Jazz in 1950s and 1960s Poland
“To my mind Poland is the most underestimated country in the world.”
- Dave Brubeck, as told to Roman Waschko.
While a jazz scene developed in pre-war Poland, in the postwar period jazz was an underground art, appreciated via Voice of America broadcasts as elsewhere in the Communist bloc. But with growing liberalization at the end of the 1950s, a Polish jazz scene developed and cross-bloc cultural exchange began, here shown in an account given by a young British musician, Johnny Stainer, who traveled to Poland to play in the fifth World Festival of Youth and Students, held in Warsaw.
Johnny Stainer, “Jazz goes to Poland” Jazz Music, Vol. 7, no. 3 (May 1956): Page 15-16, 25-26. [Citation-only]
A reflection of this liberalization, Jazz began publishing in 1956 in Gdańsk. Edited by Jósef Balacerak and Jan Sitkowski, it would continue to 1974 with a broad, international scope. Articles demonstrate the wide scene for jazz in Poland, from international stars to local talents, and a sophisticated urbanity. Jazz would become a model for later publications: a half century of significant jazz journalism published from Poland.
Jazz, Vol 1 no. 1, Gdansk, 1956. [Forthcoming to RIPM Jazz]
By the late 1950s, Polish correspondents began supplying information to the western press. Here, Roman Waschko, a Polish journalist and jazz writer, provided a summary of the state of jazz, cold war politics, and the underground jazz scene in Poland to Jazz: A Quarterly of American Music published halfway around the world in Berkeley, California, and edited by Ralph Gleason.
Roman Waschko, “A letter from Poland - the jazz started rolling” Jazz, a Quarterly of American Music, Vol. 1, no. 3 (1959): Page 217-220, 225-228.
By the late 1950s, Polish correspondents began supplying information to the western press. Here, Roman Waschko, a Polish journalist and jazz writer, provided a summary of the state of jazz, cold war politics, and the underground jazz scene in Poland to Jazz: A Quarterly of American Music published halfway around the world in Berkeley, California, and edited by Ralph Gleason.
Roman Waschko, “A letter from Poland - the jazz started rolling” Jazz, a Quarterly of American Music, Vol. 1, no. 3 (1959): Page 217-220, 225-228.
Other writers also wrote to western-bloc publications. Here, the editor Jósef Baliz [Balacerak] of the Gdansk-based journal Jazz writes to Down Beat where he chafes at the portrayal of Polish jazz through the constant lens of “behind the Iron Curtain.” With a growing cultural liberalism, and a desire to be seen as part of the broader musical world, Polish writers helped influence western views to view culture as pan- or supra-cultural.
Correspondences: Jack Bishop; Al Deacaman; Merril Zissman; J. Baliz. “Chords and discords.” Down Beat, Vol. 26, no. 3 (5 February 1959): Page 6
By the 1960s, a jazz and jazz journalism scene had matured. In 1965, the Polish Jazz Federation established a bulletin, Jazz Forum. Written in Polish, it quickly added an English-language edition in 1967 and become the magazine of the European Jazz Federation in 1968, and then the International Jazz Federation in 1976. Jazz Forum became the most international jazz publication, with reporting from across the world and across political and cultural divides. With regular English and Polish editions and a series of issues published in German, it reached readers across the world: a global exchange of jazz and cultural information.