"Jazz Changes"

An interdisciplinary jazz studies colloquium, March 4-5, 2004

Free and Open to the Public!!!

in conjunction with the 27th Annual KU Jazz Festival, March 3-6 2004 University of Kansas, Lawrence

Schedule

Dixieland, boogie-woogie, swing, jump, bebop, modal, free, fusion, hip-bop: dissimilar musics in many ways, yet all called "jazz" by some people (though usually not without a fight) until absorbed (or not) by what Krin Gabbard calls "the jazz canon." Yet, if there's one thing we can learn from this vast collection of musics known at different times as "jazz" it's this: jazz changes. Historically, jazz has proven to be a flexible category that crosses musical, social, political, cultural, commercial, technological, and geographic borders. At the same time, "jazz," or what Scott DeVeaux has called the "jazz tradition," signifies for its supporters fiercely guarded notions of which specific sounds and meanings belong in the category of "pure jazz." The "jazz wars" between traditionalists and modernists that Bernard Gendron has tracked in revivalist/swing debates and over the swing/bebop split, now appear as debates over whether new forms--electronica, for instance, or hip hop inspired styles--count as "real jazz." In spite of a history of jazz changes, the discourses of jazz reception, criticism, marketing, education, and historiography are permeated with notions of purity and authenticity--not of hybridity and difference.

"Jazz Changes" is an all-day colloquium organized by the newly formed KU Interdisciplinary Jazz Studies Group, that will explore jazz, not as a logical march from style to style, but as a history of often drastic change and debate. The colloquium will be held in conjunction with the 27th Annual KU Jazz Festival, directed by Dan Gailey, at the University of Kansas, a series of concerts and workshops that will also explore jazz as a dynamic and changing field. Featured artists include Theo Bleckman and Bob Mintzer. In addition to panels and concerts, there will be an exhibit of Aaron Siskind's photography at the Spencer Art Museum, and the opportunity to explore jazz studies resources at University of Kansas, including the Dick Wright Jazz Archive and the American Jazz Museum in Kansas City. Keynote speakers include Ingrid Monson, Harvard Professor and author of Saying Something: Jazz Improvisation and Interaction and Travis Jackson, Associate Professor of Music, University of Chicago.

"Jazz Changes" is organized by the KU Interdisciplinary Jazz Studies Group, whose members include: Chuck Berg, Professor, Film/Video; C.C. Herbison, Instructor, Department of African and African-American Studies; Dan Gailey, Associate Professor and Director of Jazz Studies; William J. Harris, Associate Professor of English; Clarence Henry, Assistant Professor of Ethnomusicology; Paul Laird, Associate Professor of Musicology; Roberta Freund Schwartz, Assistant Professor of Musicology; and Sherrie Tucker, Assistant Professor, American Studies. Sponsored by the KU Center for Research and KU College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

 

In conjunction with "Jazz Changes" a group of fifteen photographs by Aaron Siskind will be on view from February 21 to March 21 in the fourth floor Study Gallery of the Spencer Museum of Art. These photographs trace Siskind's transition from images that reflect a reportorial stance toward the jazz scene in New York City in the 1930s to works that themselves seem to explore the rhythms and improvisations of jazz music.

The Spencer Museum of Art is located at 1301 Mississippi Street, across from the Kansas Union. Gallery hours are Tues.-Sat. 10-5; Thurs. 10-9; Sunday 12-5; closed Monday.

 

Program for "Jazz Changes: An Interdisciplinary Jazz Studies Colloquium"
University of Kansas, March 4-5, 2004

Thursday, March 4, 2004
Alderson Auditorium, Kansas Union

9:00-10:00	Morning Keynote Travis Jackson, Associate Professor of Music, University of Chicago "All the Things You Are: The Changing Face(s) of Jazz Studies"
10:15-12:00	"Fusion Changes" Panel Chair, Chico Herbison Steven Pond, "'Jazz-rock,' 'Fusion,' or 'Fusion Jazz': What's in a Name?" Kevin Fellezs, "When Joni Met Charles: Joni Mitchell's Mingus" Stevan R. Jackson, "'Mama, I''ll Be Home Someday': The Life and Influence of Charlie Byrd"
12:15-1:15	Lunch
1:30-3:00	"Changing Places" Panel Chair, Roberta Freund Schwartz Christina Baade, "The BBC's 'Radio Rhythm Club' and Performing 'Americanness' in Jazz" Philip Barnard, "Cultural Formations and Generic Boundaries in Western Swing" Andrew Scott, "'Things Ain't What They Used to Be': Paul Desmond in Toronto"
3:15-4:45	"Improvising Changes" Panel Chair, Paul Laird Jeffrey Taylor, With Lovie and Lil: Rediscovering Two Chicago Pianists of the 1920s" Tony Bushard, "Conversation in Blue: Towards a Model for Conversation Analysis in Jazz Improvisation" Julie Smith, "Disrupting Freedom: European Women Improvise"
5:00-6:00	Afternoon Keynote Ingrid Monson, Quincy Jones Professor of African American Music, Harvard University "On Sound Stereotypes: Social Construction and Jazz"

Friday, March 5, 2004
Spencer Art Museum Auditorium

10:30-12:00

"Changing Forms" Panel Chair, Chuck Berg Garnette Cadogan, "Reframing the Margins, Widening the Angles: Reading Jazz Photography into the Hermeneutics of Jazz Studies" Cheryl Ragar, "Jazz Form: Visual Artists Step Into the Circle" Chelsea Schlievert, "Bop Prose, Bop Poetry: Jazz's Influence on Jack Kerouac"

Afternoon: Optional trip to American Jazz Museum, Kansas City