ABSTRACT
The word 'jazz' became current in the USA in 1917, and in Britain in 1919 the Daily Mail spoke of 'this jazz age', describing people 'dancing as they have never danced before, in a happy rebound from the austerities of war'. Jack Payne's 1931 recording of Moises Simon's 'The peanut vendor' was one of the first to introduce Cuban rhythms to British dancers; it was a son, but danced as a rumba. A typical 1920s dance band was ten strong: two trumpets, trombone, three reeds, piano, banjo, tuba, and drums. British dance bands did not simply imitate American models, especially if they had a skilful arranger like Lew Stone. Bebop was an attempt to create a black 'art' music, a project building upon the artistic successes of the Harlem Renaissance. The dance music of the 1920s was kept alive in the 'swinging sixties' by groups like the Temperance Seven.
