Mike's Mind At A Glance
April 2003

The Many Lives of Jan Arnet

Most professional musicians are well aware of the influence that Czechoslovakia has had on American jazz and particularly bass playing. It's two most famous ex-patriots, George Mraz and Miroslav Vitous have and continue to have a profound impact on modern jazz. They have played on hundreds if not thousands of recordings that have set a standard for swing and adventurism that has been rarely equaled while keeping the bar of virtuosity extremely high. But even they would bow in deference to the man whose sense of honor, musicianship and courage opened the door for his fellow countrymen. His name is Jan Arnet and he was the first Czech bassist to come to America. His reputation among his contemporaries is legendary and the story of his life or "lives" is nothing short of cinematic. He is the man who inspired me to choose bass playing as a profession and whose humanity and strength of character continue to inspire me to be a better man.

Jan was born in 1934 in what was then Czechoslovakia. He started playing the violin, piano and trombone as a child but at the age of 13, after hearing a jazz broadcast on the radio he knew that that was the music he wanted to play. A local jazz band had formed in the town where he lived and the bass chair opened up when the bassist was thrown in jail by the communists. The only way any position opened up in Czechoslovakia was when someone died or was put in jail. Jan had never played the bass before but was familiar with bass clef, having studied the piano. After a retired orchestra conductor told him how to tune it he was off and running. His aptitude was so great that he quickly became the talk of the town.

As his skills progressed so did his young adult years. He attended the Czech technical university and received two masters degrees, one in Mechanical Engineering and one in Industrial Management. He also met and fell in love with the woman who to this day remains his life partner, Angela. But it was to be jazz that he would pursue professionally. Angela's parents told him that there was someone who had a bass in the closet of the apartment upstairs and he should have a look at it. When he arrived there he had to hold his breath with excitement upon seeing the instrument that was about to be bestowed upon him! a 1734 Baroque bass fiddle. This quickly became his voice and his partner in ascending to the top of the ranks of European jazz.

Jan rose to become the leader of the best known Czech modern jazz group - the REDLITA Quintet. As such he was in charge of arranging, transcribing, and tour management duties as they would be traveling throughout Europe representing the Czech flag. Now realize that at that time in Czechoslovakia there were no western jazz records or tapes. A lot of arrangements and thematic ideas were culled from listening to the jazz radio shows that were broadcast on Radio Free Europe and the Voice of America programs. There were also no good music stores so quality reeds, drum "skins," guitar picks and strings were not available. Instruments were kept together with whatever was at hand, rubber bands, glue, etc. It was their passion for jazz that kept the morale of the band high. As a prominent jazz group, the musicians were given some privileges that the average Czech citizen did not possess. They were allowed to have special exit visas to travel to noncommunist countries (as long as they left their families and loved ones behind) to perform at various jazz festivals. It was at these festivals that Jan and the band would meet some of the masters to whom they had only been listening to on the radio: Sonny Stitt, Art Blakey, Booker Ervin, to name a few, became friends and fans of the Czech band and especially their outstanding young bassist Jan Arnet. It was here also that Jan's dream of playing jazz in America took hold of him.

During one of these tours abroad an idea began to germinate. It was an idea so secret and dangerous that if anyone found out about it it would have meant imprisonment or worse for him and his new family, which now included a baby girl, Paula. This inexpressible idea was to escape from Communism and defect to the West.

One day at a performance in East Berlin the skin, and real skin it was, of the bass drum broke. Jan, as the band leader, who came with the baby to visit, was trying to figure out a way to repair it when his wife said to him "That's a big drum! Do you think I can fit inside of it?" The question caught him by surprise but he knew what she was getting at. "Let's see" he said. If she crouched down as she would on the floor of their 1931 PRAGA (a Czech manufactured car) the drum would fit over her head and hide most of her body. "That's it!" Angela said, "We're going." From that moment on the plan of escape had to be known only by them. Not a friend or even band mate could know of what was to occur later that night.

The special musician's visa that Jan had made him well known to the East German guards at "Checkpoint Charlie," one of the highly guarded crossings between East and West Berlin. The guards would say "Here's that Czech bass player again off to do another show," as he would always have band instruments, including his bass(es) stuffed into the vehicle. So as the moment of defection approached there was a little more confidence that they may be able to pull it off. But there was one other critical issue, what to do with their 1 year old daughter, Paula? It was decided that they would have to leave her sleeping at the East Berlin hotel, make the trip through the border with Angela inside the bass drum, check into a hotel in West Berlin and Jan would have to come back for her. So, as the evening arrived what had once seemed unimaginable began to take form. The band had a gig that week in West Berlin but they had to stay in an East Berlin hotel. At the end of the evening the first part of the plan was enacted. While Paula was asleep Angela got into the back of the car and covered herself with the bass drum. Jan put his bass in the car and drove for the border. "Here's that Czech musician again," said the guards. They looked in the car, saw the bass and the drum and let them through. They had done it! They went to a hotel in West Berlin, checked in and Jan headed back for the border. The guards said "What are you doing now!" He said he forgot some sheet music for the gig. They let him through. He went back to the East Berlin hotel where his baby was still asleep. She woke up with a start and cried "Where's mama?" Jan said that they were going to see mama soon and put her in the satchel with the supposed missing sheet music. He then started driving back toward the border but each time he got close to the guard post she would wake up and cry. He had to turn and regain his composure a few times before he was reasonably sure she was asleep. He pulled up to the guard post. The guard said "I know, the sheet music," Jan pointed to the satchel and they waved him through. It was done!

The next day they went to the American consulate to plead for asylum and were sent to a German refugee camp where they waited for 6 months.

At the refugee camp were a host of international reporters. When word got out that a famous Czech jazz musician had defected they wrote a story about him. This story was printed in the German newspapers and this was how his band mates found out what happened to Jan, Angela and Paula on the night of their last gig together.

At the end of their 6 month encampment, they were issued papers to leave Germany. The date was June 23, 1966. As was Jan's dream they flew to New York with hardly any money and knowing no one. At the airport someone told them of a $25.00 a week hotel in Harlem. They went there. "It was 106 degrees that day and it was the first time in my life that I saw a cockroach! What am I doing, I thought."

The next day with only one destination in mind he asked the hotel clerk, "Do you know where the Village Gate is?" The clerk said "It's in the Village, just keep going down 7th Avenue." He started walking. When he got there he was overjoyed to see that none other than Sonny Stitt was playing there with the vibraphonist Dave Pike. He walked into the club and Sonny, who recognized him from the European festivals that they had played at couldn't believe his eyes. He said "What are you doing here in New York?" Jan said "I defected and got here yesterday!" Sonny said, "Our bass player Chuck Israels is leaving the band. Do you want a gig? Jan's eyes lit up. "You start tomorrow."Jan Arnet was in New York playing jazz.

During the next several years Jan was able to play and perform with some of the most creative musicians on the scene including: Gene Adler, Kenny Barron, Art Blakey, Joanne Brackeen, Joe Beck, George Cables, Warren Chiasson, Larry Coryell, Albert Daley, Booker Ervin, Curtis Fuller, Carlos Garnett, Chico Hamilton, Bill Hardman, Billy Harper, John Hicks, Billy Higgins, Lena Horne, Elvin Jones, Etta Jones, Howard McGhee, Dave Pike, Tony Scott, Woody Shaw, Sonny Stitt and Atilla Zoller. In 1969 he was asked to join the legendary Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. This particular lineup had Carlos Garnett on tenor, Woody Shaw on trumpet, Curtis Fuller on trombone and George Cables on piano. He played with the with the band in 1969 and 1970. In 1970 he made another decision that would again change his life.

Although Jan was at the top of his game, playing with some of the world's greatest and most famous musicians, he also realized that he was responsible for the quality of life of his family. After a minor business dispute with Art Blakey he reappraised the standard of living he had or would be able to acquire as a jazz musician. He stopped playing -- cold.

He enrolled himself into Columbia Graduate School of Business and did post graduate work in international business. His education and knowledge of finance has brought him once again to the top of his field having been director or vice president of many prestigious international organizations including the City University of New York and the Asia Society. In 1980 he sold his beloved 1734 bass to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for their Baroque collection. He used the money to put his daughter Paula through Cornell University. He also became a radio commentator and jazz DJ for the Czechoslovak service of the Voice of America for 30 years. Jan retired in 1999. He is a cancer survivor.

Since 1999 he returned to his other life passion as an expert outdoorsman, mountain climber and hiker. He and his wife travel all over the world to explore the mountains and trails of Europe, Canada, Nepal, Australia, Antarctica, and South America. They are members of several prestigious outdoor organizations and continue to live their life to the fullest. Jan says: "A successful life is made up of wise decisions. In mountain climbing a lot of people who make it to the summit never return. You have to know when to stop, to enjoy beauty from where you are. You have to know how to improvise!"

In 1968 my father worked for Radio Free Europe. I was 14. I had been fooling with guitar and bass for a little while when he told me of a man he met at work. They spoke of their mutual love for music and particularly jazz. My father was a little cocky about the subject until this guy told him who he had been playing with. My father quickly humbled and invited him and his family to our home. He was Jan Arnet. Jan saw my enthusiasm for music right away and invited my father and me to his next recording session. It was with the drummer Chico Hamilton. Chico was nice enough to let us into the studio that day at Jan's request. There was Ray Nance on violin and a young hot guitarist named Eric Gale. It was for a record to be called "Headhunter." It was the singularly most galvanizing musical experience in my life and made me commit myself to being a bass player.

For this and for all the other lessons, musical and nonmusical, that you have taught me I am forever grateful.

Thank you Jan, from the bottom of my heart.