New jazz histories

Abstract

Perhaps the time is past to think in terms of a single synoptic history of jazz. However, by singling out ideas from the academic reviews of A New History of Jazz, it is possible to view it as not only (as History Today called it) an interlocking set of theses about the development of jazz, but as a series of starting points for further investigation. After addressing the ways in which the book could stimulate discussion in several areas of study, from issues of periodization to the mediating role of television and radio, and from an exploration of non-Anglophone writing on jazz to reassessing the careers of such individual musicians as John Coltrane and Miles Davis, the article turns to oral history. In particular it addresses the way that instead of being approached as individual sources, a collective body of oral histories can become a far more useful resource, able to enlighten and stimulate the history and historiography of jazz by providing several viewpoints, several opinions and several challenges to key moments in the music’s history.

Jazz and American identity: Case study of a college course.

“…The one above echoed a student journal guideline and listening skill: to pick out the call and response in the music, ranging from repeated Blues lyrics to band arrangements where a group of instruments would call out a riff or a melodic theme and another section of instruments would respond back. This pattern has also been associated with the longer tradition of Afro-American contributions to American music, developed from an oral tradition where music and dance are part of social communication, from spirituals and the Blues through the legacy of Jazz (Burns, 2001; DuBois, 1903; O'Meally, 1998; Shipton, 2001; Tietze, 2006).…”

A facet-factorial approach towards the development and validation of a jazz rhythm section performance rating scale

“…The international legitimization of jazz as an artistic music began in the prewar years of the 20th century, notably marked by the overseas performances of traveling American jazz musicians along with the aid of internationally networked media sources such as the radio (Giddins & DeVeaux, 2009; Gioia, 1997; Shipton, 2007; Tirro, 1993). Atkins (2003) writes:… practically from its inception, jazz was a harbinger of what we now call ‘globalization.’ In no one’s mind have the music’s ties to its country of origin been severed, yet the historical record proves that it has for some time had global relevance.…”

“…In particular, Atkins notes, “people around the world have been actively constructing their own systems for performing, understanding, evaluating, and discussing jazz” (2003, p. xx ). Both Atkins and Shipton (2007) have documented in detail the outpouring of these uniquely developed, localized jazz scenes throughout Europe (i.e., Britain, Germany, France, Sweden, Denmark), South America (i.e., Argentina, Brazil) and Africa (i.e., Zimbabwe, South Africa), as well as in China, Cuba, Canada, and Russia.…”

Introduction

“…5 Recently, Alyn Shipton has argued for greater and methodologically more sophisticated use of oral history, over and above the often apocryphal and hagiographic legends peddled in standard biographies and histories. 6 While this is undoubtedly a welcome and fruitful approach, its limitations are no less apparent: what it amounts to is a history without jazz. Although it offers new historical insights into jazz and its cultural contexts, these are no longer directly tied to anything we can see or hear directly.…”