Harlem Nights

Harlem Nights by Deirdre O'Connell tells the untold story of race and power in Australia's Jazz Age.

The 1920s were a time of wonder and flux, when Australians sensed a world growing smaller, turning faster—and, for some, skittering off balance. American movies, music, and dance brought together what racial lines kept apart. A spirit of youthful rebellion collided with the promise of racial perfectibility, stirring deep anxieties in white nationalists and moral reformers. African-American jazz represented the type of modernism that cosmopolitan Australians craved—and the champions of White Australia feared.

Enter Sonny Clay's Colored Idea. Snuck in under the wire by an astute promoter, the Harlem-style revue broke from the usual blackface minstrel fare, delivering sophisticated, liberating rhythms. The story of their Australian tour is a tale of conspiracy—a secret plan to kick out and keep out 'undesirable' expressions of modernism, music, and race.

From the wild jazz clubs of Prohibition-era LA to Indigenous women discovering a new world of black resistance, this anatomy of a scandal-fuelled frame-up brings into focus a vibrant cast of characters from Australia's Jazz Age.