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Jazz

Talking European (British) jazz: Rhythm Changes and Circular Breathing

At a Rhythm Changes project meeting at Lancaster University on Friday March 15 2012. Usually project meetings are taken up with administration and bureaucracy but we determined to make some time for the discursive and interrogative during these three days. Here we are discussing the transnational and national in relation to European jazz, and I sketch the arguments I made in Circular Breathing (2005) about these questions. They revolve around three main sets of ‘outernational’ (Paul Gilroy) interactions: transatlantic exchange, British imperial / Commonwealth networks, and European gazes.

Rhythm ChangesThe Rhythm Changes website explains:

In the interests of sparking conversation and spreading ideas more widely, we thought it would be good to capture a flavour of some of the discussions we’ve been having at our research meeting these past few days, and make them available for you to watch, overhear and respond to.

Think of this series of short videos as conversation starters, an invitation to engage and discuss ideas, as well as just an insight into some of the debates we’ve been having ourselves around these topics.