Watch Jazz Britannia online: Episode 2 Strange Brew

As the 1960s wore on, the earthier sounds of American R&B were taking the place of jazz in the nation's ballrooms and nightclubs. The pace of cultural change was hotting up. While the Soho clubs still played host to the boppers, a younger generation of players were taking a less purist approach. Some (like Graham Bond, Jack Bruce and Jon Hiseman) plugged in and joined the R&B revolution, which in turn led to the formation of jazz inspired rock bands like Colosseum and the phenomenally successful Cream. At the other end of the spectrum, musicians influenced by Joe Harriott and Ornette Coleman began to throw out the rulebook and dispense with written music altogether. The arrival of South African musicians like Chris McGregor, Dudu Pukwana and Mongezi Feza added a new energy to the avant-garde, while composers like Michael Garrick and Mike Westbrook began to carve out a music that owed as much to folk or church traditions as it did to American jazz. To these musicians, the lines between rock, jazz and classical music were beginning to blur, and even the major record companies seemed willing to give them the time of day. Jazz-rock, free improv and jazz-fusion; the music was continually being pulled into strange new shapes. As the optimism of the 1960s gave way to the harsher realities of the next decade, it seemed that British jazz had developed many voices; but was anyone listening?

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