(Re)voicing tradition: improvising aesthetics and identity on local jazz scenes

Abstract

Historically, the field of ethnomusicology has tended to neglect the lives and work of individual musicians in favour of a view of music as culture, a disciplinary perspective that has assumed the homogeneity of the world's cultures. Contesting this erasure of the musical subject, biographical micro-histories situate the individual at the centre of music studies. Accordingly, the subject of this article is a self-identified ‘local’ jazz musician, whose narrative elucidates the exigencies of his musical and social life. One of the music's ‘lesser lives’, ‘LC’ is typical of those players who negotiate the contested terrain of jazz scenes peripheral to the jazz world's centre, New York City. The explication of his musical aesthetic and its influence upon his self-image as a jazz musician is directed toward a more representative view of jazz than that of institutionalised histories, which promulgate a ‘Great Man’ narrative. Incorporating contemporary discourse and critical race theories as alternatives to traditional modes of aesthetic inquiry, this study unpacks issues related to musical and social dialogism and signification, ‘voice’ and identity, and race and masculinity as a means of illuminating those criteria deemed crucial by a particular musician in his search for existential meaning and a jazz truth.

Markets, music and all that jazz

“…In his opinion, marketers can still learn from artists how to “use consumer culture themes and images”, “create […] distinctive products, segment […] the market”, extend brands or “control […] distribution and foster […] exclusivity” (Schroeder, 2005). However, arguments for studying jazz's “great men” were rejected by Hollerbach (2004), who in his study of local jazz musicians accused researchers focused exclusively on jazz stars of reductionism and misrepresentation of the jazz world:[…] they ignore – and therefore dismiss – the many musicians who labour in relative obscurity on jazz scenes worldwide and thus maintain the music's viability through a multidimensional act of commitment no less intense than that of those documented, “real” jazz musicians of jazz historiography.…”

Music Cognition from Birth to Adolescence: A Structuralist Approach

“…Jazz musicians often describe their goal in studying music as a quest for developing a personal "instrumental voice" that would, akin a person's voice, represent that person's identity. Solos in jam session serve as exchange of "opinions" expressed by each of the participants in relation to a musical theme ("topic of conversation") of their choice-and take into consideration "opinions" of other known jazz artists who have previously improvised on the same theme (Hollerbach, 2004). The notion of a voice includes not only timbre, but many other expressive aspects, including pitch inflections and articulation, which altogether project the artist's "self" as opposed to other artists' "selves" (Berliner 1994, 124-25).…”

“…Speaking with someone else's voice is perhaps the most disgraceful thing to happen to a jazz professional, and consistent imitation of someone's voice is equated with identity theft (Hollerbach, 2004). For jazz pianists, tonal aspects of musical expression remain the primary means of exercising an original voice, since piano mechanics does not allow for timbral, microtonal, or respiratory variations.…”

Towards Gender Equality in the Music Industry

“…Reflecting on my interviews, it is also clear that the perceived lack of mid-career women jazz musicians by gatekeepers such as CJF is indicative of a more pervasive issue within the jazz industries. Like rock Reddington 2012), male musicians have been placed at the centre of the ways in which jazz music is defined, from the influential musicians remembered for their contributions to the various epochs of jazz to associations between improvisation and masculinity (see Tucker 2002 andHollerbach 2004). Jazz has become viewed by jazz critics and audiences alike as a male genre.…”