Gordon Stretton, Black British Transoceanic Jazz Pioneer

In charting the life and times of Gordon Stretton, this text makes a major contribution to both jazz and popular music studies. By asking historians to re-evaluate the contributions made to the development of jazz by those "other than" African Americans, it proposes new jazz histories emanating from pathways, influences and encounters.

Mike Brocken is senior lecturer in popular music studies at Liverpool Hope University.

Foreword Chapter One - An Introduction: "The Times Are Always Contained in the Rhythm" (attributed to Quincy Jones) Chapter Two - Literature Section One - Survival and Emergence: From Liverpool to London Chapter Three - Survival: The Liverpool of William Masters Chapter Four - Emergence: "Gordon Stretton" Chapter Five - Identification: London (and Jazz) Calling! Dark Town Jingles, Billy Dorsey; "they did a Marconi test in a plane" Chapter Six - Fragments: A Summary of Gordon Stretton's Career Prior to Paris via Historical Fragments: Advertising, Promotional Materials, Sheet Music, Recordings Section Two - Affirmation: "And So to Paris" Chapter Seven: Affirmation Section Three - Celebration: The Latin American Adventure; Brazil and Argentina Chapter Eight - Celebration! Gordon Stretton and Transoceanic Jazz Chapter Nine - Verification: Audiovisuals and a Home in Argentina Chapter Ten - Gordon and the Anglo Argentine community in Buenos Aires Chapter Eleven - Confirmation: So, What Can We Learn? Appendix 1: Timelines Appendix 2: Short Biographical Notes on Members of the Jamaican Choral Union Appendix 3: Brief Pen Pictures of a Few Musicians Who Performed with Gordon Stretton Appendix 4: Email Received from Guy Revell, Royal Air Force Museum, London Appendix 5: Discography