{"id":387,"date":"2024-05-01T17:04:28","date_gmt":"2024-05-01T17:04:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tiredandbeatup.com\/writings\/?p=387"},"modified":"2024-05-01T19:54:20","modified_gmt":"2024-05-01T19:54:20","slug":"the-jazz-club","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.tiredandbeatup.com\/writings\/the-jazz-club\/","title":{"rendered":"The Jazz Club"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\u201cI want \u2013to- be a part of it. New York..<\/em>\u201d – A group of 20 something men singing the iconic Sinatra song was blocking our way, singing and laughing, a little bit drunk, but mostly high on life. One of them spoke to us in accented English, \u201cit\u2019s a great show, you will love it!\u201d There were other happy faces around. We made our way to the entrance of The Jazz Club. A lanky man in his 40s greeted us. \u201cGood evening!\u201d He had the eyes of someone who had seen history. \u201cWe would like to buy two tickets for the Swing show.\u201d I answered. \u201cSorry, we have just sold out,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh no!\u201d I was so disappointed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Jazz Club we were at, is called Reduta. It is located in Prague, which is the capital city of Czech Republic, and which is where I was exactly one month ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prague, called \u201cPraha\u201d by locals, is not merely a city; it’s a poem written in stone, a melody composed of history and legend. Europe\u2019s art & culture has collided for over a millennia in Prague; its history, art & architecture a rich tapestry of Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Neo-classical, and Modern threads. Hilter – so loved Prague, he wanted to save it for himself, so Prague escaped the bombing that befell many other European cities during WWII, its medieval center is still mostly preserved. This didn\u2019t mean Prague escaped heartache. Prague suffered some of the worst Fascism and Communism in the 20th century, most notably after the Prague Spring reforms of 1968 were brutally crushed when Soviet tanks rolled into Prague and quashed all attempts for democracy for the next 20 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Prague endured. Czechoslovakia, as it was then, finally found its freedom through The Velvet Revolution; a non-violent transition of power, one of many inspiring examples of what is possible when ordinary people engage in nonviolent civil disobedience and do not give up no matter the odds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What also endured is Reduta; The Jazz Club in Prague. It became particularly famous for having hosted an impromptu saxophone performance by American president Bill Clinton in 1994, who had returned to Prague a few days prior to our own visit to mark their 30th anniversary of joining NATO, a day of celebration for the Czech people. Democracy is very new and precious for the Czechs and this is palpable. What is also palpable is their unease about the war Russia is waging on their neighbor Ukraine. The majority of people alive in Prague today personally remember the brutality and oppression of living behind the Iron Curtain as a Soviet satellite state. They see Russian aggression on the rise again and dread losing their hard-earned freedom. They see the NATO alliance as the bulwark against an existential threat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And they look at America – as the beacon of hope – that many in the world still do, the same hope that immigrants still carry in their hearts. America was the country that helped birth modern Czechoslovakia at the end of World War I in 1918. America was the country that helped bring them freedom from the terror of Nazi Germany in World War II. And while they suffered under the boot of the totalitarian communism of the Soviet Union from the 50s to 80s, America was the country that gave them hope, its music – jazz, swing, blues continued to play in The Jazz Club Reduta & still does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And now I was standing at the entrance of this very Jazz club and being told that the tickets to the Swing tribute I was there to see had been sold out!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh no!\u201d I was so disappointed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lanky man offered a solution. \u201cWe do have another Swing concert next Thursday.\u201d \u201cBut this is our last-night in Prague,\u201d I answered remorsefully. \u201cI am sorry, where are you visiting from?\u201d he asked with a polite smile. \u201cNew York.\u201d I answered. \u201cNew York, New York?!!\u201d<\/strong> the man\u2019s eyes grew wider and his smile got warmer. I nodded. \u201cThen we must make sure you see the show!\u201d He walked away into the music hall and after a few moments re-appeared, a big grin across his face. \u201cI can organize 2 extra stools, so you can watch the show, would that be okay?\u201d My husband and I, pleasantly surprised at the sudden VIP treatment, graciously accepted his offer. \u201cLook\u201d the man steered me towards a large sign-in book, flipped one page, and there it was; Bill Clinton\u2019s signature with the words \u201cmy third wonderful visit, thank you. March 10th 2024<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He ushered us into an intimate hall packed with people sitting on sofas enjoying drinks, surrounded with walls decked with photos of the great jazz musicians who had all performed there. We spent the next two hours experiencing 4 phenomenally talented musicians who performed American classics by Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole and Ray Charles. When the lead singer led the sing-along for Frank Sinatra\u2019s \u201cMy Way\u201d, it was as if the Czech people were singing their own song. And his rendering of \u201cNew York, New York\u201d brought the house down. I laughed and cried through it all, it had been a while since I had experienced such unabashed love and joy for America. It was as I had left America to find America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I experienced this profound moment, I suddenly realized that America is no longer just a nation \u2013 if it ever was. America has become a mythology, an idea, an ember that smolders in the heart of anyone who still aspires to reach a little higher, who still dreams a few impossible dreams and who dares to keep faith in the face of some overwhelming odds. We who live here may fight, bicker and doomsay as much as we want, but the ideal of America is alive and well in hearts all around the world. We who live here may doubt the promise of America; a luxury we can afford, but not those who live outside, their faith still strong, just like those singing their hearts out, in places like The Jazz Club<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Swati Srivastava is an immigrant and a multi award-winning writer, director, and voiceover artist.<\/em> A filmmaker & storyteller, Swati turns ideas into experience. She is also an environmentalist and an immigrant to the United States.<\/em> She can be reached via Linkedin<\/a> and swati@TiredAndBeatup.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The website for Jazz Club Reduta is https:\/\/www.redutajazzclub.cz\/en<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Jazz Club we were at, is called Reduta. It is located in Prague, which is the capital city of Czech Republic, and which is where I was exactly one month ago.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"chat","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-chat","hentry","category-reflections","post_format-post-format-chat"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.tiredandbeatup.com\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.tiredandbeatup.com\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.tiredandbeatup.com\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.tiredandbeatup.com\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.tiredandbeatup.com\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=387"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/www.tiredandbeatup.com\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":409,"href":"http:\/\/www.tiredandbeatup.com\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387\/revisions\/409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.tiredandbeatup.com\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.tiredandbeatup.com\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.tiredandbeatup.com\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}