Description
About the Author
Mike Brocken is senior lecturer in popular music studies at Liverpool Hope University. Jeff Daniels is an independent research scholar who over the past decade has concentrated on the history of Gordon Stretton.
Reviews
A Liverpudlian of mixed Jamaican and Irish ancestry born in 1887, William Masters, who adopted the stage name Gordon Stretton in tribute to an Edwardian music-hall artist, provides a fascinating study of a member of the African diaspora seeking and finding an artistic identity. After working in a troupe of Lancashire clog-dancers as a child, and then connecting with his Jamaican heritage through membership of a touring choir, he learnt to be a jazz drummer under the tutelage of visiting African American musician Billy Dorsey. His career as a drummer and bandleader subsequently took him first to France and then to South America, where he settled in Argentina. He exemplifies the manner in which members of the African diaspora of very varied backgrounds were sucked into currently prestigious North American idioms and used them to develop their own individual modes of expression. Jeff Daniels is Gordon Stretton's great-nephew. His mother Veronica was the fourth daughter of Gordon's brother Henry and Helen nee Clemence. He has for many years been collecting information on Gordon from family and contemporary sources in an effort to restore Gordon to his rightful place in the history of Liverpool's multi-cultural melting pot. -- Howard Rye, co-author of "Black Europe"
By virtue of this publication, jazz pioneer Gordon Stretton's important role in the internationalization of jazz music is finally coming to the attention of music historians around the world. -- Lynn Abbott, Tulane University
This book about the musician Gordon Stretton reveals the story of one of the pioneers responsible for the internationalization of Jazz in the transatlantic cultural scene that occurred in South America in the early 1920s. Gordon Stretton performed in cities such as Buenos Aires, Montevideo, and Rio de Janeiro, formed partnerships with Brazilian musicians, singers, and dancers, and promoted events and inaugurations. The Gordon Stretton Jazz Band unveiled unprecedented sonic and aesthetic perspectives in popular music from the places where they passed -- Marilia Giller, Parana State University
Book Information
ISBN 9781498574464
Author Michael Brocken
Format Hardback
Page Count 352
Imprint Lexington Books
Publisher Lexington Books
Weight(grams) 744g
Dimensions(mm) 231mm * 163mm * 27mm