Toe Tapping Among The Goose Steps, Ctd

Remembering the 1940s swing group The Harlem Kiddies – an Afro-Jewish ensemble that improbably made it big in WWII-era Denmark – Anne Dvinge examines how jazz flourished in Nazi Europe:

In the occupied territories, jazz continued to exist and even thrive. In Norway, a ban on radio jazz transmissions meant an increase in live performances, both public and underground, and in Paris the popularity of Romani jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt allowed him to avoid both racial and artistic persecution. And the war years became one of the most fruitful periods for Danish jazz. For one thing, the nightlife in Copenhagen boomed during the German occupation. Clubs and dance restaurants featured live jazz performances on a regular basis and big swing cavalcades drew audiences of up to 8,000, according to an old news clipping. … So jazz, in Denmark and in other occupied territories, became a music of resistance. It was the music of the Allied forces, a music despised by the Nazis, and a music of joy and syncopation in a time of fear and regulation. The symbolic significance of jazz during the occupation resulted in a huge rise in audiences.

Previous Dish on jazz in Nazi-occupied Europe here.