Join us for a discussion with multi-disciplinarily and genre-blending saxophonist Cassie Kinoshi and University of Liverpool musicologist Professor Catherine Tackley. This event takes place on the eve of Cassie Kinoshi’s biggest headline show to date alongside seed., turntabalist NikNak and London Contemporary Orchestra at the Barbican Centre - find out more here

Kinoshi takes inspiration from the development of British Jazz, joining up her personal experience as a Black female composer and bandleader, making her mark on UK music.

This conversation celebrates and explores the stimulus for a brand-new composition by Kinoshi which will be premiered at the Barbican concert. Her new work showcases how conflict shapes new social and artistic movements emerging around them; highlighting women's role in British music history. Inspiration for the work was driven by Professor Catherine Tackley’s research into the development of British Jazz during the World War 1 period including the emergence of all-female bands in the jazz and dance-band circuit.

This event looks ahead to The British Library’s major 2024 exhibition Beyond the Bassline: 500 Years of Black British Music (26 April to 26 August).

The exhibition explores Black British identity through the medium of music, and showcases innumerable trail blazing creators, from Tudor trumpeter John Blanke to music entrepreneur Jamal Edwards and from Shirley Bassey to producer and DJ Nia Archives. It features rare artwork, photography, record sleeves, recordings, magazines and costumes as well as new soundscapes, artworks and films, commissioned by the Library and produced by artists and collectives across the UK. Beyond the Bassline takes us across the Ocean to the stage, the clubs and the streets; it celebrates record shops, Carnival and community and multiple genres, including jazz, reggae, punk, grime and some of the greatest pop of all time, through the people who made, shared and loved the music. The event is free to attend but booking is recommended.