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The Documentary: Black Music in Europe: The 1960s

Clarke Peters

05/09/2020 GMT

The 1960s

Black Music in Europe

BBC World Service - The Documentary, Black Music in Europe, The 1960s

Guitar legend Francis Bebey, Fela Kuti, Don Cherry, and the story of The Blue Notes

Cameroonian guitar legend Francis Bebey, afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti, free jazz globetrotter Don Cherry, and the story of jazz group The Blue Notes.

This episode looks at the music of Black Europe at the height of the 1960s. We hear about Cameroonian guitar legend Francis Bebey in Paris, Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti in London and free jazz globetrotter Don Cherry in Stockholm. Clarke also tells the story of jazz group The Blue Notes, who fled apartheid South Africa for a new life in Europe.

(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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