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Since the 1910s, jazz has been the soundtrack of modernity. In view of the long and rich history of this art form, the aim of this paper is to study the connections between black musics, cultures and identities that critics such as LeRoi Jones, Ralph Ellison and Paul Gilroy have brought to light. Jazz musicians’ multifaceted and plural status in particular provides an interesting synecdoche of the transatlantic transactions which have been the mainspring of western culture.