ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the impact of postwar ideological confrontation upon the domestic jazz scenes inside America and the Communist bloc countries during the 1940s and 1950s. As American society started to problematize the infiltration of Communism, New Deal Liberalism of the 1930s was put in an awkward position. Notably, Norman Granz, who is usually associated with Jazz at the Philharmonic (JATP) – the title of many recordings and numerous concerts – unequivocally advocated for racial integration. Because of this stance, however, he soon became a symbol of something un-American and was subsequently placed under the supervision of the FBI. Ironically, jazz followers in the Communist bloc countries were persecuted precisely because jazz stood out as “American music.” Consequently, under the so-called “Zhdanov doctrine,” jazz was expelled from official culture in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Still, during the 1950s, jazz became increasingly reinterpreted by Communist authorities, which made it compatible to be a Communist and a jazz fan.
