The Impact of Jazz from Around the World

Discover the influence and impact of Jazz globally and the people behind it

Camilla George (2021) by Monika S JakubowskaBlack Lives in Music

Jazz as a global genre

Jazz is now - it’s what we say it is from any given point to the next, but equally, so much of what we have come to call jazz is influenced by jazz and jazz musicians from around the world. 

Jazz Musican - Miles Davis by Robert W KelleyLIFE Photo Collection

Jazz powerhouses like Dexter Gordon and Miles Davis influenced the way we dressed - some jazz musicians have even influenced the way we speak and the language we use.

Macy Gray by Monika S JakubowskaBlack Lives in Music

Macy Gray

Grammy award winning Macy Gray is no stranger to the UK whether you think of her exclusively as a soul or R&B artist.  Macy has done so much to influence youth and music culture in the UK. Her singing style is, in turn, influenced by Lady Day – the inimitable Billie Holiday

Macy Gray by Monika S JakubowskaBlack Lives in Music

Nubya Garcia by Tatiana GorilovksyBlack Lives in Music

Nubiya Garcia

The UK’s Nubya Garcia is well known in the jazz world and an inspiration to young female jazz musicians everywhere, but did you know she quotes as her influences the formidable American triumvirate of tenor powerhouses that are Dexter Gordon, Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane

Hugh Masekela

Some of the most impactful influences of jazz from around the world heralded with the arrival of musicians from South Africa like Bheki Mseleku, Dudu Pukwana and Hugh Masekela. They came bringing sounds that at the time not popular amongst British British Jazz audience. 

The incredible Jazz Warriors, the creative brainchild of the Saxophone virtuoso Courtney Pine was rich with African and Caribbean sounds, kneaded into an irresistible meld of musical warmth and stylish jazz, led by a hip looking band!

Jazz Jamaica

Credits: Story

The new standard – Jazz Jamaica was a coming together under the leadership of former Jazz Warriors collaborator Gary Crosby.  The all-star band brought the great folk songs of the West Indies and converted them into foot tapping Jazz Standards that never lost their west Indian identity.  The band was single handedly respsonsible for creating a dance hall infused jazz style not previously heard in the big band context.

Credits: All media
The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.
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