Glasnost Goes Cold on Jazz

With Cold War winds returning to blow an icy atmosphere into the East-West relationship it seems some of the values of the old Iron Curtain cultural sensorship policies are also back with a new ban on jazz, deemed too American.

Published 4th Sep 2014

With Cold War winds returning to blow an icy atmosphere into the East-West relationship it seems some of the values of the old Iron Curtain cultural sensorship policies are also back with a new ban on jazz, deemed too American. A Russian jazz band were prevented from playing jazz in Hungary after rejecting a call to "play something Russian instead". This is no passing USA vs France 'Freedom Fries' spat, this is an attack on the world's greatest music art form. It was once decreed "today you play jazz; tomorrow you betray the fatherland."

The Moscow Times explains the latest episode here.