Seekers of happiness. Jews and jazz in the Soviet Union
Seekers of happiness. Jews and jazz in the Soviet Union

Summary/Abstract: My article explores the contribution of Jewish composers, singers and musicians to the popularisation of jazz in the Soviet Union. Many Soviet Jewish musicians chose this genre, because jazz relies upon improvisation as does klezmer music. My article focuses on the Soviet super- stars of this genre. Leonid Utesov was a legend of Soviet popular music: singer, jazz band conductor, film and stage actor. Many of Utesov’s musical hits had deep roots in Odessan Jewish culture. In 1929, he formed one of the first Soviet jazz bands, Tea- Jazz (abbreviation for Theatrical Jazz). The Jewish composer Isaac Dunaevsky wrote the music for many of Utesov’s hits and for the jazz-comedy Veselye Rebiata (Happy Guys, 1934). The Jewish melodies which Dunaevsky heard in his childhood were incorporated into many of his songs. Two other Soviet Jewish jazz stars, composers and conductors Alexander Tsfasman and Eddie Rosner, performed mostly Western jazz hits. In the 1920s – mid 1940s jazz dominated Soviet popular music. However, during the anti-cosmopolitan campaign in the Soviet Union in the late 1940s-1953, jazz was forbidden as Western, American music. Only during Khrushchev’s Thaw was the genre rehabilitated again.My article explores the contribution of Jewish composers, singers and musicians to the popularisation of jazz in the Soviet Union. Many Soviet Jewish musicians chose this genre, because jazz relies upon improvisation as does klezmer music. My article focuses on the Soviet super- stars of this genre. Leonid Utesov was a legend of Soviet popular music: singer, jazz band conductor, film and stage actor. Many of Utesov’s musical hits had deep roots in Odessan Jewish culture. In 1929, he formed one of the first Soviet jazz bands, Tea- Jazz (abbreviation for Theatrical Jazz). The Jewish composer Isaac Dunaevsky wrote the music for many of Utesov’s hits and for the jazz-comedy Veselye Rebiata (Happy Guys, 1934). The Jewish melodies which Dunaevsky heard in his childhood were incorporated into many of his songs. Two other Soviet Jewish jazz stars, composers and conductors Alexander Tsfasman and Eddie Rosner, performed mostly Western jazz hits. In the 1920s – mid 1940s jazz dominated Soviet popular music. However, during the anti-cosmopolitan campaign in the Soviet Union in the late 1940s-1953, jazz was forbidden as Western, American music. Only during Khrushchev’s Thaw was the genre rehabilitated again.

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