The show wanted by the Italian Cultural Institute Brussels in 2022 and by maestro Angelo Gregorio debuts in Italy on January 27 at the Teatro Comunale di Caserta at 19.15 pm.
The Jazz & Shoah project was born from an idea of Maestro saxophonist Angelo Gregorio to tell the unknown story of 15 jazz musicians from the Terezin concentration camp. The event promoted by the Brussels Cultural Institute wants to use musical art as an act of resistance. Through books, scientific publications and articles, Maestro Gregorio manages to write a passionate text that includes the stories of the deported musicians.
After the Gestapo took control of Theresienstadt in 1940, the Jewish ghetto of the Czech city soon became a point of arrival for numerous Jews from all over German-occupied Czechoslovakia. Among the protagonists of this story is Erik Volgel, who is looking for a swing club where he can meet other jazz musicians. The Austrian trumpeter meets the guitarist Coco Schumann in the jazz club of Terezin, giving life to “The Ghetto Swingers”.
With the arrival of the Red Cross in the Terezin camp, on June 23, 1944, the orchestra was asked to prepare a repertoire and perform during a film shoot. The Nazis promised rewards to all, and freedom after the film shoot, instead they were deported to Auschwitz and many of them directly to the gas chamber.
The Jazz & Shoah Orchestra – which debuts in Italy for the first time at the Parravano theater in Caserta at 19.15:3 p.m. – includes six master multi-instrumentalists (with arrangements by Angelo Gregorio on saxophone and vocals, they will play: Julien Gillain on violin, piano and vocals; Thimote Lemaire on trombone; Gabriele Pagliano on double bass; Cyranò Vatel on guitar and Lucas Vanderputten on drums) to give voice to the story of the Ghetto Swingers. At the end of each piece, a series of slides carefully chosen and endorsed by the Fondation de la Mémoire Contemporaine de Bruxelles gives weight and makes the narrative part available in XNUMX languages, Italian, French and English, even more interactive.
“With this show we want to resound the music of an era, but also to make Jewish musicians face the shock suffered – says Angelo Gregorio – in contrast to extermination there is the intoxicating sound of the force of life and art. The Nazis had disfigured this musical genre by calling it “degenerate” so that they could exploit it and put it to sleep, thus the world faced with the project of the Final Solution of the Jewish problem”.
Through slides and archive footage, the show aims to highlight the paradox between the roaring, joyful swing music of the 20s played at the Theresienstadt concentration camp and the desolation of the Shoah. An exciting, moving journey that tells a tragic story with a completely different approach than usual and close to the joyful and carefree music of Count Basie and Duke Ellington.
Among the guests of the evening was also the first supporter and creator of the project, Paolo Sabbatini.
“I was immediately struck by the creativity and cultural background of Angelo Gregorio, who thanks to his inventive skills was able to extract jewels from the rocks”, confesses the diplomat currently in charge of the Area of Promotion of Culture and Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
As director of the Brussels Cultural Institute in 2022, Sabbatini addressed topics such as inclusion and exclusion at all levels; training in the cult of beauty, the involvement of young people with the creation and promotion of orchestras and regular concerts. The evening celebrating the day of remembrance also benefits from the moral patronage of the Association of the Knights of San Silvestro presided by Monsignor Luigi Casolini and the Belgian-Italian Chamber of Commerce.
Article published on 26 January 2023 - 19:03
