This presentation took place as part of the conference Crosstown Traffic: Popular Music Theory and Practice, which was hosted by The University of Huddersfield from September 3 - 5 2018. This event combined the IASPM UK&Ireland Biennial Conference, the 13th Art of Record Production Conference (ARP), an ISMMS conference, and the additional participation of Dancecult.
A recurrent theme within popular music studies has been discussion of how the field can integrate different disciplines and professions, for example exploring both music and its context; involving both practitioners and researchers; and encouraging interdisciplinary and collaborative work. Many different issues make such approaches challenging, and various different popular music focused subject organisations have developed somewhat independently of one another. This conference brought four such groups together, to exchange knowledge, collaborate, and encourage crosstalk.
/// SUPPORT
Popular Music Studies Research Group (PMSRG), University of Huddersfield
Centre for Music, Culture and Identity (CMCI), University of Huddersfield
The International Association for the Study of Popular Music UK and Ireland Branch (IASPM UK & Ireland)
www.iaspm.org.uk
Association for the Study of the Art of Record Production (ASARP)
www.artofrecordproduction.com/
Dancecult Research Network (DRN) studies into electronic dance music culture
www.dancecult-research.net
International Society for Metal Music Studies (ISMMS)
www.metalstudies.org/
/// ORGANIZERS
IASPM UK&I: Rupert Till
ARP: Katia Isakoff, Shara Rambarran
ISMMS: Karl Spracklen
Dancecult: Graham St. John
University of Huddersfield: Jan Herbst, Austin Moore, Lisa Colton, Toby Martin, Catherine Haworth, Mark Mynett
/// CREDITS
This online project was edited, collated, and made available online by Chris McConnell, Jack Zissell, and Colin Frank.
/// PRESENTATION DETAILS
Interaction and Interplay in Jazz Performance: theory, practice, and the need for interdisciplinarity
Dan Banks - The University of Hull
Email: dan@danbanks.co.uk / D.Banks@2017.hull.ac.uk
/// ABSTRACT
This presentation will outline and critique current thinking in the domain of jazz scholarship concerning interaction and interplay, consider the importance and impact of interdisciplinary approaches therein, and outline the presenter’s research on interaction and interplay both as a PhD student (studying music performance at The University of Hull) and practitioner. Interaction and interplay in jazz performance is a somewhat under-theorised line of inquiry in jazz scholarship; however significant work has been undertaken by scholars such as Ingrid Monson, Paul Berliner, and Robert Hodson. This work ranges from ‘close’ examinations of various music to interdisciplinary approaches sitting on the nexus between ethnomusicology, anthropology, musicology, and linguistics. Although studies sitting on interdisciplinary nexus points, such as Ingrid Monson’s Saying Something: Jazz Improvisation and Interaction, have facilitated a deepening and broadening of the field it is arguable that these works have yet to impact analytical techniques and tools significantly, or indeed that their treatment of the examined musical object is superficial. This argument will form one aspect of this presentation. From the body of work mentioned above, the notion that “good jazz improvisation is social and interactive just like a conversation” has become conventional wisdom. However, the allegorical 1 trope—music is like language, and improvisation is like conversation—has some limitations concerning the translatability of musical experience. It is possible to posit that practice led research may provide further insight beyond the intersection of linguistics, ethnomusicology, and traditional musicology; this position will form a fundamental tenet of this presentation’s discussion.
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