Jason Toynbee
Large Research Grants/Beyond Text
Black British jazz is a hybrid musical tradition with tributaries in Caribbean and African music, as well as North American rhythm and blues and jazz. This project investigates black British jazz in the light of its complex history of migration, political economy, recordings and performances. It focuses in particular on black British jazz musicians, 
examining where they came from, what music they brought with them, and where they went to in the UK. The project also examines whether or not it is possible to identify a coherent black British jazz style. More broadly it asks about the cultural significance of jazz made by black British musicians: what is its relationship to the multicultural society of contemporary Britain?
Examining the long gestation of black British jazz as a genre and social formation since the early 20th century, special attention is being paid to memory, and continuity and change in performance traditions as they are carried from the Caribbean, North America and Africa to the UK. As Dr Jason Toynbee, principal investigator of the project notes, ‘Jazz has an important relationship to African Diaspora but in Britain it also takes on new shades and meanings.’ Using oral history and archival research the aim is to produce an archaeology of Black British jazz, showing its emergence through Black Atlantic migration and cultural exchange.
Central to the work of this project is engagement with the community of musicians, promoters and managers who make up the black British jazz scene as well as other organisations. Significant partners, signed up to the project so far, include Dune Records, Jazz Services, The Center for Black Music Research (Chicago) and The British Library Sound Archive. Part of the project involves observation of and participation in music tours and workshops and in-depth biographical study of a sample of musicians. Gary Crosby OBE, founder member of the Jazz Warriors, and Julian Joseph, composer, pianist and broadcaster, have both been involved and note the importance of such a project for documenting this important strand in British cultural life but also for what it can show about race, identity and the possibilities of empowerment in Britain today.
Research outputs include conventional academic forms such as books, journal articles and conference papers. But the aim is also to make the results of the work available to a broader public. A film (in collaboration with Metal Dog Productions), a short series of radio programmes/podcasts and a concert take the project to non-academic audiences. Project data drawn from performances, interviews and documents will also be available as archive material held by the British Library and the Center for Black Music Research in Chicago and a resource for jazz education.
The project is based at The Open University in the Departments of Sociology and Music. Principal Investigator and contact is Jason Toynbee (j.a.toynbee@open.ac.uk).
Project website - http://www.open.ac.uk/researchprojects/blackbritishjazz/
Image: Harry Beckett © photographer Richard Kaby