Jazz
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Compared to other concentration camps ,Westerbork was ‘reasonably’ safe and life was less harsh there, But that is also what made it a more sinister place. From 1942 to 1945, Westerbork was a transit camp (Durchgangslager) located in the Netherlands. As a transit camp, Westerbork served as a temporary collection point for Jews in the…
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Burt Bacharach is one of the must influential composers of popular music, of the 20th century. Born in Kansas City, Missouri on 12th May 1928, Burt Bacharach grew up in Forest Hills, an upper middle suburb of New York City. Although Bacharach began taking piano lessons at the age of eight, his musical breakthrough came…
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Music suits the savage beast and when you have a very talented and skillful musician playing great music it can really lift your heart. This is my interview with Sandra Mae Lux about her album Happily ever now. I interviewed her in December 2020 at the height of the Covid pandemic, and we spoke about…
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Music soothes the savage beast—that is what Eric Vogel must have thought when he sent a petition to the Commander of the Theresienstadt camp on 8 January 1943. It was to start a jazz band named the Ghetto Swingers. The band would include the following members: Dr Brammer (piano), Dr Kurt Bauer (percussion), Fr. Goldschmidt…
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Mack the Knife is one of my favourite Jazz songs, I love the Bobby Darin and Louis Armstrong versions equally. It just doesn’t get cooler than that song, sung by these two performers, although Sammy Davis Jr, also did a pretty cool rendition. Even though I have admired this song for decades. it is only…
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Before you start thinking that this will be a blog about Punk bands like the Sex Pistols singing about WWII, you’d be wrong. In fact, it has nothing to do with Punk music but more about Jazz. I am referring to Punk as a rebellion against the establishment. During WWII there were 2 groups very…
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