Editorial

Abstract

The long tradition of British writing on jazz extends back (at least) to the foundation of two early periodicals, Melody Maker and Rhythm (in 1926 and 1927 respectively), as well as key texts by R. W. S. Mendl (The Appeal of Jazz, 1927) and Stanley Nelson (All about Jazz, 1934). Early encounters with jazz in a British context also prompted pronouncements from visitors such as Theodore Adorno (whose 1936 essay 'On Jazz' was written when he was resident at Oxford University) and Ernest Ansermet (1959), who sang the praises of Sidney Bechet's performances with the Southern Syncopated Orchestra in London in 1919. More recently, jazz studies has emerged as a strong interdisciplinary academic field in the UK, interacting with the coun- try's vibrant live music scene and informing the growing presence of jazz as a specialism and within broader curricula at conservatoires and universities.As part of this, jazz specifically in a British context has received increased attention from researchers, contributing to an awareness and critical appre- ciation of jazz outside America as a global and transnational genre. Thanks to the pioneering work of David Boulton (1959), Ian Carr (1973), Howard Rye (in particular his painstaking reconstructions of the tours of American musicians published in the now defunct Storyville, but also see his con- tribution to Oliver 1990) and the late Jim Godbolt (1986, 1989), amongst others, a chronology for the history of the genre in Britain has been estab- lished. This has enabled critical work by scholars such as George McKay (2005), Catherine Tackley, nee Parsonage (2005) and Hilary Moore (2007). This area continues to develop, with two recent studies focused on the mid- to late twentieth century-Duncan Heining's Trad Dads, Dirty Bop- pers and Free Fusioneers: British Jazz, 1960-1975 (2012) and Dave Gelly's An Unholy Row: Jazz in Britain and Its Audience, 1945-1960 (2014)-and an ever-expanding list of biographies of key figures. Alongside this litera- ture, significant research projects based in Britain have investigated, on the one hand, race as a key theme which runs throughout this historical narrative ('What Is Black British Jazz?' directed by Jason Toynbee at The Open University) and, on the other, British jazz within a wider European and transnational context ('Rhythm Changes' directed by Tony Whyton at the University of Salford). Two anticipated books-Black British Jazz: Routes, Ownership and Performance by Toynbee et al. (forthcoming 2014) and Black Popular Music in Britain since 1945 by Stratton and Zuberi (forth- coming 2015), which puts jazz into a wider musical context-will pursue the former theme, and a book series on transnational jazz studies (to be pub- lished by Routledge) will advance the latter.This special issue captures some emerging work on the subject of jazz in Britain. To begin, Bob Lawson-Peebles demonstrates the importance of interdisciplinary methodologies to advance our historical understand- ing of the impact of music, analysing the use of jazz, ragtime and related themes in twentieth-century British literature. The other articles in this issue spotlight the work of current and recently graduated doctoral students. Will Studdert's article examines jazz in Britain during World War II, illuminating the impact of the conflict on the development of both musicians and audi- ences. …