Black British musicians have been making jazz since around 1920. This book reveals their hidden history and major contribution to the development of jazz in the UK. The chapters show the importance of black British jazz in terms of musical hybridity and the cultural significance of race. The volume also provides a case study in how music of the African diaspora reverberates around the world, beyond the shores of the USA - the engine-house of global black music. It will engage scholars of music and cultural studies not only in Britain, but across the world.