Eric Hobsbawm and the Significance of Jazz

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis paper explores Eric Hobsbawm’s interest in Jazz, and argues that he helped popularise the music, gave it intellectual credibility and that his jazz writings are still relevant for jazz scholars and cultural historians. Jazz also influenced his view of history. Drawing on his recently catalogued private papers, it suggests Hobsbawm consistently argued for the historical significance of jazz, was flexible in the use of genre and subgenre and was aware of the role of the music business, and the way critics and writers helped shape the music’s meanings. The paper also argues that Hobsbawm wrote partly as fan, and that his penetrating analysis of jazz sometimes led him to undervalue other popular music forms.