A survey of recorded jazz from its beginnings to the present, seeking to show how its musicians always reflected in their music the issues of their day, from mass migration and the struggles against racism, to a hatred of war, the assertion of internationalism and the aspirations towards a fair and just world. Searle looks at attempts to resist racism through music, including the Civil Rights movement in the US and the continuing fight against racism in the US and Britain.

This book will appeal to jazz lovers everywhere and those interested in culture and music as an expression of real history – jazz reconciles scattered cultures with diasporan sounds and instruments.

Chris Searle was born in Romford in 1944. He has worked as a teacher in Canada, Tobago, Mozambique, Grenada and England. His books include Lightning of your Eyes, Classrooms of Resistance, Words Unchained, This New Season, We're Building the New School, The World in a Classroom, Grenada Morning and The Forsaken Lover (for which he was awarded the Martin Luther King Prize) He is the jazz correspondent for the Morning Star.