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The Documentary: Black Music in Europe: Black music in Europe: 1939-45

Clarke Peters

15/08/2020 GMT

Black music in Europe: 1939-45

Black Music in Europe

BBC World Service - The Documentary, Black Music in Europe, Black music in Europe: 1939-45

Nazi propaganda jazz, black American trumpet stars in Paris, and Caribbean swing bands

Clarke Peters uncovers Nazi propaganda jazz, black American trumpet stars in occupied Paris, Caribbean swing bands playing through the Blitz and Nigerian composer Fela Sowande

Clarke looks at the music of black Europe at the time of the Second World War with recordings of Nazi propaganda jazz, underground bands in Hitler’s Germany, black American trumpet stars in occupied Paris, and Caribbean swing bands playing through the Blitz in London. He also examines the work of Nigerian composer Fela Sowande and plays extracts of his wartime broadcast for the BBC.

(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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