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The Documentary: Black Music in Europe: Before the war

Clarke Peters

08/08/2020 GMT

Before the war

Black Music in Europe

BBC World Service - The Documentary, Black Music in Europe, Before the war

Jazz in Weimar Berlin, calypso in Cardiff Bay and the sounds of the Beguine in Paris

Jazz in Weimar Berlin, calypso in Cardiff Bay and the sounds of the Beguine in Paris. Clarke Peters uncovers the stories of black musicians in Europe up to the Jazz Age.

Clarke Peters examines the variety of black music recorded in Europe from the late 1920s onwards - hot jazz in Weimar Berlin, calypso in Cardiff Bay and the sounds of the Beguine in Paris. He also investigates the Degenerate Music exhibition held in Dusseldorf in 1938, and hears how the rise of Hitler affected the lives of musicians like trumpeter Arthur Briggs.

(Photo: Clark Peters. Credit:: Alexandra Quinn)

The Documentary: Black Music in Europe

Clarke Peters uncovers the stories of black musicians in Europe up to the Jazz Age.

Clarke Peters draws on a rare collection of archive recordings to explore a forgotten musical history.
 
Received wisdom has it that black popular music arrived in Europe with the Empire Windrush in 1948, but Clarke brings us black sounds recorded in Europe from as far back as 1900.
 
Focusing on early commercial discs made in the recording studios of London, Paris and Berlin, we hear from dozens of different performers, including African American travelling entertainers, traditional African musicians, black British classical composers and more.

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