1966-1967. Two years of seismic change in UK history, a time of World Cup wins, of psychedelic 'happenings' and Sgt. Pepper, when London's streets rocked to the sight of mini skirts and Mini Coopers and home-made British pop culture - drawing in everything from satire to sitars - really did look likely to change the world. British jazz was growing too. Having defined itself through the razor-sharp cool of 'modernism', by '66 it was ready to loosen its collar and let its hair down, feeding directly from an anarchic new breed of young musicians able to move between styles as never before, allowing everything from the avant-garde to R&B colour their work. London was now swinging in every direction, like some vast kaleidoscopic merry-go-round. This, then, is the story of those British jazzmen who came along for the ride, some clinging on with white-knuckles and gritted teeth, others enjoying the trip of their lives.
