The thesis reevaluates racial impact of free jazz, which represented a musical reflection on the racial politics of the 1950s and the 1960s, by judging its political contributions in comparison to...Show moreThe thesis reevaluates racial impact of free jazz, which represented a musical reflection on the racial politics of the 1950s and the 1960s, by judging its political contributions in comparison to the so-called Old Guard, a group of jazz experimental artists predominantly active in the 1950s, namely Charles Mingus, Max Roach, and Sonny Rollins, who were also significantly involved in the racial politics. The thesis establishes that despite a lack of popularity among critics and scholars, the Old Guard was equally politically active as free jazz, if not even more so, even though both movements portrayed their contributions differently. The Old Guard remained direct and conformational, in contrast to free jazz, who pursued more indirect and pragmatic attitude when addressing and dealing with the politics of race, as a distinct set of social, economical, and musicological, motivations at the turn of the 1960s caused free jazz to change its approach.Show less
