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THE BASS SAXOPHONE by Josef Skvorecky,...

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THE BASS SAXOPHONE by Josef Skvorecky, translated from the Czech (Ecco Press: $12; 209 pp.). The two novellas in this volume are less compelling than the author’s recollections of playing American jazz in a Czech village, despite the condemnations of the Nazis and Soviets. In “Emoke,” Skvorecky uses long, rolling sentences to etch the bleak passions of the colorless world of the old Communist regime. The narrator of “The Bass Saxophone” risks his life to play in a nightmarish jazz concert given by a ragtag circus band for the Nazi invaders who banned the music as decadent.

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