Jazz and Musical Works: Hypnotized by the Wrong Model

Abstract

It is difficult to place jazz within a philosophy of music dominated by the concepts and practices of classical music. One key puzzle concerns the nature and role, if any, of musical works in jazz. I briefly describe the debate between those who deny that there are musical works in jazz (Andrew Kania) and those who affirm that there are such (Julian Dodd and others), and I distinguish between claiming that there are no musical works in the jazz tradition and the more provocative claim that they are not performed in jazz performances. I argue that each side of this debate is partially right and that the first step toward resolving the puzzle is to reject inappropriate concepts of a musical work. In particular, Kania's and Lydia Goehr's accounts, derived from classical music practice, are rejected as general accounts of musical works. I then contrast the norms governing work performance in classical music (the werktreue ideal) with the practices governing performances of works in jazz, which I call realization or staging. Finally, I propose a model of jazz appreciation that incorporates a role for jazz works and that fundamentally differs from the way that classical musical performances are appreciated.

Digital Development for Music Appreciation of Information Resources Using Big Data Environment

“…e level of a person's ability to appreciate music reflects the level of a person's self-cultivation and cultural level. Music appreciation class is irreplaceable in any classroom form in music teaching [18].…”

Is Stand-Up Comedy Art?

“…Since performances are different kinds of things from works of art, yet are the primary focus of critical attention in jazz, I conclude that jazz is a tradition without works” (Kania 2011, 400). Not all agree with Kania's contention of jazz as being without works: for an explicit rejoinder, see Dodd (2014), with an effort at a synthetic perspective provided by Fisher (2018).…”