A remarkable new and groundbreaking study from Jazz In Britain’s very own Matt Parker.
Subversion Through Jazz examines the beginning of the British progressive jazz (BPJ) movement from 1956 to 1964, attempting to identify and plot the progress of its coming into being. This eight-year period of inception was set against the backdrop of two specifically relevant world events: the failed Hungarian revolution in 1956; and the Cuban Missile Crisis, a potentially apocalyptic nuclear standoff between the United States and the USSR in the Gulf of Mexico in 1962. Like many art forms in the UK, British jazz underwent a paradigm shift during this period, transforming from imitator to innovator. A new generation of post-war musicians - spearheaded by the West Indian alto-saxophonist Joe Harriott - discovered their own sound, no longer aping American Jazz traditions but instead seeking out their own methods of expression within improvisation, embracing hugely diverse influences such as Blues, Indian music, twentieth-century Classical music, Rock’n’roll, African music, classic and contemporary poetry and literature, Caribbean music, Folk, R&B, and Soul, forging them into a uniquely British identity which would in turn influence musicians across the globe.
The obsession with British art and culture which was all-pervasive in the pop and rock music of the UK from 1965 onwards had its roots in BPJ. The musicians involved in the movement were the first post-war contemporary jazz players outside the U.S. to meld an artistic nationalism to their music, introducing non-musical influences from the worlds of British and European art and literature, left-wing politics and musical influences from outside the sphere of jazz, such as the abstract classical compositions of Cornelius Cardew and Anton Webern, brass bands, and the music-hall traditions of Victorian and Edwardian Britain.
The location of most of these artistic developments – an area of roughly four square miles in and around Soho, London - was simultaneously the covert battleground of the British Secret Service department MI5 and their adversaries the Soviet Russian KGB, an old empire pitted against a new one, and at least one significant Communist of concern to MI5, the Marxist historian Eric Hobsbawm, took a very serious interest in the British jazz scene at this time. Inspired by his cousin, the British jazz record producer and label-owner Denis Preston, and the Italian Communist intellectual Antonio Gramsci, Hobsbawm embedded himself in the movement, authoring a study of it in 1959 entitled The Jazz Scene, for which he adopted, as jazz writer for the New Statesman magazine, the pseudonym Francis Newton, an alias he had been developing for three years prior, unbeknownst to the British agents who were surveilling him.
What Was Happening –
Limited edition double CD album
The Bobby Wellins Quartet
£14.99 GBP
Talking The Groove: Jazz Words From The Morning Star (plus two CDs Of rare music)
£16.99 GBP
And Did Those Feet … Six British Jazz Composers by Duncan Heining
Sold Out
Neil Ardley: Kaleidoscopes and Rainbows
Sold Out
Elastic Dream - The Music of Ian Carr: An Annotated Discography by Roger Farbey
£12.99 GBP
Journey To A Destination Unknown - Barbara Thompson MBE - The Autobiographical Story Of Her Musical Life (Book)
£17.99 GBP
Penumbra II –
Limited edition compact disc of a previously unreleased recording made at a rare 1971 studio performance by a Karl Jenkins-led ten piece group
Karl Jenkins
£8.99 GBP
Double Exposure –
Album recorded in 1990 by John Taylor and Stan Sulzmann and released in 2016 on the InVersion label. All the proceeds from the sale of these albums will go to John Taylor’s family and Stan Sulzmann
John Taylor & Stan Sulzmann
Sold Out
Warm Up: The Complete Live At The Highwayman 1965 –
Limited Edition Compact Disc (Double Album) with 20 page booklet
The Don Rendell / Ian Carr Quintet
£14.99 GBP
The Art Is In The Rhythm –
Limited edition CD of previously unreleased music from the duo of Trevor Watts & Liam Genockey
Trevor Watts & Liam Genockey
£9.99 GBP
The Art Is In The Rhythm Volume 2 –
Limited edition double CD album
Trevor Watts’ Original Drum Orchestra
£14.99 GBP
First Light –
Limited edition compact disc
Barbara Thompson
Sold Out
No Blues – The Complete Hopbine ‘65 –
Limited edition deluxe double compact disc.
Tubby Hayes
£14.99 GBP
On Loan With Gratitude –
Limited edition deluxe double compact disc
Stan Sulzmann
£14.99 GBP
For Future Reference –
Limited Edition Compact Disc
Trevor Tomkins' Sextant
£14.99 GBP
Never Never Land –
Limited Edition Compact Disc (Double Album)
Henry Lowther's Quarternity
Sold Out
Fragment –
Limited Edition CD
John Taylor Sextet
Sold Out
The Complete Hopbine '69 –
Limited Edition Double CD
Tubby Hayes Quartet
Sold Out
Ken Wheeler: Some Gnu Ones –
Limited Edition 45rpm 12" Vinyl EP
Chris Laurence
£18.99 GBP
Formation: Live '61 –
Limited Edition 45rpm 12" Vinyl EP
The Joe Harriott Quintet
£8.99 GBP
Forget To Remember - Live Vol.2: 1970 –
Limited Edition 12" Vinyl LP
The Ray Russell Sextet featuring Harry Beckett
£23.99 GBP
Solar Session –
Limited Edition 10" Vinyl EP
Ian Carr Double Quintet
£10 GBP
Ken Wheeler: Some Gnu Ones –
Limited Edition CD
Chris Laurence
£8.99 GBP
Inclusivity –
Limited Edition Deluxe Triple CD 32 Page 12"x12" Hardcover Book
Splinters
£10 GBP
Chronology: Live 1968-69 –
Limited Edition CD
Joe Harriott
£10.99 GBP
Revisiting Tanglewood 63: The Early Tapes –
Limited Edition Gatefold 12" Vinyl LP
Mike Gibbs
£15 GBP
Blue Beginnings –
Limited Edition CD
Don Rendell Ian Carr Quintet
£6 GBP
Free Flight: The Ron Mathewson Tapes Vol. 3 –
Limited Edition Double CD
The Tubby Hayes Quartet
£12.99 GBP
Mandala –
Limited Edition CD
The Mike Taylor Quartet
Sold Out
Forget To Remember - Live Vol.2: 1970 –
Limited Edition CD
The Ray Russell Sextet featuring Harry Beckett
£12.99 GBP
Mandala –
Limited Edition 12" Vinyl LP
The Mike Taylor Quartet
Sold Out
Kaleidoscope Of Rainbows: Live '75 –
Limited Edition Double CD
Neil Ardley
Sold Out
Jazz In Britain Holmfirth, UK
A not-for-profit organisation, whose aim is to collect, curate, preserve, celebrate and promote the legacy of British jazz
musicians. The archive collects, curates and preserves off-air and other recordings of British jazz performances.
The organisation will publish books, release vinyl, CDs and downloads, working in partnership with musicians and their families.
... more
Streaming and Download help