Standard, Advantage, and Race in British Discourse about Jazz

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. …

Jazz in Britain: Export Culture, Import Society

During the Blitz, on 8 March 1941, a bomb fell on the Cafe de Paris, an exclusive London nightclub, just as the Guianaian-born bandleader Ken “Snakehips” Johnson and his West Indian Dance Orchestra were in full swing. Johnson and saxophonist Dave ‘Baba’ Williams were killed in the blast, which also marked the demise of this successful group. The Orchestra was dedicated to reproducing emergent American big band jazz, but contemporary reports (if not extant recorded performances) also suggest the influence of calypso and rumba. Similarly, even prior to the arrival of the Empire Windrush, which is often characterised as heralding the start of mass immigration, a vivid mix of black music styles could be heard in London clubs. This diversity reflected cultural importations from the Empire and beyond, including jazz, which was being increasingly identified globally as black music. In Britain, black musicians were necessarily fluent in a variety of genres, irrespective of their particular cultural roots. Indeed, the members of the West Indian Dance Orchestra were not all from the Caribbean, or indeed America; the band included black musicians that had been resident in the UK for some time, more recent immigrants, and some members that were British-born. The pervasive hybridity of the London scene suggests a generalised perception of black music commensurate with blurring of the black identities of the musicians, which is perhaps characteristic of the black British experience. But also there is a sense in which jazz-based fusions, as demonstrated by the West Indian Dance Orchestra, were very particular responses to jazz reflecting the complexities of race and identity. Continued immigration and the corresponding representation of diverse national musics, as well as the emergence of indigenous popular styles, is indicative of the multicultural backdrop for the investigation of the complex and ever-changing meaning of jazz with respect to race and identity (particularly black British) in post-Second World War Britain. This chapter examines the subsequent careers of surviving members of the West Indian Dance Orchestra and proceeds to relate their experiences to those of contemporary jazz musicians in Britain, interrogating an apparent dichotomy of (imported, or closely derivative) jazz in Britain and (native, with original elements) British jazz. The chapter draws on interviews from the (UK) National Sound Archive’s ‘Oral History of Jazz in Britain’ collection and those conducted as part of the AHRC-funded project ‘What is Black British Jazz?’.

The 1960s and 1970s are regarded by some historians as being particularly creative decades for jazz in Britain, when British jazz developed its own sound that was distinct from that of American jazz. While not denying that this was a creatively fruitful period in British jazz, in this paper I argue that a ‘British sound' in jazz is difficult, perhaps impossible, to define, even though some authors have referred to a sense of ‘Britishness', particularly in the work of certain musicians discussed by Ian Carr in his book Music Outside: Contemporary Jazz in Britain. Some British jazz, performed largely by white (and mostly male) musicians at this time, was influenced during the 1960s by the contribution of immigrant black musicians from South Africa and the Caribbean; at the same time, musicians such as Michael Garrick and John Surman were drawing to some extent on British folk music for inspiration. Referring to examples from the period, I suggest that although much British jazz from 1960 to 1980 was innovative and became less ‘American', development of its styles was affected by many musical, cultural and political factors. To what extent this music sounds ‘British' is debatable, but its influence has led to the pluralism of jazz styles in Britain that continues today.

The 1960s and 1970s are regarded by some historians as being particularly creative decades for jazz in Britain, when British jazz developed its own sound that was distinct from that of American jazz. While not denying that this was a creatively fruitful period in British jazz, in this paper I argue that a ‘British sound' in jazz is difficult, perhaps impossible, to define, even though some authors have referred to a sense of ‘Britishness', particularly in the work of certain musicians discussed by Ian Carr in his book Music Outside: Contemporary Jazz in Britain. Some British jazz, performed largely by white (and mostly male) musicians at this time, was influenced during the 1960s by the contribution of immigrant black musicians from South Africa and the Caribbean; at the same time, musicians such as Michael Garrick and John Surman were drawing to some extent on British folk music for inspiration. Referring to examples from the period, I suggest that although much British jazz from 1960 to 1980 was innovative and became less ‘American', development of its styles was affected by many musical, cultural and political factors. To what extent this music sounds ‘British' is debatable, but its influence has led to the pluralism of jazz styles in Britain that continues today.

The Study of Australian Jazz and the Issue of Methodological Nationalism

IntroductionThe term 1 is widely used in the Japanese industry. Every year, an increasing number of articles referencing appear in the Japanese mass media. Moreover, academic research, particularly in the international business domain, also uses the term. When the Japanese production system began to garner attention in the 1980s and its advantages were realized, became known as the organization that facilitated the transfer of that system (Yamaguchi, 1996). Since that time, the term has been used in academic research outside of Japan as well (Liker, Fruin, & Adler, 1999).However, the term has never been clearly defined and is used in many ways. For example, articles in the Japanese mass media have variously described as a factory that acts as parent for developing production technologies and human resources and strengthens the function of guiding and controlling overseas factories, 2 a factory that engages in product development or product prototyping, creates prototypes of new products, and leads other mass production plants in development of the latest manufacturing technologies,3 and a factory that develops new technologies and transfers them to overseas factories.4 Because the term has diverse meanings, it is likely to be used differently in the Japanese mass media, Japanese academic research, and non-Japanese academic research. 5 However, no studies have examined the differences in the usage of the term. Unless such differences are clarified, use of the term without common agreement on its meaning could lead to misunderstandings.This study identifies the different usage of the term in the Japanese mass media, Japanese academic research, and non-Japanese academic research and concludes that difference exists in the way each of these three groups defines the mother factory. Initially, all three groups commonly held to the definition of mother factory as a unit that continuously supports overseas factories; however, over time, all but those in Japanese academic research departed from this original meaning.Usage of the Term Mother Factory in the Japanese Mass MediaFirst, let us examine the usage of the term in Japanese newspapers and magazines. We used newspaper company's database6 to search the number of articles each year that used this term.7 Figure 1 presents the results of this search while Table 1 indicates when the term was first mentioned and the company that was being referenced. Based on these results, it can be seen that has been widely used since it appeared in the newspaper in 1983 for the first time. We consider four periods: between 1980s and early 1990s, between the late 1990s and early 2000s, late 2000s, and since 2010. Below, we more closely examine the usage of the term in each of these periods.The early days (1980s-early 1990s)Mother was initially used to denote a unit that continuously supports overseas factories as technology center. It first appeared in an article on Stanley Electric Co., Ltd., where mother factory was described as a model factory for overseas factories. Until 1992, was most commonly mentioned in relation to Honda Motor (eight articles), where mother factory was described as a unit that transfers company's production system to overseas factories,8 a unit that transmits Japan's superior production technologies to overseas factories as needed, 9 and a unit that provides guidance as needed for improving the productivity and quality of overseas factory lines.10 In other words, the initial meaning of the term in the Japanese mass media was a unit that continuously supports overseas factories as model factory.The second period (Late 1990s-early 2000s)However, the meaning of the term changed during the second period. …

In Circular Breathing, George McKay, a leading chronicler of British countercultures, uncovers the often surprising ways that jazz has accompanied social change during a period of rapid transformation in Great Britain. Examining jazz from the founding of George Webb’s Dixielanders in 1943 through the burgeoning British bebop scene of the early 1950s, the Beaulieu Jazz Festivals of 1956–61, and the improvisational music making of the 1960s and 1970s, McKay reveals the connections of the music, its players, and its subcultures to black and antiracist activism, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, feminism, and the New Left. In the process, he provides the first detailed cultural history of jazz in Britain. McKay explores the music in relation to issues of whiteness, blackness, and masculinity—all against a backdrop of shifting imperial identities, postcolonialism, and the Cold War. He considers objections to the music’s spread by the “anti-jazzers” alongside the ambivalence felt by many leftist musicians about playing an “all-American” musical form. At the same time, McKay highlights the extraordinary cultural mixing that has defined British jazz since the 1950s, as musicians from Britain’s former colonies—particularly from the Caribbean and South Africa—have transformed the genre. Circular Breathing is enriched by McKay’s original interviews with activists, musicians, and fans and by fascinating images, including works by the renowned English jazz photographer Val Wilmer. It is an invaluable look at not only the history of jazz but also the Left and race relations in Great Britain.

A content analysis of 490 Father's Day and Mother's Day comic strips published from 1940 to 1999 indicates that the culture of fatherhood has fluctuated since World War II. “Incompetent” fathers appeared frequently in the late 1940s, early 1950s, and late 1960s but were rarer in the late 1950s, early and late 1970s, early 1980s, and early 1990s. Fathers who were mocked were especially common in the early and late 1960s and early 1980s but were less common in the late 1940s, early and late 1950s, and early and late 1970s. Fathers who were nurturant and supportive toward children were most evident in the late 1940s, early 1950s, and early and late 1990s, with the longitudinal pattern resembling a U‐shaped curve. Differences between fathers and mothers also oscillated from one decade to the next.

The history of peritoneal dialysis: Early years at Toronto Western Hospital

Nikolas Rose

Customer call center services in the US and other English-speaking countries have been outsourced to strategic nations such as the Philippines and India since the early 1990s, essentially to lower operational costs in how these call centers are maintained. This chapter highlights emerging patterns of language as used by Filipino call center representatives as they support their customers/callers from the US. From the first call center company established by US-owned Accenture Group in 1992, the call center industry in the Philippines has become one of the major drivers of the country’s once sluggish economy, now making it one of the fastest-growing economies in the Asian region. The chapter utilizes corpus analysis to describe some of the prominent linguistic characteristics of Filipino call center agents’ discourse in English. Politeness in spoken interaction, covering a range of contexts and speaker demographics, has been enthusiastically explored by linguists over the past several years.

Marshall S Horwitz

Stand there, don't just do something.

Unearthing sociocultural histories of hiv/aids in Poland, this article focuses on heretofore silenced and dismissed narratives of the crisis and the ways in which hiv/aids in Poland posed a challenge to socialist rule, but also to Polish society and the state in the early days of neoliberal democracy. I focus on the first decade of the aids epidemic in Poland (1985–1996) to investigate how narratives of the crisis made palpable people’s anxieties about the changing political, economic, and social conditions, gentrification, as well as the linear logic of progress encapsulated in the desire to catch up with the West. I analyze sociocultural responses to the crisis, specifically artistic interventions, underground gay, lesbian and aids activism, public demonstrations against the state’s inept management of the epidemic, the lack of media coverage, and urban legends circulating in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In doing so, I examine how the intersection of public discourse of the aids crisis and the changing political landscape played out on the level of a body with aids through the biopolitical logic of “biological citizenship.”