At the time of racial segregation in the United States, which lasted until 1964, and the difficult decolonization process undertaken by France, French periodicals seldom put African-Americans on their covers. But in December 1954, Jazz Magazine set a new tone. From the outset, the young team at the monthly magazine founded by Nicole and Eddie Barclay advocated musical borrowing and cultural exchange. It bore ardent witness to the US civil rights movement as well as discrimination against African-Americans on both sides of the Atlantic. The magazine quickly became a laboratory of experimentation, taking opinionated stands under its editors, Frank Ténot and Daniel Filipacchi—fiery, ambitious friends fascinated by jazz and Afro-American counterculture. Surrounded by enthusiasts, they played an active part in building "legends" in France. For two decades, they legitimized jazz as a form of culture, consecrating the music and revealing its eminently political dimension.

Clara Bastid & Marie Robert