scholarly journals Free Jazz Communism [Book Review]

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (2-3) ◽  
Author(s):  
DAVID GRUNDY ◽  
Pierre Crépon
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Central Moment ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
Original Research ◽  
Free Jazz ◽  
Cold War Era ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
A Performance

This review addresses the book 'Free Jazz Communism' (Rab Rab Press), a volume concerning a performance at the 1962 World Youth Festival in Helsinki by the Archie Shepp-Bill Dixon group. The book argues that this hitherto neglected event is a central moment for studies of the relation between jazz and politics during the Cold War Era, combining source texts, interviews, and polemical interventions to make its case. Our review fills in some of the details about the event, and Shepp's political activity during the early 1960s, which are not uncovered in the book. The first half of the review concentrates on our research into the festival, and the second half turns more closely to the book itself, as well as to Shepp's involvement with political causes during this time. Our intention is to use the book as an occasion to stage original research, as well as to analyse the contributions and shortcomings of the book itself.

1989: Conclusion and Epilogue

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raymond A. Patton
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Pussy Riot ◽  
Cold War Era ◽  
East And West ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
New Framework

The conclusion condenses the book’s argument that punk developed through networks that crossed all three worlds through intertwined phenomena of immigration, postmodernism, and globalization; that punks and societies’ reactions to it defied and subverted the fundamental assumptions and categories of the Cold War era; and that punk provoked a realignment away from sociopolitical, ideological categories and toward a new framework emphasizing identities as conservatives and progressives. It briefly examines the post-1989 punk scenes of the East and West; many punks felt as dissatisfied with the global neoliberal order as they were with the Cold War world and often joined the new antiglobalization movements of the East and West. It concludes with the example of Pussy Riot in Russia, which shows that punk retained its power to consolidate forces of reaction (Putin, the Orthodox Church, and conservative public opinion) and cultural progressives alike long after the end of the Cold War.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document