Freedom Music: Wales, Emancipation and Jazz 1850–1950

by Jen Wilson

Freedom Music traces the history of how early African American and jazz music came to Wales. From Abolitionist collaborations, minstrelsy, ragtime, blues, hot music, and swing, Jen Wilson shows us an innovative side of Wales previously hidden from history. This music appealed to Wales’ vibrant youth and those not part of the mainstream culture of chapels, choirs, and male voice choirs. Wilson unfolds this musical history by examining women’s emancipation, gender politics, social history, and Welsh culture. She looks at cultural innovations by women entrepreneurs during and from the First World War. Wilson also focuses on the history of African American music in Wales and highlights the widespread misogyny and discrimination within jazz music in Wales. The stories within Freedom Music will attract not only social and political historians, but also feminists, jazz fans, and general readers fascinated by the cast of characters who played and danced to the music.

336 pages, Paperback

Published September 15, 2019

Reviews

[Richard E. Rock · Rating 5 out of 5]

You don't have to be a jazz fan to appreciate this book. It's about so much more than music. This is social history explored through the prism of musical evolution, starting with the Fisk Jubilee Singers (all emancipated slaves) performing in Welsh music halls and concluding with wild and crazy teenagers dancing their socks off in nightclubs.
Along the way we collide with the jaw-droppingly racist and misogynistic attitudes of the time; fiery preachers warning of the dangers of "negro" music while others contend that it's "Jewish" music that is the most corrupting. We also discover a great many fascinating and surprising facts. Did you know that the legendary trumpet player Louis Armstrong once did a week's residency in a Swansea cafe? No, me neither.
This is not a book for academics alone. No, Freedom Music is accessible, informative and thoroughly entertaining, I highly recommend it.

[Luisa Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

I borrowed this book from the library as part of my research into Welsh social history, and I’m so glad I did! Every page introduces me to aspects of Welsh life in the 19th and 20th centuries that I’d had no idea about.
Although it’s mainly about the history of jazz music, it’s full of details about the things that linked South Wales to Black American music in the 19th century and into the 20th, including insights into why the Welsh working class took Negro spirituals and ragtime music to their hearts. I love details like the arguments at the workhouse between those who disapproved of providing concerts and dances for the inmates, against those who could see through the hypocrisy and moralising and understood that people benefited from such pastimes. I’m stunned by the sheer variety of shows that were performed by singers and dancers from America in tiny Welsh towns, and it’s great to know about the popularity of the songs and shows.
There are also stories of Welsh women and their families taking direct action to support the abolition of slavery and to help enslaved people gain their freedom. This was the reason I sought out the book, and their stories are definitely inspiring.
A terrific read for anyone who enjoys finding out about what Welsh working-class people enjoyed when they weren’t slogging at work, and about attitudes towards music, race and entertainment in the past. It’s been useful to reflect on how far we have moved on from some of the things that were considered acceptable in the past, and also to look back and acknowledge the journey.

[Peter Black · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly researched, informative and insightful history of women in jazz and its links to the slave trade, with some surprising nuggets of information about Swansea and its role in this narrative