ABSTRACT
Although Finnish jazz did not emerge under a totalitarian regime, in return for maintaining its national sovereignty, the country repeatedly deferred to its more powerful neighbour in matters of foreign policy, giving rise to the term ‘Finlandization’ or ‘good neighbourliness’. Is it possible to detect in Finnish jazz a kind of cultural ‘good neighbourliness’? It has been argued that until the collapse of the Soviet Union there was a tendency to give a more positive valency to culture coming from the East than from the West. Or, on the contrary, did the musicians attempt to oppose Soviet influence, forming their musical identity in reaction to Russia? This chapter will explore the effects of Soviet totalitarianism on particular Finnish jazz musicians, and also touch on Finland’s sometimes uncomfortably close relationship with another totalitarian power, Nazi Germany. Finally, it will explore how more recent Finnish jazz musicians have been affected by the legacy of Soviet totalitarianism.
