🎶 April News from the JEN Research Interest Group

Welcome to the April edition of the JEN Research Interest Group newsletter. Below please find a variety of news items, announcements, callouts, new publications, and job opportunities.

Article submissions for Jazz Education in Research and Practice Volume 4 are open now with an extended deadline of May 15 - info and submission guidelines here. Feel free to contact me if you have questions about how and what to submit. There are options from book reviews, to essays on a teaching/ theory/ history topic, to full-blown research articles. Publishing in a peer-reviewed journal provides credits for promotion, job searches, and of course contributes to the knowledge base in the field. Volume 3 is now available, the Table of Contents is below and of course Volume 1 and 2 also include a wealth of articles. Please consider including some of them in your courses this semester and access or order copies through your libraries. As a JEN member, you can claim a discounted yearly subscription for $15 if you order directly from IU Press here and follow the subscription links. And of course, as a full JEN member you have access to reading all editions on the JEN website for free.

The monthly series of webinars will continue on May 6 (invitation and signup info below) and on the first Friday of every month featuring one of the authors published in JAZZ (Jazz Education in Research and Practice). The goal of the presentations is to share the findings as well as ideas for practical implementations in the classroom and curricula. Please look for links and invitations to the webinars on the JEN website and Facebook page. They’ll be live streamed on Facebook, but those who register for the zoom webinar will be able to ask questions and interact with the panelists. All previous presentations can be accessed here.

Here is the upcoming schedule, all webinars are at 3pm EST - schedule for the rest of the year coming soon::

May 6 • Jeffrey Benatar “A Method for teaching interaction in small jazz ensembles • Register
June 3 • Paul Roth “Teaching Jazz, Teaching Justice, blackness of Don Cherry's global communion”

Make sure to get your conference submissions in for the 2023 JEN conference, deadline April 30 - when applying for a research presentation consider also a poster presentation for a higher chance of acceptance. Please feel free to share this news compilation and invite colleagues to join the mailing list and/or Facebook page. Remember to check the updated job listings here. If you have new books/ articles/ dissertations published, send me the info to be included in the newsletter. Also send over ideas on how JENRing can help you in your jazz research and networking. Items of interest related to jazz research may also be shared on the Facebook page.

🎶 FREE WEBINAR 🎶

A Method for Teaching Interaction in Small Jazz Ensembles
with Dr. Jeffrey Benatar

Friday, May 6 • 3pm ET

Zoom (Members) & Facebook Live (Non-members)

Join Dr. Jeffrey Benatar, Assistant Professor of Music, Director of Jazz Studies and Coordinator of Music Management at Florida Southern College for this exciting presentation. Featuring students from Florida Southern College, Dr. Benatar will present pedagogy for coaching five types of interaction common in small Jazz Ensembles: call-and-response, phrase punctuation, texture change, instigation, and anticipation.

Plus a Q & A with the live Zoom audience.

A presentation from the Jazz Education Research and Practice Journal, a publication of the Jazz Education Network.

Have a question you don't see covered above? Once registered, you will be invited to submit any questions you would like answered.

PLEASE NOTE:

JEN Members will receive a link 1-hr before the event to join the Zoom Room.

Non-members & youth (under 18) members will receive a link 1-hr before the event to join via Facebook Live. Click here for membership information.

The Grammys giving Album of the Year to a release that peaked at No. 86 on the Billboard 200 might seem to call into question the very meaning of Album of the Year. Yet no one should be too perplexed that the Recording Academy handed last night’s final prize to We Are, by Jon Batiste, the accomplished jazz pianist and bandleader (and the music director of this publication). The pop fans who are tweeting phrases like scammys in response to Batiste’s victory over more famous artists—Ye (formerly known as Kanye West), Taylor Swift—just play the same shell game as the awards show they criticize. In music, no one knows exactly what importance means anymore, if anyone ever did.

Going into the ceremony, many pundits guessed that we were in for an echo of 2020, when a new teenage hitmaker, Billie Eilish, dominated the “Big Four” general categories: Song of the Year, Record of the Year, Album of the Year, and Best New Artist. This time, the juvenile juggernaut would be Olivia Rodrigo, the Disney TV actor whose early-2021 ballad “Drivers License,” went supernova—and was followed by three other top-10 singles and a best-selling album, Sour. A singer-songwriter who plays instruments and has her own fresh vibe, Rodrigo seemed like the kind of cultural unifier who wins Grammys by the carload. In a moving rendition of “Drivers License” last night, she showed the charm—tentative mannerisms, intimate lyrics, bold emotions—that justified predictions of a sweep.

Yet the Grammys ended up defying easy narratives. Rodrigo did win three awards: Best New Artist, Best Pop Vocal Album, and Best Pop Solo Performance. But Song of the Year and Record of the Year both went to “Leave the Door Open,” by Silk Sonic, the ’70s-funk superduo of Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak. Then, when Lenny Kravitz announced Album of the Year at the end of the night, Batiste put his hands up in an expression of what looked like genuine amazement. His speech also communicated the humility of someone who never expected to win. “I believe this to my core,” he said. “There is no best musician, best artist, best dancer, best actor. The creative arts are subjective.”

UNESCO has announced the program for the flagship International Jazz Day concert on April 30 in New York City and related events. The all-star concert will be held at the UN General Assembly Hall in New York City and will feature a diverse lineup of artists from all over the world. Led by Herbie Hancock, who co-chairs International Jazz Day, with John Beasley as music director, the show’s featured list of performers includes Joey Alexander, Helio Alves, Brian Blade, Randy Brecker, Terri Lyne Carrington, Ravi Coltrane, Hiromi, Zakar Hussain, Pedro Martinez, Marcus Miller, Gregory Porter, Lizz Wright, and many more.

The concert will be webcast at 5 p.m. ET on the UNESCO website, YouTube, Facebook, jazzday.com, and other platforms. In addition, at 3 p.m. ET UNESCO will present the second edition of the JazzWomenAfrica concert series, featuring female performers from various African nations. A series of free online educational programs will be presented via the International Jazz Day YouTube and Facebook pages, with master classes and presentations led by Carrington, Arturo O’Farrill, Oran Etkin, Danny Grissett, Dan Tepfer, and others. As always, the International Jazz Day organization has encouraged organizations all over the world to present their own events.

“With conflict and division in many parts of the world, it is my hope that, through the universal language of jazz, our celebration this year can inspire people of all nations to heal, to hope and to work together to foster peace,” Hancock said in a press release received at JazzTimes.

Blue Note Records and Universal Music Group Africa have announced the creation of Blue Note Africa, a new label that will focus on African jazz artists. The first release from the new imprint is Nduduzo Makhathini’s album In the Spirit of Ntu, which comes out May 27, with the single “Senze’Nina” being released later this week on April 8.

“Blue Note has stood the test of time by continuing to adapt but keeping its focus on discovering and introducing jazz talent to the world,” said Sipho Dlamini, CEO of Universal Music Africa, in a press release received at JazzTimes. “The opportunity to create Blue Note Africa and provide a channel for African jazz talent to have a home in the U.S., with a dedicated and passionate team led by a legend in his own right—Don Was—is very exciting. We can now walk the African jazz journey, from Cape to Cairo to California.”

“African music has been a major creative tributary for nearly every album in Blue Note’s extensive catalog,” Blue Note President Don Was said in the same press release. “So it’s a great honor for us to partner with Sipho and his talented Universal Music Africa team in this new endeavor. Together, we will shine a global light on the incredible music emanating from Africa today.”

Jazz Education in Research and Practice explores diverse topics of jazz scholarship and its applications to pedagogy. The journal provides a forum for interaction and exchange between researchers and practitioners grounded in scholarship. It was developed by and is an extension of the Jazz Education Network Research Interest Group (JENRing) founded in 2014 under the umbrella of the Jazz Education Network (JEN). The journal aims to be inclusive of a wide range of perspectives, from musicology to cultural studies, from psychology to business, that can be applied in the field. In this respect, the editors particularly welcome articles that provide models, resources, and effective techniques for the teaching and learning of the art form.

JAZZ is distributed to all JEN members upon publication and available to the general public through JSTOR and Project Muse.

Submission deadline for JAZZ, Vol IV is May 15, 2022 at this link:
https://scholarworks.iu.edu/iupjournals/index.php/jazz/information/authors

The following types of articles will be considered for publication:

Research studies: data-driven formal research projects with appropriate analysis, formal hypotheses and their testing, etc. These studies use either a quantitative or qualitative methodology that the authors should describe in detail. Accepted articles contain rigorous research that also leads to significant new understanding in pedagogy.
Case studies: a case study that focuses on an intense analysis of a specific teaching situation or problem that led to a solution. Case studies should have the following components: description of the teaching situation or problem, solution or solutions attempted, quantitative or qualitative analysis of the effectiveness of the solution, reflection on the implications and possible generalization to other settings or populations.
Reflective essays: essays that challenge current practice, encourage experimentation, or draw novel conclusions.
Literature reviews: a systematic review or meta-analysis of the literature that illuminates new relationships and understanding of contemporary issues bridging teaching and learning.
Quick Hits: a brief contribution describing innovative teaching practices or a novel use of a teaching or learning tool that has already been successfully implemented (1500 words or less). It should describe the practice or use of the tool as a step-by-step process and include sufficient detail to allow another educator to use the Quick Hit in his or her own teaching.
Book Reviews: Each issue of JAZZ includes a review of recent books related to jazz education. The reviews of these books should rise to the same level of rigor as the other articles published in JAZZ that is, they should critically discuss the content and possible applications to the field in a respectful manner that is informative to authors and readers. Book Reviews should be no more than 2500 words in length, including endnotes.

For questions contact: Monika Herzig mherzig@indiana.edu

OPEN CALL FOR the FIELD KITCHEN ACADEMY Educational Residency at WÜSTEN BUCHHOLZ, near BERLIN, GERMANY

31 July - 24 August 2022

APPLICATION DEADLINE for SCHOLARSHIPS and PARTICIPATION: 30 April 2022, 23:59

Open call for an educational residency with:
SAM AUINGER (Composer and sound-artist)
SAADET TURKOZ (voice artist)
HANS ROSENSTROM (sound artist)
and
GRAHAM HARMAN (philosopher)
MARTIN RICHES (sound artist)
ZEYNEP BULUT (theorist of voice, Queen's University, Belfast)
BRANDON LABELLE (artist, writer, and theorist)
GA ON BIT & NA RIN BIT (Zen Masters) and
Our GUEST VENTRILOQUIST
Selection committee: Ursula Block, Arnold Dreyblatt, Essi Kalima, Mario Asef and Ece Pazarbasi.

The FIELD KITCHEN ACADEMY is an interdisciplinary educational residency programme that gathers artists/ creative minds, a resident chef and prominent experts from different fields together around a kitchen table through mind-opening acts and actions.

A total of 10 interdisciplinary residents will be selected to join the upcoming FIELD KITCHEN ACADEMY. Varying between one week, two weeks and approximately a month period, the residency offers 3 modules. Curated by Ece Pazarbasi, this year, under the title of VOICE AS OBJECT, OBJECT (H)AS VOICE; we will tackle the issue of the voice starting to act as an object, like any object in a room once it is detached from the body. Simultaneously we will also look into voice from another level - for the ears of the Object Oriented Ontologists - how each object has a voice of itself.

Composed of three intertwined modules that allow for different durations in the residency, the program is open to application from all disciplines and all walks of life. The selected residents will have the opportunity of pursuing processes of experimentation, discussion, trial and error, the progression of knowledge, and know-how in working sessions during the first 3 weeks. The last half week will be the ‘simmering’ period where the residents are expected to do NOTHING.

The applications are open not only to those with an artistic background, but to all creative minds who have an interest in voice, sound, object, contemporary and interdisciplinary creative practices. All are encouraged to apply.

The FIELD KITCHEN ACADEMY offers 3 (three) SCHOLARSHIPS to successful applicants to cover the entire residency fee for Module #3 (between 31 July - 24 August) together with accommodation, meals or travel.

Location: GUTSHAUS WÜSTEN-BUCHHOLZ, Perleberg, Germany / app. 2 hrs. away from Berlin.
Selected participants and the scholarship holders will be announced in May 2022.

From the latter half of the twentieth century there has been increasing interest and work in gender and jazz, with several collections examining the roles of women and gay and lesbian musicians in the jazz world, both historically and contemporarily. Nichole Rustin-Paschel and Sherrie Tucker’s 2008 collection Big Ears: Listening for Gender in Jazz Studies has now become an eminent text in the area, and more recently, the Jazzinstitut, Darmstadt held its 14th Jazzforum on the topic of gender and identity in jazz (resulting in a published collection by the same name in 2016). These, and other collections and articles, have delved into gender and its roles in the jazz world, however there are still many more aspects to explore. Gender, and gender binaries, have shaped the jazz world since the 1920s. Now in the 2020s, the centennial of the Jazz Age gives us an opportunity to explore the many ways that perceptions of gender have been defined and evolved over the last 100 years. There is a need to examine where we are at in the 2020s, and to give thought to the work ahead as creative practitioners, researchers and historians. This themed issue seeks to explore both the known and unknown about gender in the jazz world. Asides from issues around femininity and masculinity (and men and women) in jazz, we seek articles that explore musicians, bands, and scenes who have been ignored or shunned because their performance of gender and/or sexual orientation did not comfortably fit into the perceptions held by critics and audiences. We also seek explorations around power dynamics and gender on and off the bandstand, #MeToo, and collectives such as We Have Voice and Keychange.

Please submit a short abstract (no more than 200 words) to guest editor, Aleisha Ward: a.ward@auckland.ac.nz

Abstracts deadline: 1 June 2022

JAR is an internationally recognised Open Access journal that publishes artistic research from all arts disciplines including (but not limited to) the visual arts, architecture, dance, design, film, literature, music, painting, performance, photography, poetry, sculpture, theatre, video art, urban planning, etc. The journal seeks submissions of artists and theorists focusing on artistic research, with or without academic affiliation, and at all stages of their research curriculum.

Rethinking the traditional journal format, JAR offers its contributors a free-to-use online space called the Research Catalogue (RC) where text can be woven together with image, audio and video material allowing for creative modes of presenting and documenting artistic work. We are specifically interested in contributions that reflect upon and expose artistic practice as research, and welcome submissions from artists interested in opening up the processes that underlie their practice. Please view our archive to get a sense of what we publish.

To be accepted for peer review, the Editorial Board considers the degree to which the exposition is conceptually and artistically strong, considered, and significant to the field, and whether the submission exposes artistic practice as research. This last aspect engages with questions and claims about knowledges within practice. For more information about the notion of ‘exposition’ please read the editorial to JAR0.

JAR is part of an active community and network of practice. Alongside the peer-reviewed expositions, the website also provides a space for the publication of channels, reflections and book reviews. The JAR Network space carries no restrictions in terms of language, length, topic or theme and aims to represent the diversity of positions and practices of artistic research regardless of whether or not they coincide with JAR’s approach. If you would like to contribute, please contact JAR using the website contact form and your proposal will be discussed by the editorial board.

Talking Heads have proved to be one of the most influential of any of the groups associated with the punk and new wave scene that flourished in New York in the mid-1970s. They released a number of epoch-defining albums (Talking Heads 77, Fear of Music, Remain in Light, Little Creatures); they spawned influential and successful offshoots- David Byrne’s collaboration with Brian Eno on My Life in the Bush of Ghosts; Tom Tom Club (Tina Weymouth’s and Chris Frantz’s side project); and their forays into other media (music video; the concert film Stop Making Sense; and the feature film True Stories) were, for the most part, both critically and commercially successful. After the band’s dissolution, the band members, David Byrne in particular, have continued to produce music and to work in a variety of different cultural areas.

And yet the band itself is difficult to pin down. Simultaneously controlled and spontaneous; moving across a wide range of styles- from Velvet Underground influenced rock, through funk and Afrobeat, postpunk, and Americana; and with a lead singer whose lyrical output only very rarely touched on the standard topics of popular music. For these reasons (as well as for their importance as a key part of the musical environment of the 70s, 80s and beyond) Talking Heads are a particularly complex and interesting band; however, as yet, their work (and the work of band members after the group dissolved) has rarely come under academic scrutiny.

To fill this gap, we are looking for 6 - 7 ,000 word studies focusing on Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club and/or other collective, collaborative or solo releases and projects from all the band members - from 1975 through to the present.
Subjects for discussion might include, but are not limited to, the following:

1) The work- thematic, analytical studies
2) The work- individual, grouped or comparative studies of studio and/or live albums
3) The work- musical/lyrical styles
4) The work- studio recording practice, the influence of Eno
5) The work- album artwork and visual (re)presentation
6) The band / David Byrne in performance
7) Talking Heads and geographical / aesthetic musical cultures

NY Punk and CBGB
Post-Punk / New Wave
trans-Atlantic identity
intra/inter-cultural musical hybridisation (African music, American popular music forms)
genre blending

The role of theoretical and academic influences

9) Cross-media/interdisciplinary work- music videos, True Stories, Stop Making Sense, Once in a Lifetime (Channel 4 1984), soundtracks, dance music, theatrical projects
10) Talking Heads as ensemble (changing band lineups/collaborations)
11) David Byrne's other cultural works (Luaka Bop label boss/author etc)
12) The band / band members in their (sub)cultural and wider contexts

Please send your proposals to Sean Albiez (SA-TalkingHeads@outlook.com) and David Pattie (D.Pattie@bham.ac.uk) by Friday 16th September 2022

Now available for the first time ever, we’re proud to present an official collection of 33 Lyle Mays compositions written for all C instruments in an easy-to-read, adjustable, multi-staff format. Over three years in the making and done with Lyle Mays’ intense involvement every step of the way, The Music of Lyle Mays is a comprehensive tribute to one of the most important composers and innovators of our time. This collection includes compositions from all of Lyle’s solo records, Pat Metheny Group records as well as collaborations with other artists. Also included is text from the author, a table of contents, biography, detailed guidance from Lyle Mays describing the conception of several of his compositions, plus a plethora of Lyle’s own writings on composition, creativity, and beyond. Over 250 pages in length, this long-awaited, landmark release is absolutely essential for all Lyle Mays fans! Titles include: Alaskan Suite, Are We There Yet, August, Au Lait, Before You Go, Before You Go (Samba), Bill Evans, Chorinho, Close to Home, Either Ornette, Episode D’Azur, Feet First, Feynman, Fictionary, The Gathering Sky, Highland Aire, Hangtime, Hard Eights, Let Me Count The Ways, Lincoln Reviews His Notes, Long Life, Mirror of the Heart, Newborn, Ozark, Possible Straight, Sienna, Slink, Something Left Unsaid, Street Dreams, Teiko, What It Takes, Where Are You From Today, Yolanda You Learn

Few musical genres inspire the passionate devotion of jazz. Its mystique goes far beyond the melodies and rhythms, with its key players and singers discussed by aficionados with a respect that borders on reverence. Some books on jazz offer little more than theory or dry facts, thereby relinquishing the 'essence' of the music. This book is different. One of the most influential and internationally known writers on the subject describes, through vivid personal contacts, reminiscences and zesty anecdotes, his life in jazz as a player, broadcaster and observer. Alyn Shipton recalls friendships with legendary musicians, while revealing fresh discoveries about such luminaries as Fats Waller, Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Abbey Lincoln and Geri Allen. On Jazz powerfully evokes the atmosphere of clubs and dancehalls, and takes us behind the scenes and up onto the stage, so that this electrifying world is unforgettably spotlighted as never before.

Peggy Lee helped redefine what it meant to be a female singer and songwriter, breaking barriers and blazing trails for generations of artists who followed her. Born in an era and working in an industry where women struggled for equality, she was a brave innovator who took risks when it was impermissible to do so. What she accomplished-both as a woman and a musician-is nothing short of extraordinary.

From her abusive childhood in North Dakota, touring with Benny Goodman, her tumultuous marriages and frequent battles with illness, to a prized Oscar nomination and working with friends Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, Judy Garland, Cary Grant, Quincy Jones, and others, Peggy Lee tells her story with the honesty, unique style, and eloquence inherent in her music.

Woven throughout the book are stories about her hit songs, including "Why Don't You Do Right?," "It's A Good Day," "Fever," "I'm A Woman," the score for Walt Disney's Lady and the Tramp, and the Grammy award-winning "Is That All There Is?"

Included in the 2022 reissue is Peggy's never-before-released book of poetry, Softly With Feeling, a comprehensive discography and recommended listening section by archivist Iván Santiago, and an epilogue by music historian and jazz criticWill Friedwald.
With a foreword by Peggy's granddaughter, Holly Foster Wells, Miss Peggy Lee reads like an intimate journal, a poignant and honest autobiography. It is a life as only Peggy Lee could have written it, as courageous and alluring as the woman herself.

In his 12th book, Life Through The Eyes Of A Jazz Journalist, Scott Yanow discusses his beginnings in jazz, his busy career as a freelance jazz critic, memories of scores of live performances, his encounters with jazz greats, the history of the Playboy and Monterey Jazz Festivals, and his experiences as an occasional musician. Colorful and insightful interviews of Freddie Hubbard, Chick Corea and Maynard Ferguson are included along with Yanow’s thoughts on jazz criticism and six appendixes that will lead readers towards the jazz greats of the past, present and future. Scott Yanow is one of the most prolific and widely respected jazz journalists in the business. An expert on all eras of jazz from New Orleans, swing and bebop to fusion, the avant-garde and today’s jazz scene, Yanow has been a very busy writer since 1974. In his career he has written 11 other books, over 900 liner notes, and more than 20,000 recording reviews in addition to contributing to every significant jazz magazine and participating in a countless number of projects.