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Trad jazz in 1950s Britain—protest, pleasure, politics—interviews with some of those involved

McKay, GA

Authors

GA McKay



Abstract

These are transcriptions of interviews and correspondence undertaken as part of an Arts and Humanities Research Board (now Council)-funded project exploring the cultures and politics of traditional jazz in Britain in the 1950s.
The project ran through 2001-2002 and was entitled American Pleasures, Anti-American Protest: 1950s Traditional Jazz in Britain.

I edited responses, and structured them here according to the main issues I asked about and to key points that seemed to recur from different interviewees. There is a short-ish introduction to give a sense of context to readers unfamiliar with that period of Britain’s cultural history. I hugely enjoyed meeting and talking with these people, whose cultural and political autobiographies were full of energy, rebellion, fun, with music at the heart. Thank you. Some—Jeff Nuttall, George Melly—are, sadly, now dead.
Material from these interviews, and a second set I undertook with modern jazzers and enthusiasts (I acknowledge that the distinction between trad and modern doesn’t always bear scrutiny) was included in my book Circular Breathing: The Cultural Politics of Jazz in Britain (Duke University Press, 2005).
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Other Type Other
Deposit Date May 20, 2010
Publicly Available Date May 20, 2010
Keywords traditional jazz, 1950s Britain, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Ken Colyer, Jeff Nuttall, George Melly, protest
Additional Information Additional Information : Contains some archive images, courtesy of Ken Colyer Trust, and Jeff Nuttall, and author's own collection. Used with permission.
Projects : American pleasures, anti-American protest: trad jazz in 1950s Britain

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