Jazz has never been simply music. From its very inception jazz has been imbued with social
meaning. This is what makes this kind of music an interesting field of study not only for the
music historian but also for the sociologist and the cultural historian. In the state
socialist countries of East-Central Europe after World War II jazz acquired a special meaning
as a symbol of the American way of life a symbol of freedom - at least for its admirers. The
ruling elites and the establishment regarded jazz as music of the class enemy a music of
social degeneration. These contrasting views on jazz led to hot debates over jazz and the
implementation of complicated policies towards jazz music and the jazz scene which oscillated
between affirmation and repression.
