Jutta Hipp, the pianist on the above piece of music, was born in Leipzig in 1925. Yes, doing the math, that means she was growing up in the prime Nazi years. Not the easiest time to be a jazz fan in Germany, but in her heart of hearts she was. She was also a gifted musician in the form, recording in both Europe and the States. And making an album with Zoot Sims, which she did in 1956, is not something every jazz player got to do. And yet, it was her last album. For reasons unknown she gave up playing music professionally, getting a job instead at a clothing factory. She died in 2003.
All of which makes her the opposite of a late bloomer, I guess. Still, better something than nothing.
2 comments:
I enjoyed listening to this piece (great title) so much that I decided to do a little research of my own into the mystery of Jutta Hipp. It turns out your observation about growing up in Nazi Germany being a difficult experience was correct, but the years afterward were in many ways worse. But I'll let you read the story for yourself in this pdf wayback essay written by a young woman writing her thesis about jazz in the 50s. You have to scan down to page 4 to get the English version. Her story is fascinating and sad, but not all that sad if you know what I mean.
She had a nice touch on the piano, all right. All the extant recordings I've heard of her have been quite lovely.
That link didn't quite work, but it did give me an idea where to look. Probably I shouldn't be too surprised at what caused her retirement. Obviously it was wrong of Feather to use his authority and credibility that way.
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