Exhibition, Amsterdam City Archives, 3 april 2026 – 13 september 2026
Stadsarchief Amsterdam
In the migrant city of Amsterdam, a flourishing Jazz scene emerged in the 1930s with artists from the United States, Suriname and Eastern Europe. On April 3, 2026, a multimedia exhibition about these early years of jazz in the city will open at Stadsarchief Amsterdam: Jazz years, people, migration and music in Amsterdam, 1930-1939.
Jazz musicians came from the United States, Eastern Europe, Suriname, the Caribbean and of course from Amsterdam itself. A number of well-known names: Freddy Johnson, Boy Edgar, Teddy Cotton and Kid Dynamite. All these musicians lived for a shorter or longer period of time in Amsterdam in the 1930s, where they worked and performed. In addition, greats such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway performed in Amsterdam in these years. At the same time, there are many whose names we often no longer know, especially women: Rosie Poindexter, Alma Braaf and Clara de Vries.
The Vijzelstraat played an important role in this: a modern, wide metropolitan street that was both important as a place to live for musicians, but also as a stage. In the state-of-the-art Carlton Hotel, popular American artists such as Louis Armstrong (1933) and Cab Calloway (1934) first stood in front of a Dutch audience.
Several Jazz clubs were founded on and around Rembrandtplein. In Tuschinski, jazz artists played night after night in La Gaîté. The Palace and Kit Kat Club aimed at a broad and curious Amsterdam audience. Not only the artists of African-American and Afro-Surinamese origin were here, but also the bar staff. At the same time, it was a breeding ground for talent. Amsterdam jazz heroes such as Boy Edgar and Kid Dynamite laid the foundation for their careers in these years. In the Palace bar, Martin Sterman and Boy Edgar learned to make music by well-known artists such as Coleman Hawkins who stayed here in the 1936/37s.
Bastard Orange Lighting Design created the lighting design for the exhibition.
