University News Last updated 12 December
The Jazz Research Cluster recently ran a symposium, Jazz Among the Discourses - 30 Years On.
The event was designed to mark the 30-year anniversary of two influential publications edited by Professor Emeritus Krin Gabbard from Columbia University (pictured). These collections are titled Jazz Among the Discourses and Representing Jazz.
The publications inspired the development of what was to become known as the New Jazz Studies and demonstrated the value and significance of jazz as a cross-disciplinary subject.
The Jazz Research Cluster often welcomes international guests to events and the group represents a growing community of scholars, musicians, promoters, and media professionals from across the West Midlands.
In planning the symposium, the group decided to explore the legacy of New Jazz Studies research from the 1990s, hoping to feed into a discussion about the current state of the art in jazz and to set the agenda for new research within the field.
Krin was in attendance for the event, as were other internationally renowned scholars, including Professor of Music and Culture Alan Stanbridge from the University of Toronto, Professor of Music Catherine Tackley from the University of Liverpool, and Professor of Jazz and Improvised Music Walter van de Leur from the University of Amsterdam.
Featuring scholars from a range of academic subjects, the day drew on approaches from musicology, media and cultural studies, gender studies, history, film studies, comparative literature, museum studies, cultural policy, and quantum physics.
Professor of Jazz Studies Tony Whyton stated: “This was a ground-breaking event that demonstrated the significance of the Jazz Research Cluster in shaping the international research agenda for jazz and supporting a new generation of scholars.
“The event cemented BCU’s position as an international leader in jazz scholarship, and I’m optimistic about the bright future ahead for Jazz Studies in Birmingham.”