José Dias is Senior Lecturer in Music at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK, and a jazz researcher, documentarist, composer and musician. He has developed research on European jazz and music for screen and has scored music for theatre, contemporary dance and film.

In its focus on networks of musicians and supporting institutions in Europe, José Dias’s book is a unique contribution to jazz studies. Using ethnographic methods and drawing on his own extensive connections forged as a musician and researcher, Dias touches some of the central themes of 'The European Project,' such as whether there exists a European cultural identity. At the same time, the book offers a skillful critique of received narratives that have tended to view jazz as an American import. Supported by engaged dialogue with interlocutors, it is a timely intervention into broadly relevant debates.

• PrefaceAcknowledgementsList of AbbreviationsIntroduction1 Researching Jazz in Europe Today2 Challenges for European Jazz Networking3 Current Strategies4 Giving Voice to Ground PlayersConclusionsReferencesNotesIndex

José Dias is Senior Lecturer in Music at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK, and a jazz researcher, documentarist, composer and musician. He has developed research on European jazz and music for screen and has scored music for theatre, contemporary dance and film.

In its focus on networks of musicians and supporting institutions in Europe, José Dias’s book is a unique contribution to jazz studies. Using ethnographic methods and drawing on his own extensive connections forged as a musician and researcher, Dias touches some of the central themes of 'The European Project,' such as whether there exists a European cultural identity. At the same time, the book offers a skillful critique of received narratives that have tended to view jazz as an American import. Supported by engaged dialogue with interlocutors, it is a timely intervention into broadly relevant debates.

• PrefaceAcknowledgementsList of AbbreviationsIntroduction1 Researching Jazz in Europe Today2 Challenges for European Jazz Networking3 Current Strategies4 Giving Voice to Ground PlayersConclusionsReferencesNotesIndex