VOA标准英语2014--Ryszard Horowitz Photographs 'All That Jazz'

 

Ryszard Horowitz Photographs 'All That Jazz' 

In 1958, at the height of Cold War tensions between the United States and the Soviet¹ Union, American pianist Dave Brubeck and his band toured Poland, then a communist state under Soviet control. The trip was an early effort at "jazz diplomacy," and was met with tremendous enthusiasm by the Polish people, including a student with a camera, Ryszard Horowitz. 

"Although I had no idea I'd become a professional photographer in the future, I loved taking photographs," said Horowitz.

Horowitz said it wasn't easy being a budding photographer in post-war Poland. Film was hard to get.

"Some better film I managed to gather from some of my friends who were studying film, and they had film in bulk, used for motion picture cameras," he said. "So I would cut it into pieces."

Horowitz used that film to take pictures of the underground jazz scene in Krakow.

"Most of the subjects of my photographs were my friends, jazz musicians," he said. "We were following music, and waiting and praying that one of those days a true American jazz artist would come and visit us. So when we found out in 1958 that the Dave Brubeck Quartet was arriving in Krakow, we were just so elated."

Brubeck was traveling, not only with his band, but with his wife and two sons, and Horowitz says the pianist was anxious during his first trip behind the iron curtain.

"But once he met all of us, all of us jazz-aficionados, he knew that he was in the right place," Horowitz said.

Eventually Horowitz went to New York City to study art. In the U.S. he again had the chance to photograph the young Polish jazz musicians who were his friends back in Krakow.

"The Newport Jazz Festival invited a group of Polish musicians – a quintet – that was all my friends, all five of them," he said. "And so when they arrived in New York we spent lots time together and so I decided² to follow them to Newport."

At the Newport Jazz Festival, Horowitz photographed not only his friends, but many of the greatest musicians in jazz: trumpeter Louis Armstrong, pianist and bandleader Count Basie, saxophonist Sonny Rollins, and composer Duke Ellington and his orchestra.

"I was at one of the Ellington concerts," he said, "and they were obviously very tired, and during the break, most of them fell asleep on the stage."

Ryszard Horowitz's photos of jazz musicians have been collected into the book, "All That Jazz." Fifty years after traveling to Poland, Dave Brubeck saw the photos Horowitz had taken. Brubeck, who died in 2012, wrote the photos "capture the enthusiasm and warmth" they felt from audiences all over Poland. It was an enthusiasm that would have consequences.

 

"Partially³ because of the influx⁴ of jazz, and later on Rock ‘n' Roll and pop, it brought young people together and initiated⁵ this notion of tearing down the wall," said Horowitz.

1 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

4 influx   

n.流入，注入

参考例句：

• The country simply cannot absorb this influx of refugees.这个国家实在不能接纳这么多涌入的难民。
• Textile workers favoured protection because they feared an influx of cheap cloth.纺织工人拥护贸易保护措施，因为他们担心涌入廉价纺织品。

5 initiated   

n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入

参考例句：

• He has not yet been thoroughly initiated into the mysteries of computers. 他对计算机的奥秘尚未入门。
• The artist initiated the girl into the art world in France. 这个艺术家介绍这个女孩加入巴黎艺术界。