ABSTRACT
Jazz, having been absorbed and often suppressed within mainstream popular dance music in Britain in the early 1920s, once more began to develop a clearer individual identity around the time of the introduction of electrical recording, meaning that 'jazz' and 'dance music' were no longer synonymous. Initially this identity was constructed through social as well as musical factors, and the association of jazz with African-Americans and the notorious underworld environment of London had negative consequences for the serious appreciation and understanding of the music. However, the increasing availability of good quality recordings allowed much wider access to jazz than was formerly permitted by London's nightclubs. Jazz could now be analyzed and understood in much greater depth by critics, enthusiasts, amateur and professional musicians that formed a relatively small, but active, audience for the music in Britain. The critical responses to jazz in magazines and books that resulted from the awareness of its musical characteristics that have been discussed extensively in Chapter 3 are complemented this chapter, which will focus on an exploration of the musical presence and responses to hot jazz in Britain.
