlin, 1955, advertising Karl Walter Band on marquee. Photo by Marche/ Getty Images. Editorial #542374925 59 2.5 Amerikahaus Berlin, Einmerstraße am Nollendorfplatz, June 1949. Getty Images. Editorial #542394111 63 2.6 Gerhard Hopfe with his audio equipment, 1966. Private collection of Gerhard Hopfe, used by permission 65 2.7 Down Beat magazine, October 6, 1948, reporting on Rex Stewart’s concert in Berlin. Used by permission 69 2.8 Record of Rex Stewart “Hot Club Berlin” Session, Air Lift Stomp, Amiga Sonderklasse AM1163, 1948. Rereleased as Amiga Stomp, Amiga Sonderklasse AM1050, 1948. Lied der Zeit, Berlin; ROBA/Hamburg 71 3.1 Jan Eikermann (trumpet) and friends retreated into basements of private homes for jam sessions in Berlin-Karlshorst, 1957. Private collection of Jan Eikermann, used by permission 76 3.2 Jan Eikermann and friends, 1957. Private collection of Jan Eikermann, used by permission 76 3.3 Staged image of Karlheinz Drechsel with Winnie Büttner, Dresden, Radeberger Straße, 1952–53.