Buttoned-down Stuttgart might appear to be an unlikely jazz mecca, but the venerable music genre is making a comeback in the southwestern German city after being popularized by American GIs after the war.
When thinking of Stuttgart, the sounds of Porsche and Mercedes’ engines are more likely to fill the imagination than syncopated piano notes. A closer look, however, reveals that the capital of Baden-Württemberg is a city full of jazz lovers.
Jazz started to take off in the region just prior to the Second World War, when folks sneaked into illegal clubs to hear unique music from America. After the war, the US Armed Forces Network played hours of jazz over the airwaves, creating more German fans with each broadcast.
“Swing and bebop first got us hooked,” said Professor Mini Schulz from Stuttgart’s State School for Music and Performing Arts. “The American forces were hip. They were sexy and they brought this sexy music with them. It was the music of freedom.”
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