SWING FANS Diamond 48, Black Body - Teak Blade

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Depending on the particular camp and the specific situation of the camp, the function of jazz and jazz-influenced music in the Nazi camp system was extremely variable. On the one hand, it was an essential component of illegal and/or tolerated camp culture; on the other, it was a means of propaganda and distraction for the henchmen of the Nazi regime. In their own field of responsibility, individual SS members hardly bothered themselves about the music guidelines of the regime. And so it came to pass that even the SS- Rottenführer (an SS leader) Pery Broad jammed together with Dutch jazz musicians in the men’s section of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Only through such varying motivations could the scorned jazz 'survive' in, of all places, the Nazi camps. Likewise, the saxophonist Miroslav Hejtmar summarized of his performances with the Buchenwald jazz orchestra Rhythm: These appearances were regularly planned. Saturday, Sunday, but also spontaneously, when the oldest camp prisoners came to visit for example. Or during recreational time, when there was no trouble brewing in the camp and it was unlikely that the SS would enter the camp. Schumann, C., 1997. Der Ghetto-Swinger: Eine Jazzlegende Erzählt 2nd ed., Munich: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag. Though ostracized by the Nazi regime as 'degenerate', reports by historical witnesses and survivors substantiate the claim that jazz, as well as jazz-related music, could be heard within numerous Nazi camps. That such reports do not constitute the exception is made clear by similar activities of prisoners of war, in camps for foreign civilians and forced labour camps, in police detainment camps, in the internment camps of Vichy France, in the Dutch transport camp Westerbork, and in the ghettos of Łódź, Warsaw and Vilna, not to mention the equally secret jazz sessions of the members of the Swingjugend in youth detention and concentration camps. A few examples should serve to make the spectrum of these jazz activities clear.

In 1927 Armstrong worked with pianist Earl Hines, who had a similar impact on his instrument as Armstrong had on trumpet. Hines' melodic, horn-like conception of playing deviated from the contemporary conventions in jazz piano centered on building rhythmic patterns around "pivot notes". His approaches to rhythm and phrasing were also free and daring, exploring ideas that would define swing playing. His approach to rhythm often used accents on the lead-in instead of the main beat, and mixed meters, to build a sense of anticipation to the rhythm and make his playing swing. He also used "stops" or musical silences to build tension in his phrasing. [11] [12] Hines' style was a seminal influence on the styles of swing-era pianists Teddy Wilson, Art Tatum, Jess Stacy, Nat "King" Cole, Erroll Garner, Mary Lou Williams, and Jay McShann. In November 1939, a group of students from Czechoslovakia founded a vocal octet called the Sing Sing Boys in Sachsenhausen. One part of their programme consisted of well-known musical dance numbers of film melodies in a swing arrangement. Beyond that, they used compositions in the jazz idiom from their musical leader Karel Štancl as well as satirical songs from the Liberated Theatre in Prague, which had been closed in 1938 due to its antifascist leanings. These songs contained the heavily jazz-influenced melodies of Jaroslav Jezek, and their performance was prohibited by the German occupiers. Josef Sárka described the concerts of the Sing Sing Boys in a letter:

Jazz in the Camps

Nye, Russell B., 1976, Music in the Twenties: The Jean Goldkette Orchestra, Prospects, An Annual of American Cultural Studies 1:179–203, October 1976, DOI: 10.1017/S0361233300004361

During the Weimar Republic, jazz conquered Germany and in the process became a symbol of the Roaring Twenties. Yet bitter protest was already stirring from nationalist conservatives and right-wing circles. After Hitler took power in 1933, the conflict over jazz intensified. So-called fremdländisch (alien) music had to be eradicated. After someearly prohibitions in this regard and the creation of the Reichsmusikkammer, which would mean exclusion for Jewish musicians and impede artistic exchange with foreign musicians, there followed a liberal phase owing to the 1936 Olympic games being held in Berlin.With the success of the new jazz-style swing and the strengthening of the so-called Swingjugend (Swing Youth), however, further repression came in 1937 and 1938. District Nazi party leaders, police directors and local businesspeople began to issue numerous decrees prohibiting swing, jazz, and swing dancing for their respective region, city or local establishment. Despite these restrictions, jazz’s presence continued, because of the ease with which ignorant inspectors were outsmarted, and the sympathies for the agreeable swing style harboured even by some Nazi functionaries. Berrett, Joshua (1 October 2008). Louis Armstrong and Paul Whiteman: Two Kings of Jazz. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0300127478– via Google Books. Ritter, F. ed., 1994. Heinrich Himmler und die Liebe zum Swing. Erinnerungen und Dokumente., Leipzig: Reclam. Considine, J. D. "The missing link in the evolution of JUMP BLUES". Baltimoresun.com . Retrieved 23 February 2021.

Film Documentaries

Roof fans provide a simple way to ventilate large areas and can be used with ducting or without. Typically, axial fans are used without and provide higher volumes, whilst centrifugal fans are used with ducting and can generate higher pressures to accommodate the ducting. Sometimes even SS members were in the audience, looking for a distraction. Even those prisoners who did not have the energy or opportunity to be present at such concerts were, after a note from Štancl, thankful for the encouragement and variety: 'I cannot think of a single appearance in front of the comrades which was not well-received, with satisfaction and even a certain amount of thankfulness.' All members of the Sing Sing Boys were released under the auspices of a prisoner amnesty program by spring 1943.

In 1935 the Benny Goodman Orchestra had won a spot on the radio show Let's Dance and started showcasing an updated repertoire featuring Fletcher Henderson arrangements. Goodman's slot was on after midnight in the East, and few people heard it. It was on earlier on the West Coast and developed the audience that later led to Goodman's Palomar Ballroom triumph. At the Palomar engagement starting on 21 August 1935, audiences of young white dancers favored Goodman's rhythm and daring arrangements. The sudden success of the Goodman orchestra transformed the landscape of popular music in America. Goodman's success with "hot" swing brought forth imitators and enthusiasts of the new style throughout the world of dance bands, which launched the "swing era" that lasted until 1946. [22] Nigger jazz’ [… was] offered here in outstanding form without objection from the SS. For us young people, Viennese Café music was boring, but the new style of the Ghetto-Swingers buoyed us through their weekly performances in front of the café.

Swing as an Attitude Towards Life

In the French prisoner camp in Perpignan in 1942, for example, the Viennese Erich Pechmann, imprisoned because of his Jewish faith, sang blues pieces and, in addition, imitated instruments with his voice. Using only these simple methods, as Fred Wander relates, Pechmann was able to boost the morale of his fellow prisoners: