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Hoofdstuk 10: Samenvattingen en bijlagen
10.1 Summary in English
Jazz over the Ocean is a Master’s Thesis that discusses the jazz music in Rotterdam, 1918-1940. The
port function and cultural climate of Rotterdam are probably the factors that best explain the
flourishing jazz tradition; this Dutch city aimed at modernity and was thus in direct contact with the
United States and with other European cities. What did this mean for the network of musicians? How
did this influence the jazz history? In what way and to what extent was the Holland-America Line
important for the distribution and development of jazz music in Rotterdam during the Interbellum?
This Master’s Thesis concerns the jazz history, maritime historical context and the history of
the pre-war cultural life of Rotterdam. The historiographical examination (in chapter two) shows how
these three main fields of research have thus far never been really connected to explain the historical
and socio-cultural network of early jazz musicians, from the perspective of the more technical and
maritime story of port cities, such as Rotterdam.
Chapter three concerns the stage and performance infrastructure in the Dutch Interbellum:
who played where, with whom? Musical families took the initiative in bars and American soloists
often played together with the orchestras of Rotterdam. The new American dances were hot.
Fourth chapter demonstrates that the overseas contacts for Holland were in the first instance
its colonies: from Suriname came negro musicians, who could easily find employment as American
entertainers; in the Dutch Indies the native peoples started playing new instruments. The line via
Batavia seemed to be ‘shorter’ than the transatlantic. Integrating new customs and working with
people with other skin colors invited resistance, all the more since jazz dances were seen as barbaric.
Chapter five points out the technical developments in the pre-war period, in relation to
shipping and modern life: radio and gramophone records were indispensable for the rise of the new
swinging dances.
The sixth chapter discusses live music on board. Some musicians have their saying about the
actual music, hereby they have put the share of jazz history on cruise ships in perspective. Above all,
amusement was seen as more important than the music providing that entertainment.
The seventh chapter is mainly concerned with presenting the conclusions of this research and
recommendations for further research. Regarding the Holland-America Line: the image of the
transatlantic connection has contributed to the importance of the Line, more than the actual maritime
activities. Rotterdam’s impulse to Americanize, together with the established network and image,
constructed the ‘jazziness’ of the city.
Further research into port cities as cultural hotspots is still only a dream. To learn more,
please contact the author: jazz@arieverheij.nl.
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