With cheerful, often two-part music, the Amsterdam jazz duo Johnny & Jones became extremely popular before the war. But their story ends tragically. Because of their Jewish descent they were deported in 1943 to camp Westerbork. In 1945 they die of exhaustion in quick succession, just before the liberation. On May 4 and 5, Amsterdam musicians Ibo Bakker and Sybren van Doesum will bring the music of Johnny & Jones back to life.
Johnny and Jones – NH News
Bakker (guitar and vocals) and Van Doesum (trumpet and vocals) have been asked to perform on May 4 along the route of the Silent Tour, which is run prior to the National Commemoration. A day later, the two perform in De Bijenkorf on Dam Square. It is the place where Johnny & Jones, who were actually called Max Kannewasser and Nol van Wesel, met. “They were discovered there at a staff party,” says Van Doesum. “So it’s extra nice to actually be there.”
Westerbork serenade
On October 9, 1943, Johnny & Jones, together with their husbands, are deported to camp Westerbork. There they go to work as wreckers of downed warplanes. They also make new music, which they manage to record in Amsterdam while dismantling an airplane in Weesp.
“They were ordinary people, musicians like you and me, young people too”
One of those songs, the Westerbork serenade, is about their time in the camp. “That actually gives a very nice picture,” says Bakker about the surprisingly cheerful sounding song. “But I also read that it was a bit to keep the spirits high, because they thought it was terrible there.” The two eventually die in Bergen-Belsen. The hardships of war are fatal to them. Kannewasser (Jones) dies on March 20, 1945, Van Wesel (Johnny) dies on April 15. They are then 26 and 28 years old.
Touching the War
“I have been playing the tattoo at a monument in Amsterdam for a few years now,” says Van Doesum. “I’ve met people there who really come to commemorate relatives. And this is kind of like that,” he says of playing Johnny & Jones’ music. “You suddenly come very close to that war. You feel that they were ordinary people, musicians like you and me. Young people too. So that touches you. That you suddenly touch that war with one finger.”
On May 4, Bakker and Van Doesum will be at the Utrechtsestraat during the Silent Tour. On 5 May they will perform in De Bijenkorf at 12:00, 14:00 and 16:00.
AT5 pays a lot of attention to Remembrance Day and Liberation Day on 4 and 5 May. On May 4, we will follow the Silent Tour from 7 p.m. from Stadhuisplein to Dam Square, followed by the National Commemoration. On May 5th we will be live in the city between 5.30 pm and 7:30 pm for all activities around Liberation Day. This production was made possible in part by Het Amsterdams 4 en 5 meicommissie .