Democracy in Music : Louis Metcalf’s International Band and Montreal Jazz History

Type of resource
Author/collaborator
Title
Democracy in Music : Louis Metcalf’s International Band and Montreal Jazz History
Abstract
The author explores the politics of jazz in Montreal by looking at the arrival of American trumpeter Louis Metcalf (1905-1981) to the city in December 1946. The author points out that Metcalf quickly established the city’s first bebop band, consisting of seven musicians from different racial and ethnic backgrounds, and claimed that his group represented "democracy in music." The band became a sensation, making the Café Saint-Michel the hub of the jazz scene in the city for a few years, and was extensively discussed in both the city's Francophone and Anglophone press. Metcalf returned to New York City in 1951. After looking at the cultural scripts about jazz that prevailed in Quebec in the first half of the twentieth century, as well as the racially segregated world in which jazz musicians lived and worked, the author investigates the political vision of “democracy” – always tied to racial justice and internationalism – that Metcalf and his band came to represent. By looking at both Metcalf’s vision and its reception in Montreal, the author argues that jazz musicians need to be included in discussions about the new conceptions of democracy that emerged in the postwar world.
Publication
Canadian Historical Review
Volume
Vol. 100
Issue
no. 3
Pages
351-373
Date
September 2019
Language
en
Citation
Mills, Sean. “Democracy in Music : Louis Metcalf’s International Band and Montreal Jazz History.” Canadian Historical Review Vol. 100, no. 3 (September 2019): 351–373.
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