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The Documentary: Black Music in Europe: Black music in Europe: After 1945

Clarke Peters

22/08/2020 GMT

Black music in Europe: After 1945

Black Music in Europe

BBC World Service - The Documentary, Black Music in Europe, Black music in Europe: After 1945

The music of Ambrose Campbell, Sterling Betancourt MBE, and calypso star Lord Kitchener

The music of Ambrose Campbell and his West African Rhythm Brothers, steel pan master Sterling Betancourt MBE, and calypso star Lord Kitchener.

Clarke Peters delves into the sounds of 1950s London, from Ambrose Campbell and his West African Rhythm Brothers and steel pan master Sterling Betancourt MBE, to calypso star Lord Kitchener. He also uncovers the history of jazz in Paris after 1945 and tells how black American GIs found a new freedom in post-war Germany.

(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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