Creativity in action: The emergence of Copenhagen's jazz scene

David Emanuel Andersson

Chapter 5 in Understanding Creative Cities, 2026, pp 106-128 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: What causes a city to cultivate creativity? One way of addressing this question is to examine location-specific features during the emergence of a novel activity. In this case, we examine cultural dynamics between American and Danish jazz musicians from the 1960s onwards, when American musicians like Dexter Gordon and Ben Webster relocated to Copenhagen. Personal accounts from musicians such as Akbar DePriest and John Tchicai illustrate how Danish culture influenced their art, leading them towards boundary-crossing creativity and away from creative reactions to American racism such as the expression of countercultural energy. An important aspect of the emergence of the scene was the vision of Café Montmartre's founders. The club pioneered practices such as combining American headliners with a local rhythm section and encouraging interactivity by providing a cramped space in a crowded neighbourhood. The Montmartre laid the foundation for Copenhagen's emergence as one of the global centres of jazz.

Keywords: Jazz; Spatial Entrepreneurship; Copenhagen; Montmartre; Neighbourhood Density; Cross-cultural Interaction (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035338344
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.elgaronline.com/doi/10.4337/9781035338351.00012 (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:elg:eechap:23540_5

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.e-elgar.com

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Chapters from Edward Elgar Publishing
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Jack Sweeney ().