The Jazz Baroness

It started at midnight…

Pannonica „ Nice“ Rothschild had everything at first glance – noble birth, loving family and inexhaustible wealth. But that all changed when she first heard the song ‘ Round Midnight performed by jazz legend Thelonious Monk. As if under a spell, she decided to leave her loved ones and the security of the Rothschild family background and set off to the United States in search of the genius jazzman.

New York society did not accept the vivacious European, but the musicians did. She found openness and friendship with them and they found inspiration and support in her. Her convertible routinely graced the parking lots of jazz clubs, where she spent all her time while sipping whiskey from a flask disguised as a bible. The biggest blow to her already tarnished reputation was the death of drug-addicted saxophonist Charlie Parker in her apartment. But this did not affect her rebellious nature. Nor the love with which she cared for Monk until his death in 1982.

The Jazz Baroness is not only an amazing portrait of Nika Rothschild, but also of the era in which she lived and the generation of Rothschilds who left the family tradition of banking. It is a fascinating insight into the history of their family – from Nazi persecution, through a century of government funding and wars. All against the backdrop of the fascinating life of a free-spirited woman.