The Hot Club of Belgium (Hot Club de Belgique; abbreviated as HCB) was a Belgian club for jazz fans founded on April 1, 1939, by Willy De Cort (1914–2004), Albert Bettonville (1916–2000), Carlos de Radzitzky (fr) (1915–1985), and others. De Cort was an impresario; Bettonville was a music journalist; and de Radzitzky was a poet, journalist, and music critic. The club disbanded in the mid-1960s.
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Selected activities
The organization held concerts, often at the Théâtre royal des Galeries (fr) and the Palais des Beaux-Arts. HCB also held conferences and monthly matinees film screenings related to jazz, and later rock and roll.
The Hot Club of Belgium organized an international jazz competition. In 1947, Belgian jazz clarinetist and saxophonist Johnny Dover (de) (1929–2002) formed his first jazz group to participate in the competition and won the award of best clarinet player that year.
Publications
The Hot Club of Belgium published two magazines:
Carlos de Radzitzky (fr) (1915–1985) was editor-in-chief of Hot Club Magazine. Beginning November 1948, the publication was absorbed and appeared as a two-page insert in the Paris publication Jazz Hot until October 1956.