Our Men in Europe: Three Tenors
By Kevin Whitehead, eMusic Contributor
"Black musicians all over Europe, running away from America." — Johnny Griffin (to Art Taylor), 1969 There were things to run toward, too. When reasons are tallied why American jazz musicians expatriate(d) to Europe — refined Old World atmosphere, less overt racism, musicians treated as artists, substance-abuse treated as a public-health problem, women jazz fans — one reason gets overlooked: there were good musicians to work with. By the 1950s and '60s, there was a growing… more »