Jazz Migrations

Jazz Migrations

Author: Wisconsin Public Radio October 9, 2021 Duration: 51:37

Music crosses boundaries between traditional and modern, local and global, personal and political. Take jazz — a musical form born out of forced migration and enslavement. We typically think it originated in New Orleans and then spread around the world. But today, we examine an alternate history of jazz — one that starts in Africa, then crisscrosses the planet, following the movements of people and empires -- from colonial powers to grassroots revolutionaries to contemporary artists throughout the diaspora.

This history of jazz is like the music itself: fluid and improvisatory.  

In this hour, produced in partnership with the Consortium of Humanities Centers and Institutes (CHCI) — a global consortium of 270 humanities centers and institutes — we hear how both African and African-American music have shaped the sound of the world today.

 

Original Air Date: July 04, 2020

Guests: 

Meklit Hadero — Valmont Layne — Gwen Ansell — Ron Radano

Interviews In This Hour: 

How Meklit Hadero Reimagined Ethiopian Jazz — So You Say You Want A Revolution — Reclaiming the Hidden History of South African Jazz — 'We Are All African When We Listen'

Further Reading:

CHCI Ideas from Africa Hub


There’s a certain kind of conversation that doesn’t just skim the surface of a topic but wades into its complexities and contradictions. That’s the space where you’ll find To The Best Of Our Knowledge, a Peabody award-winning production from Wisconsin Public Radio. This isn’t a lecture or a simple interview series; it’s a curated exploration of the ideas shaping our world, hosted through thoughtful dialogue. Each episode brings you voices you might not otherwise encounter in the same room: a poet might illuminate a scientific concept, while a historian’s perspective could reframe a current event. You’ll hear from novelists, software engineers, activists, and philosophers-people united not by their field, but by the depth and passion they bring to their work. Listening to this podcast feels like being part of a nuanced, ongoing discussion that challenges assumptions and invites curiosity. It’s for anyone who believes that understanding culture, society, and the human condition requires looking at them from multiple, sometimes surprising, angles. The result is a consistently engaging audio experience that treats ideas as living, evolving things to be examined with care and genuine interest.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

To The Best Of Our Knowledge
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