© Juliana Martens
Musicians
Eddie Rosner and Oskar Strock are phantoms of a bygone era. Once, they performed with the stars of their time, shaping the sound of an entire generation. They stood in the spotlight of the world’s great stages, acting as pioneers of cultural transfer, bridge-builders, and border-crossers—only to eventually become the ultimate “insider tips.” Today, their names are barely present, their traces fragmentary. What remains are pieces, memories, and scattered testimonies. This search for their legacy makes visible what was almost lost.
Until now, Strock and Rosner have not found a fittingly prominent place in the collective memory of music history, nor have they received the recognition they deserve. They celebrated their first successes in Berlin between 1929 and 1933. The turmoil of the 20th century turned them into Soviet citizens—with stops along the way in Warsaw, Minsk, Riga, Magadan, Paris, Harbin, Tokyo, Brussels, New York, and Naples. They left significant marks in Poland, Romania, Latvia, and the USSR, where they became key founders of jazz and tango traditions. Life in the USSR brought them fame, but also professional bans, years of forced silence, and traumatic Gulag experiences.
Until the early 1970s, their names were synonymous with captivating elegance, high-energy rhythms, and profound melodies—brilliant yet understated. August 2026 marks the 50th anniversary of Eddie Rosner’s death. The Oskar Strock & Eddie Rosner Orchestra® brings Rosner’s works—long declared or believed lost—as well as the repertoire of Oskar Strock back into the limelight. Christian Dietrich, the former State Commissioner of Thuringia, praised the “extraordinary musical and poetic talent” of the band’s leader, Dmitri Dragilew, who gained recognition as a biographer of Rosner and Strock over 20 years ago. Works are being reconstructed and polished to a high gloss, re-rhymed, reimagined, and rearranged: true musical jewels and evergreens that survived two dictatorships. This highly concentrated dose of swing and tango, set against a dramatic, dazzling, and often adventurous background, performed in seven languages, unfolds a timeless power.
Events
Swinging the East – OSTPOL BERLIN Festival Closing
Sun, 12. Jul // 20:00,
Maschinenhaus (Kulturbrauerei) entrance: Knaackstraße 97, 10435 Berlin
