Various Artists
I Had the Craziest Dream: Modern Jazz and Hard-Bop in Post War London, Vol. 1
Another luminous compilation from London's Death is Not the End, this time examining the city's modern jazz and hard-bop scenes from the end of the 1940s until the early '60s.
After the surge of interest interest in British jazz over the last few years, DINTE take us back to the beginnings of the sound. This set was put together alongside the Barbican to coincide with their "Postwar Modern: New Art in Britain 1945-1965" exhibition, and shines a light on London's modern jazz and hard-bop sounds. Cuts from well-known players like East Enders Ronnie Scott and Harry Klein sit alongside Jamaican jazz musicians Joe Harriott and Dizzy Reece, with equally as important cuts from lesser-known proponents like Ginger Johnson and Eddie Thompson.
More than just a history lesson, the set offers us a fascinating and effortlessly enjoyable picture of the British jazz scene in the post-war period.
