History

until 1945
Jazz in Germany

The forerunners of jazz reached Germany back in the time of the Empire. The Fisk Jubilee Singers, who performed at German royal courts and concert halls in 1877/78, elicited fascination and admiration with their Negro spirituals.

after 1945
Jazz in Germany

From a stylistic point of view there has not been a “zero hour” in German jazz. Improvising musicians in cities destroyed by war chaos tied in seamlessly with playing styles such as swing and bebop that had developed internationally.

after 1989
Despite Differences in History, A Fusion at Heart – Jazz in Germany after the Fall of the Wall

In Germany, the past two decades have been also in the case of Jazz a fight for identity. Since the fall of the wall, the scene has consolidated itself, with Berlin as its epicentre – and lively alternatives.