“It Don’t Mean a Thing….”

CMCI Senior Lecturer and cultural historian Dr Harvey G Cohen provided commentary on BBC Radio 3, celebrating the history of big band swing music during the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s.

Along with jazz critic/author and radio host Alyn Shipton and Open University academic Catherine Tackley, he discussed the historical influences of Prohibition, New York City performance venues, the Kansas City “territories,” and radio on the early history of jazz.

The presentation included short period clips starring Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman (pictured together, above) and Fletcher Henderson. To hear the broadcast for the next couple weeks on the BBC iPlayer, you can head towards this address: http://www.bbc.co.uk/events/ez48gw#b064y1x8