Harlem nights : the secret history of Australia's Jazz age / Deirdre O'Connell.
Publication details: Carlton, Victoria : Melbourne University Press, 2021.Description: xvi, 408 pages : illustrations, portraits ; 24 cmISBN:- 9780522877649
- Jazz -- History and criticism -- New South Wales -- Sydney
- Jazz -- History and criticism -- Victoria -- Melbourne
- Music and race
- Jazz -- New South Wales -- Sydney -- History and criticism
- Jazz -- Victoria -- Melbourne -- History and criticism
- Sydney (N.S.W.) -- Race relations -- History -- 20th century
- Melbourne (Vic.) -- Race relations -- History -- 20th century
- Australian
- 781.650994 23/eng/20211029
| Item type | Home library | Collection | Call number | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item reserves | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Book | Melbourne Athenaeum Library | Non-Fiction | 781.65 OCO | Available | 063628 |
"Sonny clay's colored idea"--Cover.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 319-344) and index.
The untold story of race and power in Australia's Jazz Age The 1920s were a time of wonder and flux, when Australians sensed a world growing smaller, turning faster-and, for some, skittering off balance. American movies, music and dance brought together what racial lines kept apart. A spirit of youthful rebellion collided with the promise of racial perfectibility, stirring deep anxieties in white nationalists and moral reformers. African-American jazz represented the type of modernism that cosmopolitan Australians craved-and the champions of White Australia feared. Enter Sonny Clay's Colored Idea. Snuck in under the wire by an astute promoter, the Harlem-style revue broke from the usual blackface minstrel fare, delivering sophisticated, liberating rhythms. The story of their Australian tour is a tale of conspiracy-a secret plan to kick out and keep out 'undesirable' expressions of modernism, music and race. From the wild jazz clubs of Prohibition-era LA to Indigenous women discovering a new world of black resistance, this anatomy of a scandal-fuelled frame-up brings into focus a vibrant cast of characters from Australia's Jazz Age.
