Jazz Britannia

Key players included Ronnie Scott, Humphrey Lyttelton, Acker Bilk, Tubby Hayes, Joe Harriott, Chris Barber and Stan Tracey. Though Britain had its first brush with jazz back in 1919 with the visit of the (all white) Original Dixie Jazz Band, it was not to be love at first sight. Fearing riotous scenes, the authorities banned American dance bands from touring in the 1920s. Jazz remained exotic, only heard on highly prized, crackly shellac discs. Yet by 1960s the charts were being regularly topped by affable looking gentlemen playing clarinets or trumpets and wearing bowler hats. So what happened? Stranger on the Shore uncovers the birth of Brit-jazz, with the help of many of its key figures. George Melly, Humphrey Lyttelton and Chris Barber appear from the first wave of trad jazzers, while Ronnie Scott and John Dankworth represent the first stirrings of a British bebop scene in thrall to Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. As post-war Britain entered a period of massive social change and upheaval, jazz became the soundtrack for a new generation determined to enjoy itself. The programme follows both movements through the 1950s and early 60s; trad's commercial success and the birth of skiffle. The arrival of Stan Tracey and Tubby Hayes signified a new level of artistry. Even more significant, however, was the influx of immigrant musicians such as Jamaican saxophonist Joe Harriott, whose revolutionary free jazz experiments were way ahead of the Americans. It seemed that British jazz was finding its own voice. Then the Beatles hit the Cavern Club...

As the 1960s wore on, the earthier sounds of American R&B were taking the place of jazz in the nation's ballrooms and nightclubs. The pace of cultural change was hotting up. While the Soho clubs still played host to the boppers, a younger generation of players were taking a less purist approach. Some (like Graham Bond, Jack Bruce and Jon Hiseman) plugged in and joined the R&B revolution, which in turn led to the formation of jazz inspired rock bands like Colosseum and the phenomenally successful Cream. At the other end of the spectrum, musicians influenced by Joe Harriott and Ornette Coleman began to throw out the rulebook and dispense with written music altogether. The arrival of South African musicians like Chris McGregor, Dudu Pukwana and Mongezi Feza added a new energy to the avant-garde, while composers like Michael Garrick and Mike Westbrook began to carve out a music that owed as much to folk or church traditions as it did to American jazz. To these musicians, the lines between rock, jazz and classical music were beginning to blur, and even the major record companies seemed willing to give them the time of day. Jazz-rock, free improv and jazz-fusion; the music was continually being pulled into strange new shapes. As the optimism of the 1960s gave way to the harsher realities of the next decade, it seemed that British jazz had developed many voices; but was anyone listening?

The latter half of the 1970s proved to be a tough time for many of Britain's jazzers, as Punk elbowed its way onto the scene. While many jazz musicians escaped overseas in search of paying gigs, the 1980s saw a new generation of young black musicians beginning to get themselves together. Inspired by the classical post-bop of Wynton Marsalis, but steeped in funk and reggae, young players like Courtney Pine, Julian Joseph and Gary Crosby got themselves noticed. By the mid 1980s a small and very exclusive jazz revival was in full swing, feeding a new audience of fashionable club-goers eager for new dance sounds and centred (as ever) around London's Soho. Initially led by DJs like Paul Murphy, the scene expanded to support live bands and start its own record labels. Jazz was hip again for a while; Pine, Joseph and even Andy Sheppard landed major record label contracts. For a while. Gilles Peterson formed the Acid Jazz label in 1987, as an ironic twist on the new scene. The label inspired a legion of hip hop and funk beat flavoured jazz stylings that put traditional jazz elements over modern beats. The Rebirth of Cool brings us up to date with the commercial successes of Jamie Cullum and the vibrant hip-hop/post bop fusions of Soweto Kinch. British Jazz is currently managing to combine popularity with artistry and who knows where experimental composers like Matthew Herbert will take it next.