Spiritual Jazz 18: Behind The Iron Curtain: Sounds Beyond Barriers Pt 2 [2LP]

Various Artists - Spiritual Jazz 18: Behind The Iron Curtain: Sounds Beyond Barriers Pt 2 [2LP]

Double LP version. Part 2. One of the most politically charged terms of the 20th century, the Iron Curtain was a metaphor for political and cultural division. In a post-war telegram Winston Churchill referred to the fault line that ran through Europe between East and West as ''an Iron Curtain is drawn down upon their front. We do not know what is going on behind.'' In this two-part album, as far as jazz is concerned, Jazzman will showcase, describe and celebrate exactly what was ''going on behind.'' Music is the power supreme, with the ability to transcend all barriers, be they physical, political or metaphorical. The liner notes illustrate the complex and contradictory history of Soviet jazz, and the tracks chosen cover the key period of the early 1960s to the 1980s. It was during these dark years of the Cold War that the Soviet Union and its satellite states produced a number of outstanding artists playing in a variety of styles. The impact of modernism, from hard bop and Latin to modal and cool jazz, had found its way through cracks in the curtain. The deeply-felt ancestral strains of traditional European folk music were combined with the exciting new and progressive sounds of the West, and a radical, intoxicating brew was created that no amount of guns, tanks or polonium tea could overcome. Jazzman chronicles the triumph of jazz at a time of extreme geopolitical conflict. What went on behind the Iron Curtain in these countries was once mysterious and unknown to the West, but the perseverance of their artists provided sound and light amid the secretive, dark days of the communist-capitalist standoff. There was no end of life-affirming spiritual jazz behind the Iron Curtain. Featuring Leningrad Jazz Ensemble, Sh Jazz Quintet, Josef Blaha Trio, Csaba Deseo Ensemble, Manfred Ludwig-Sextett, Anatoly Vapirov, Zbigniew Namyslowski, Andrzej Trzaskowski Quintet, Tomsits Quartet, Nicolai Gromin Quartet, Valery Kolesnikov, Vyacheslav Novikov, Vladimir Molotkov, Alexander Christidis, Tone Jansa, and S+HQ. 01. Sh Jazz Quintet - Delilah 02. Josef Blaha Trio - Inter Mezzo Forte 03. Csaba Deseo Ensemble - Beyond The Csitari Mountains 04. Manfred Ludwig-Sextett - Skandinavia 05. Anatoly Vapirov - Mystery 06. Zbigniew Namyslowski - Piatawka 07. Andrzej Trzaskowski Quintet - Synopsis (Expression I) 08. Tomsits Quartet - Dhrupad 09. Nicolai Gromin Quartet - Corrida 10. Valery Kolesnikov, Vyacheslav Novikov, Vladimir Molotkov, Alexander Christidis - Rainbow 11. Tone Jansa - Goa 12. S+HQ - My Girl (And Other Things) 13. Pege Jazz Workshop - Hungarian Folk Song