“100% White, 100% Male” (?) The Youth Jazz Movement in the West Midlands (1960- 1980)

Abstract

Using fi eldwork and archival press research to engage with aspiring young musicians in the British West Midlands, I show how the oral tradition of passing musical knowledge down generations provided opportunities for youngsters to experience jazz performance
and improvisation. Privileging the jazz collective’s social and musical practice, I question how diversity aff ected the establishment of juvenile jazz in the region.