Beyond the Bassline: 500 Years of Black British Music

The story of Black British music is a five-hundred-year journey from the court of King Henry VIII to the ’Ends’ of South London; from Africa to the Caribbean to the UK and back; from subterranean shebeens and church halls to royal command performances and sold-out stadiums; and from outsider influence to domestic chart domination. It is a story that grapples with the slave trade, the prejudice of unwelcoming institutions and the bias of ignorance while ultimately celebrating the creativity and perseverance of the pioneers and today’s digital age innovators.

Published alongside the major British Library exhibition, Beyond the Bassline is a landmark volume of essays, features and interviews which traces a new timeline underpinned by the Black artists and musicians who, over centuries, have shaped Britain’s unique and globally significant musical culture. Illustrating this vibrant history which traverses musical genres from classical, gospel and jazz through to reggae, jungle and Afrobeats are more than three hundred images including contemporary and classic photographs, paintings, posters and record sleeves.

Introduced by the exhibition’s curators, Dr. Aleema Gray and Mykaell Riley, and edited by Paul Bradshaw, music journalist and publisher of Straight No Chaser magazine, Beyond the Bassline tells its essential story through specially commissioned pieces from musicians, composers, DJs, writers and photographers, as well as important voices in politics and history.

Authors/Contributors include: Tej Adeleye - Christian Adofo - Ishmahil Blagrove, Jr. - Stephen Bourne - Garth Cartwright - Monique Charles - Dalia Al-Dujaili - Tracy Durrant - Juliet Fletcher - Vivien Goldman - Julian Grant - Linton Kwesi Johnson - Anthony Joseph - Julian Joseph - Cassie Kinoshi - Kevin Le Gendre - Charis McGowan - Rasheda Ashanti Malcolm - Tony Montague - Malik Al Nasir - Sharon O’Brien - Michael I. Ohajuru - Lisa Amanda Palmer - Amar Patel - Ade Egun Crispin Robinson - Angus Taylor - Chardine Taylor-Stone - Andy Thomas - Julia Toppin - Ayanna van der Maten McCalman - Derek Walcott - Richard Williams - Val Wilmer - Anthony Wright - Benjamin Zephaniah

Paul Bradshaw began his career as a music journalist in the 70s. After contributing to the NME, in 1988 he launched Straight No Chaser, a ’designer fanzine’ dedicated to the music of the African diaspora. Over two decades it became the hub for the global club-orientated jazz scene. Paul recently edited Gilles Peterson’s Lockdown FM: Broadcasting In A Pandemic.