Czechs give asylum to US family: a ''Different'' jazz ambassador Herbert Ward through the lenses of FBI reports

Title:

Czechs give asylum to US family: a ''Different'' jazz ambassador Herbert Ward through the lenses of FBI reports

Creator:

Vidomus , Petr and Mareš, Jiří

Identifier:

https://cdk.lib.cas.cz/client/handle/uuid:4e0e3329-2e61-4493-9839-566b9c31815c
uuid:4e0e3329-2e61-4493-9839-566b9c31815c

Subject:

Herbert Ward, american communists, and music

Type:

model:article and TEXT

Format:

bez média and svazek

Description:

Czechoslovakia of the mid-1950s was a culturally isolated country where the Western gains were regarded suspiciously, to say the least. The regime’s attitude toward jazz was softening very slowly, and many jazz activities bordered on illegality. In this situation, Herbert Ward came to Prague (1954), one of a few American Communists, who asked for political asylum in Czechoslovakia and became involved in the local music scene. Although an almost unknown jazz bassist to the general public (though he played with Sidney Bechet, Willie ''Lion'' Smith, Bud Freeman, etc.), in the late 1950s, however, he contributed signifi cantly to the rehabilitation of jazz in communist Czechoslovakia. Ward became an invaluable asset for Czech jazz fans, and one of their tools in negotiating the position of their favourite genre with respect to the doctrine of Socialist Realism. Herbert Ward was not a part of the well-known cultural diplomacy projects arranged by the US Department of State (described by Von Eschen, 2004). His political activities were monitored by the FBI and, as a political refugee, he naturally took part in Czechoslovakia’s communist propaganda. As a ''jazz curiosity,'' however, he became part of the 1960s popular culture and the living myth of Czech jazz fans and musicians. Reconstructed from previously unknown archival records (FBI, State Security Archives), my paper portrays Ward’s political activities and his ambiguous identity of a jazz musician and a young American communist. and Přeložil: Jiří Mareš

Language:

English

Rights:

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
policy:public

Coverage:

5-41

Source:

Czech journal of contemporary history | 2018 Volume:6 | Number:1

Harvested from:

CDK

Metadata only:

false