Cross the Water Blues: African American Music in Europe edited by Neil
A. Wynn with contributions from Christopher G. Bakriges, Sean Creighton,
Jeffrey Green, Leighton Grist, Bob Groom, Rainer E. Lotz, Paul Oliver,
Catherine Parsonage, Iris Schmeisser, Roberta Freund Schwartz, Robert
Springer, Rupert Till, Guido van Rijn, David Webster, and Neil A. Wynn
This unique collection of essays examines the flow of African American
music and musicians across the Atlantic to Europe from the time of
slavery to the twentieth century. In a sweeping examination of different
musical forms-spirituals, blues, jazz, skiffle, and orchestral music-the
contributors consider the reception and influence of black music on a
number of different European audiences, particularly in Britain, but
also France, Germany, and the Netherlands. The essayists approach the
subject through diverse historical, musicological, and philosophical
perspectives. A number of essays document little-known performances and
recordings of African American musicians in Europe. Several pieces,
including one by Paul Oliver, focus on the appeal of the blues to
British listeners. At the same time, these considerations often reveal
the ambiguous nature of European responses to black music and in so
doing add to our knowledge of transatlantic race relations. Neil A. Wynn
is professor of twentieth-century American history at the University of
Gloucestershire.
