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.[1]
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[3] and won the award of best clarinet player that year.[4]
Publications
The Hot Club of Belgium published two magazines:
Jazz,[5] which ran from March to November 1945, Issues 1 through 13
Hot Club Magazine: revue illustrée de la musique de jazz[6] a monthly, which from January 1946 to August 1948, Issues 1 through 29.
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.[7]