CENTER FOR JAZZ ARTS EXHIBITION EXPLORES LIFE OF AMERICAN EXPATRIATE IN 1920’S BERLIN August 10, 2007 Los Angeles --- Center for Jazz Arts has worked in close cooperation with historian and author Rainer Lotz to assemble the first, online exhibition of its kind celebrating the remarkable career of musician Michael Danzi throughout the music and entertainment scene of Weimar Germany. Revealing many one-of-a-kind photos and accounts from within the creative community of 1920s/30s Berlin, the scholarship of Lotz in documenting the life of guitarist Michael Danzi is unprecedented, and the assembled images provide the viewer with a rare glimpse into the life of an American musical artist whose multi-instrumental abilities found him immersed in the theatre, film, radio, television, and recording communities of Germany during one of the most complex periods in European history. “After many months of coordinating the launch of this extraordinary exhibition, we’re thrilled to be sharing it with the public,” stated Guy DeFazio, president and chairman of the Center for Jazz Arts. “Rainer’s work is exemplary, and the detailed, personal memories of Michael Danzi that he’s documented provide a fascinating window into Weimar era Berlin.” In the opening remarks of his book “Danzi: American Musician in Germany,” Lotz describes the process of assembling Danzi’s memoirs by stating “Mike Danzi’s wife was his guiding spirit and her death in 1956 led him to destroy all photographs, letters, diaries, and scrapbooks from their years together. These memoirs are really reconstructed from memory, in the true sense of the word. They are based on innumerable letters, phone calls, and interviews over ten years.” In this exhibition, images from Danzi’s performances at such landmark venues as the Villa d’Este, the Palais de Danse, the Scala Theater, the Ambassadeurs, and the Hotel Esplanade are combined with detailed, personal accounts of the art, commerce, culture, politics, personalities, and friendships that he encountered throughout his time in Europe (1924 - 1939). As with most of the artistic and intellectual community of 1930’s Berlin, whether American or German, it would ultimately be the rise of Nazi rule that forced Michael Danzi to flee Germany for the United States, and as just one of many accounts from the events of his final days, he states “My career in Berlin ended with the evening show of October 12, 1939, at the Scala Theatre. I invited all the musicians for a farewell drink. I had very mixed feelings, and inside I was in turmoil. Karl Hoensch had received his call-up papers and was going into the army, so he asked me to take his precious violin. I thanked him for his trust, but I had to refuse as I was overloaded with baggage and instruments. I said goodbye to dear old Martha Schwannebeck across the street; I met Duisberg at the Grüne Zweig and thanked him for everything; then I went to Otto Stenzel’s party.” He continued, “It was now into October 13, of course. At Stenzel’s party I met a rather nasty reporter who had been hanging around the Scala since September. He used to sit in the orchestra pit. Why he had that privilege I shall never know, but I distrusted him and had warned Otto to be careful. Of course the mood of the party was terrific, for we had all worked together for so long and none of us knew what would happen to any of us, or when we would meet again. Well, Otto got carried away and was feeling high, and we were all drinking champagne, of course, and he called for silence. Then he spoke. ‘I want to make a prosit. Let us all drink to the Vierte Reich’ (Fourth Reich). Wow! What a thing to say! Holy mackerel!! I thought, I’m leaving Berlin today, but let me leave this party now. I got in at two and phoned Divekey; I told him what had been said, and he advised me to be outside of the embassy by half-past six that morning.” About the CJA: Established in 2004, the Center for Jazz Arts is an international institution devoted to the study and advancement of American jazz culture throughout the visual, literary, and classical arts, around the world. Through its primary operations in Los Angeles, it is building a prominent new platform of engagement for students, artists, educators, and the broader public, from every generation. For more information contact: Public Relations Center for Jazz Arts (866) 950-5200 info@centerforjazzarts.com [ back to top ]