The Radical Jazz of William Parker
A new biography of bassist and composer William Parker stresses free jazz’s transformative capacities – and details how his music gave expression to radical black, working-class and anti-imperialist politics.
4 Articles by:
Stewart Smith
Stewart Smith is a music and arts journalist and academic, with a particular interest in alternative cultural histories of Scotland. He recently launched Ion Engine, a newsletter dedicated to underground and experimental music from Scotland.
The Cries o’ a New Warld
In his centenary year, we salute Edwin Morgan – a Scottish socialist whose modernist poetry covered the distance from Glasgow to Saturn.
A Parliament of Novels
Scott Hames discusses the class and cultural politics of Scottish independence – and whether the movement behind it was founded by left-nationalist writers and artists, or more elite interests.
The Old Sound of Young Scotland
From Situationist provocations to McEwans lager adverts, ‘Big Gold Dreams’ tells the story of how Scottish post-punk sidestepped cultural nationalism to create an independent identity.