Some Problems in Jazz Research
1988; University of Illinois Press; Volume: 8; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.2307/779352
ISSN1946-1615
Autores Tópico(s)Musicology and Musical Analysis
ResumoJazz research seems to be coming of age in the academic world. While many non-academics have been researching this music since the 1920s, we are now beginning to find a larger percentage of music professors engaged in these activities. During the past twenty years or more, many colleges and universities have had a jazz history or jazz ensemble course, but the impetus for such courses often came from a faculty member who had some interest in jazz as a sideline. More often than not, there was no institutional support for jazz, only the luck of having a faculty member who wanted to teach it. Recently, however, colleges have been actively seeking jazz scholars. There is a growing commitment to jazz as an academic subject, and colleges are actively seeking qualified teachers. The positions always require teaching other subjects in addition to jazz, but progress is clearly being made. To date, most jazz research has been done by individuals who are neither musicians nor academics. These efforts have been very much appreciated by all concerned with the field. All the while, we recognize the fact that non-musician non-academics usually have several handicaps as jazz researchers. First, they are not performers of the music. Second, they vary greatly in their understanding of research methods. The discographers as a rule are the most successful researchers, having over the years established their own methods and standards. Many discographies contain remarkable and indispensable findings. But jazz biographies, on the other hand, range from documents that are thoroughly researched to those based merely on hearsay. Finally, non-musicians are severely limited by their inability to analyze the music, which is after all the subject and inspiration of our study. Obviously, there are many types of research-discographical, biblio-
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