"Most of our people have never had it so good". When Prime Minister Harold Macmillan uttered his famous era-defining phrase in the summer of 1957 he wasn't thinking of the UK's modern jazz community. Yet his words were an equally apt summary of their fortunes that year. After the bitter defeats of 1956, when America delivered reminder upon reminder of its musical superiority, London's modernists were finally fighting back. They had a new enclave, the Flamingo Club, with membership in its thousands, and a new cause celebre in the Jazz Couriers. Add to that, exciting new bands led by Don Rendell, Ronnie Scott and Tubby Hayes were holding their own against the Yanks. It was clear that the first generation of the capital's Mods were on the way up...