Drug busts, razor-sharp tailoring and breathtaking musicianship: yes, it's the turn of jazz, completing our seven-part history of modern music. It's a journey that stretches back to the early 1900s, and takes us from New Orleans to Cuba to Manhattan to Cologne. The greats are included, of course, from Louis Armstrong to Miles Davis, from the Duke to Dizzy, Monk and Billie, and racism, sexism and the entrenched elitism of the musical world all get tackled on the way. And there's a place for Sgt Pepper, as well as an appearance from Justin Bieber...
"Jazz is a way of playing," said the great jazz pianist and educator Billy Taylor. Duke Ellington called it the music of surprise – and our history takes in classical music, spirituals, the blues, R&B, electronica, punk and world music. We argued when jazz started and we argued over who should feature in our story of its continuation – the contributors, in this instance, comprising the Guardian's jazz critic John Fordham and the writers Richard Williams, John Lewis and John L Walters. Note the one thing that we all agreed on: that jazz isn't at an end...
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