LL-L "Music" 2012.10.17 (01) [EN]

[Lowlands-L]

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 L O W L A N D S - L - 17 October 2012 - Volume 01
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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Music

I was born and raised in
Wilhelmsburg<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelmsburg,_Hamburg>([ˈvɪlhɛlmsˌbʊɝk],
Missingsch [ˈvɪlɛmsˌbʊɪç], Low Saxon
*Willemsborg* [ˈvɪˑlɛmsˌbɔːx]), a part of the German city state Hamburg, an
island in the river Elbe. (Don't confuse it with the Austrian city of
Wilhelmsburg!) Well, it's not one of your more prestigious addresses ...
Until the early 20th century it belonged to the Electorate of Hanover (*
Hannover*). Originally it was completely rural, its inhabitants then being
mostly dairy and vegetable farmers that sold their wares in Hamburg,
crossing the river by barge, by sled in the winter. With the Industrial
Revolution, much of the area came to consist of industrial "parks" and
working-class tenement districts. Promises of city jobs attracted poor
country folk from far and wide, to a considerable degree even from Poland.
During World War II, the Allies specifically targeted Wilhelmsburg,
including the working-class tenements, with their carpet bombing. (This is
how one of my grandfathers was killed.)

The government of Hamburg has a history of relegating anything undesirable
to Wilhelmsburg, i.e. to treat it as a dump. This is where the city
established a camp for nomadic
Roma<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romani_people>("gypsies"), and this
is where most of Hamburg's considerable number of
Sinti <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinti> (another type of "gypsies,"
mostly sedentary ones) live. And this is where since the 1960s most "guest
workers" from Turkey and many other countries got to live.

I grew up in the neighborhood of the local Sinti families. I still remember
the matron Rosa Weiss, who had somehow survived the *Porraimos* (Holocaust)
... She was the only person that was allowed to smoke cigars an pipes in
streetcars. I remember having a lot of respect and admiration for that
sizable lady, a force to be reckoned with, and I remember believing I had
had a brush with greatness when she once spoke to me (and I don't even
remember what she said). Most Sinti of that district have the surname Weiss
(pronounced [vaɪs], meaning "White"), and most of them now live as a clan
community within a townhouse complex. One of the grandfathers of the famous
Sinti "Gypsy Jazz" or "Gypsy Swing" artist Django
Reinhardt<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Django_Reinhardt>was a member
of this clan.

Family connection? Stereotyping of all Sinti as "Gypsy Jazz" artists? Who
knows? While still keeping their day jobs as scrap iron dealers, four Weiss
brothers of Wilhelmsburg are now hitting the big time. They are taking "Gypsy
Jazz" one or two steps farther. You have to hear it to understand and
appreciate it. The band's name is Django Deluxe, and its first album is
called "Wilhelmsburg."

Yay! I feel proud of those fellow-"Williburgers"!


   - http://www.ndr.de/kultur/jazz/cd_tipps/adwjazzdjangodeluxe103.html
   - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xr5xSIBEcq0 (in Denmark)
   - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CvGmLr0iDc
   - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDFGdsrZOGg
   - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1p3NTUfYydo (in Switzerland)
   - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hbl9QDUtgJQ
   - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4OHLanXw0A

There are tons more if you search for them.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron
Seattle, USA

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