Berlin celebrates the jazz stepping stone

By Ken Grady
In 1964, in the middle of the cold war, Dr. Martin Luther King was invited to speak at the ’64 Berlin Jazz Festival and made his famed reference to Jazz as a stepping stone.

“…and now, Jazz is exported to the world. For in a particular struggle of the Negro in America, there is something akin to the universal struggle of modern man. Everybody has the Blues. Everybody longs for meaning. Everybody needs to clap hands and be happy, Everybody longs for faith.

In music, especially this broad category called Jazz, there is a stepping stone towards all these.”

In December of 1986 I made a trip to West Berlin, in W. Germany. Just the name, Berlin, created cloak and dagger images in my head. Too many spy novels and movies. On the morning I set out. I arrived at Heathrow Airport, just outside London, and even the Lufthansa Airlines ticket counter staff looked suspicious. Or, at least I thought they did.

I was going to Berlin to visit a friend. He met me at the airport, and showed me the town. Berlin is a very cosmopolitan city, but all the trappings of the cold war were still in place in 1986. Berlin was a divided city, east and west. The Berlin Wall was still standing. West Berlin, itself, was still divided into American, British, and French sectors, just as it was at the end WWII.

After seeing the sightseeing, and dinner, I wanted to hear some live Jazz.

Germans have an unabashed love for American Jazz, even though Hitler’s propaganda machine took several measures to prevent its spread in the 1930’s-40’s. But, all of the Nazi propaganda had the opposite effect on German soldiers, because they became interested in Jazz. Check out the documentary, “Swing Under the Swastika”, which looks at Jazz under the Nazis.

When American troops went to Europe in 1942, Jazz went with them. Swing, for example, reminded the troops of home. By the time I got to Europe several decades later, Jazz was all over the place. Germany, Britain, France, Poland, Russia, The Netherlands, etc. So, on my trip to West Berlin, I found some great Jazz venues around town. As the center of all things musical in Europe, Berlin has attracted Jazz artists from all over the world.

One of my favorite clubs in West Berlin, was a piano bar called Alex’s, near the main drag, the “Kudamm” (Kurferstendamm Strasse). Don’t know if Alex’s is still there, but no matter where you look in Berlin there are plenty of Jazz clubs and bars, some thirty at last count.

Here are some clubs in Berlin you may want to check out.

–The A Trane, an international Jazz club, is an intimate spot where
you might catch up with the likes of Herbie Hancock.

-The B Flat, one of Berlin’s hottest clubs, features Balkan and local Jazz.

-Quasimodo Jazz Club features funk.

-The Schlot Jazz Club features “educational” Jazz.

-JazzKeller 69, features Avant Garde and is described as the most “extreme” Jazz club.in Berlin.

-Yorckschlosschen, where Jazz and Blues are on tap

If you make it to Berlin, and want live Jazz, pick up a copy of the Berlin Jazz Map from your hotel , or friends.