British Jazz Voices: Crossing Borders of Race, Nation, and Class

This dissertation explores specific historical moments in British jazz history and places special emphasis upon issues of race, nation, and class. Topics covered are the reception of jazz in Britain in the 1910s and 1920s, the British New Orleans jazz revival of the 1950s, the free jazz innovations of the Joe Harriott Quintet in the early 1960s, and the formation of the all-black jazz band, the Jazz Warriors, in 1985. Using both historical and ethnographical approaches, I examine the ways in which jazz, an African American music form, has been absorbed and translated within Britain\u27s social, political, and musical landscapes. I am most deeply concerned with the ways in which music has created a space of expression for British musicians, allowing them to reimagine their place within Britain\u27s social fabric, to participate in transcontinental communities, and to negotiate a position of belonging within jazz narratives of race, nation, and class. The dissertation also advocates the importance of studying jazz beyond the borders of the United States and contributes to a growing body of literature that will enrich mainstream jazz scholarship