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24 JEWISH TELEGRAPH Friday January 22, 2010

AUSTRIAN actor Christoph Waltzpicked up yet another award on Sundaynight for his portrayal as Hans Landa,the Jew Hunter, in Quentin Tarantino’shit flick Inglourious Basterds.

Waltz won best supporting actor atthe prestigious Golden Globes, held onSunday in Los Angeles. He has alreadywon more than 15 awards for the roleset during the Second World War.

The Hangover, directed and producedby Todd Phillips and Daniel Goldberg,won best film (musical or comedy).

Mad Men, created by Matthew Weiner,won best series (drama), while JuliannaMargulies picked up best actress(drama) for her role as Alicia Florrick inthe legal drama The Good Wife.

It will be screened on Channel 4 fromMonday (10pm).

James Cameron’s epic Avatar sweptthe board, at the expense of InglouriousBasterds and Quentin Tarantino.

Daniel Day-Lewis (Nine), JosephGordon-Levitt (500 Days of Summer)and Michael Stuhlbarg (A Serious Man)lost out to Robert Downey Jr in thebest actor (musical or comedy)category.

Anna Paquin missed out on a bestactress award for her role in TheCourageous Heart of Irena Sendler.

Sendler saved 2,500 Jewish childrenby smuggling them out of the WarsawGhetto.

Composer Marvin Hamlisch music forThe Informant was beaten to bestoriginal score by Michael Giacchino forUp.

Entourage’s Jeremy Piven and TheCloser’s Kyra Sedgwick also missed outon awards.

PREPARE TO BE HUNGOVER: The Hangover won the award for best motionpicture, comedy or musical. Pictured, from left, Ed Helms Justin Bartha, directorTodd Phillips, Heather Graham, Bradley Cooper and Mike Tyson

WINNER: Christoph Waltz

Grant helped tosend Mike toUSA on the trailof jazz legends

BY SIMON YAFFE

THE cool,uplifting world ofjazz has inspiredand attractedmany Jewish

musicians.From Artie Shaw to Pete

Sokolow to Stan Levey, Jewshave made important foraysinto jazz.

“In its early years, jazzattracted ethnic minorities inAmerica, such as Jews, blacks,Italians and the Irish — it neverattracted WASPS,” MikeGerber, author of Jazz Jews, toldthe Jewish Telegraph.

In the book, Mikeconcentrates on the performersand writers and explores therole of Jews in breaking thecolour bar in American jazz.

He also debates whether thereis such a thing as Jewish jazz.

Freelance journalist Mike, ofWalthamstow, east London,decided to write the book afterbeing approached to submit anarticle on Jewish jazz for theJewish Socialist magazine.

Mike recalled: “I knew that acompany called Five Leaves hadpublished a book called Rock ‘n’Roll Jews.

“I wanted to delve more intoJews and jazz, so I approachedthem and asked if they fancieddoing a follow-up.”

He subsequently received agrant from the Jewish MusicInstitute at London’s School ofAfrican and Oriental Studies in2002 and went to America tosearch out the legendaryJewish stars of jazz.

Mike’s interest in jazz beganat a young age.

He remembered: “My dad hada 78 rpm record of GeorgeGershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue —you had to turn it over to hearthe rest of the song.

“This was in the 1960s and Iwas a big fan of The Beatles,The Rolling Stones, The Kinksand The Animals.

“But Gershwin’s sound waslike nothing I had heard before— it was quasi-classical in a

way, just totally different.”Mike recalls watching a

performance by the Americanjazz drummer and bandleaderBuddy Rich at a Royal VarietyPerformance in the 1970s.

He continued: “It was one ofthe best performances I haveever watched.

“I also went to see SonnyRollins, McCoy Tyner, MuddyWaters and Dizzy Gillespiewhen they were in London.

Born and brought up inKilburn, north London, he wasbarmitzvah in 1966, just afterthe World Cup.

And his barmitzvah at thelocal synagogue was the secondone there.

“It had been burned down,probably by neo-Nazis, and thenrestored,” Mike explained.

The 56-year-old did not getinto journalism until he was inhis 30s.

He said: “I had a string ofdead-end, low-paid jobs, such asworking in a textile factory andin a warehouse.

“There came a point where itbecame so boring and I was justnot getting any job satisfactionat all.

Mike decided to do a degreein history with Spanish at

Middlesex Polytechnic and thenapplied to do a post-graduatecourse in journalism from theLondon College of Printing.

“It was a tough course to geton to and tough to do,” hecontinued.

Mike spent time writing for arange of periodicals, includingthe National Union ofRailwaymen’s magazine,London magazine City Limits,The Guardian, The FinancialTimes and The Observer.

He also wrote music featuresfor Channel 4’s website andvarious folk and roots’magazines.

“It was all part of my musicdevelopment,” Mike observed.

His venture into jazz startedin 2002.

The lifelong TottenhamHotspur fan used to frequentthe legendary Ronnie Scott’sjazz club in London,

He phoned Jim Godbold,editor of the club’s magazineand told him he wanted talkabout Jews in jazz.

“That conversation lastedhalf-a-minute, he just was notinterested,” Mike recalled.

Amazingly, however, a friendlater phoned Mike who told himthat Godbold had written aneditorial on Jews and jazz andhad even alluded to their phonecall.

Mike said: “I was notannoyed, I actually mentionthe story in the preface to mybook.”

His research for the book andsubsequent trip to America ledto him tracking down therenowned jazz clarinettist,composer and bandleader ArtieShaw, who he went to see at hishome in Thousand Oaks,California.

Shaw, born Arthur JacobArshawsky, died in 2004, and theinterview he gave to Mike forthe book was one of his last.

Mike said: “He was quitebrusque and prickly, but highlyintelligent.

“I knew he was notsympathetic to what I waswriting, he said it did not makea difference to him when he washiring people for his band whatreligion or ethnicity they were.

“He was actually opposed tothe premise of my book, but wespoke and it remains myproudest interview.”

Mike also interviewed PeteSokolow, Barbara Carroll,Terry Gibbs and Stan Leveyamong others.

He found that many Jews injazz were inspired by theTalmudic songs and prayersthey heard recited by thechazanim in synagogues whenthey were young.

He said: “I am stillresearching the subject in myspare time.

“My passion for it has justgrown and grown.”

� Jazz Jews is published by Five Leaves,priced £24.99.

GERSHWIN FAN: Mike Gerber

‘Jew Hunter’ waltzesaway with a Globe

MAD ABOUT AWARD: From left, January Jones, Mad Men creator MatthewWeiner, Jon Hamm, Elisabeth Moss, Christina Hendricks and Vincent Kartheisercelebrate their Golden Globe award

BRUSQUE:Jazz legendArtie Shaw