Table Of ContentJazz in Poland
JAZZ
Jazz under State Socialism
Edited by Gertrud Pickhan
and Rüdiger Ritter
Vol. 2
Igor Pietraszewski
Jazz in Poland
Improvised Freedom
Translated by Lucyna Stetkiewicz
Bibliographic Information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche
Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data is available in the internet
at http://dnb.d-nb.de.
This publication was financially supported by the
Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Wrocław.
Imprint of the cover illustration
by courtesy of Marek A. Karewicz, Warszawa.
First edition in Polish as “Wolność improwizowana”
by NOMOS Publishing House, Kraków, Poland 2012.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Pietraszewski, Igor, 1962- author.
[Jazz w Polsce. English]
Jazz in Poland : improvised freedom / Igor Pietraszewski.
pages cm. — (Jazz under state socialism, 1867-724X ; vol. 2)
Translation of Jazz w Polsce : wolność improwizowana. Kraków : Nomos, c2012.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-3-631-64319-8
1. Jazz—Social aspects—Poland. 2. Jazz—Economic aspects. 3. Jazz—
Poland—History and criticism. 4. Music and state—Poland. I. Title.
ML3918.J39P5413 2014
781.6509438—dc23
2013047996
ISSN 1867-724X
ISBN 978-3-631-64319-8 (Print)
E-ISBN 978-3-653-03276-5 (E-Book)
DOI 10.3726/978-3-653-03276-5
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www.peterlang.com
Contents
Preface ................................................................................................................... 9(cid:1)
Introduction ......................................................................................................... 11(cid:1)
Chapter I
The world of jazz in the light of Pierre Bourdieu’s theory ............................ 17(cid:1)
The habitus .................................................................................................. 22(cid:1)
The capital ................................................................................................... 25(cid:1)
The field ...................................................................................................... 28(cid:1)
Chapter II
Evolution of the field of jazz in Poland ........................................................... 35(cid:1)
Before World War II ................................................................................... 39(cid:1)
War occupation 1939-1945 ......................................................................... 46(cid:1)
1945-1948 ................................................................................................... 48(cid:1)
1948-1956 ................................................................................................... 52(cid:1)
1956-1970 ................................................................................................... 63(cid:1)
1970-1981 ................................................................................................... 74(cid:1)
1981-1989 ................................................................................................... 78(cid:1)
After the year 1989 ...................................................................................... 81(cid:1)
Chapter III
Habitus of the jazzman ..................................................................................... 85(cid:1)
Chapter IV
The modern audience of jazz .......................................................................... 117(cid:1)
Socio-demographic profile ........................................................................ 118(cid:1)
The ways of “entering jazz” and the audience’s preferences ....................... 120(cid:1)
Typology of jazz listeners ......................................................................... 129(cid:1)
Participation in the field of jazz ................................................................ 135(cid:1)
Summary ................................................................................................... 140(cid:1)
Final Conclusions .............................................................................................. 143(cid:1)
List of tables ...................................................................................................... 145(cid:1)
Index .................................................................................................................. 147(cid:1)
Bibliography ...................................................................................................... 151(cid:1)
To my Mother
Preface
The communist system, even during its waning years, had an ambition of con-
trolling as many aspects of its citizens’ lives as possible. The power was there-
fore exercised in three ways: economically (command economy), politically (the
party-state that eliminated political competition), and culturally (through the
mechanisms of preventive censorship and the attempts to cultivate a single cul-
tural form: socialist realism).
Economically the state controlled the “means of production,” to use Marxist
parlance, and there was not much people could do once private businesses were
either eliminated or pushed to margins of the economic life. Politically, chal-
lenging the power of the party-state was extremely risky and only a few decided
to engage in dissident activities. The only domain whereby opposition could
have been formulated and even expressed, particularly if criticism was carefully
veiled by metaphors or concealed in Aesopian fables, was culture. As a result,
people were well versed in interpreting cultural productions as expressions of
freedom and critiques of the oppressive system, even if there was no explicit
intention to challenge the system on the part of the artists. Music had a special
role in this “hidden” criticism, as it is not difficult to endow an instrumental
piece with a meaning. All one needs is imagination. And that was never in short
supply under communism.
Jazz was particularly suitable to serve as a conduit of “hidden” rebellion. Its
very form is rebellious. It is after all an epitome of freedom, as improvisation is
right at its center. Additionally, after 1956, Poland was gradually becoming the
freest of the communist countries. The rulers simply did not have enough re-
sources to control all aspects of social and private life; arguably some of them
did not want to be too strict. There was the Catholic Church, never completely
subjugated. And than there were cabarets, theatres, clubs… And many of these
clubs were full of music and the music of choice was often jazz. This musical
form literally exploded in Poland in the late 1950s and managed to preserve its
popularity until the beginning of the eighties.
There existed, however, a peculiar paradox. Jazz managed to acquire a status
of rebellious, free music, and yet jazz musicians enjoyed the benefits of state
sponsorship. Where was the line between rebellion and subservience?
Pietraszewski offers interesting answer this question. In the process he
writes also a history of jazz music in Poland, going back to the interwar period
(1918-39) and analyzing the situation of jazz musicians after the fall of com-
munism, when they had to learn very quickly how to survive under the market
conditions.
