专辑简介

The 20 tracks on this album are a very remarkable documents of European Jazz History - The Story of the Sopot Jazz Festival began in the Polish city of Sopot in 1956 - a very special and peculiar event, as on one hand there was a lot of anticipation and joy, and on the other hand there was a lot of fear on the part of the communist government that it might bring some unwelcome cultural revolution. For the first festival in 1956 around 50.000 people came to Sopot. After a decade of communist rule, this was something new, as the country was in many ways cut off from the rest of the world. It was extremely rare to hear or see elements of any foreign culture on public television which was totally controlled by the government. This album unites 20 Highlights from the very first two festivals in 1956 and 1957. Polish Jazz Musicians met their colleagues from the free part of the world and together they joined into what can be really called the greatest jam session in the world behind the iron curtain. A fascinating musical journey back in time and a great proof that music is able to unite the nations - there is no wall that will be able to stop it! Enjoy and keep the memory alive!