Jazz in Central and Eastern Europe as discussed by Jazz magazine (1956-1959)
Jazz in Central and Eastern Europe as discussed by Jazz magazine (1956-1959)

Summary/Abstract: The aim of my research was to demonstrate, based on statistical findings, how the editors of Jazz, the only periodical which popularized Western music in the 1950s, described developments in the genre through news, essays and reader comments. Considering the political situation of the 1950s, it is worth noting that the magazine usually presented Central and Eastern European jazz reliably and objectively, although (occasional) concessions to the political correctness of the era were made. The largest number of pieces on jazz in the Eastern Bloc was devoted to the USSR, but the analysis has shown that the circumstances of Russian lovers of jazz music were the most difficult. Importantly, almost until the end of the researched decade, the attitude towards jazz, especially in Russian media, was clearly negative, although numerous attempts were made to popularize it (contacts with the United States, major festivals, etc.) A slightly smaller, although still large, number of pieces pertained to Czechoslovakia, again not shirking criticism of the state of jazz in that country. Nevertheless, it appears that in general terms, the situation of jazz in Czech and Slovak lands was satisfactory. A similar number of pieces discussed East Germany and Yugoslavia, although in the former case these were mostly short notes relating the current situation and more rarely substantive articles, while the opposite was true of the latter. Much less attention was paid to Hungary, while Romania and Bulgaria were only mentioned in passing, which was the result of the objectively weak popularity of syncopated music among their populations.

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