Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Harlem Renaissance Dedication: Jazz Band Concert, Jazz Band, Austin Motley, Jennifer Mitchell, Graham Scarborough

Student Concert Performances, Programs, and Posters

This is the promotional poster for the concert, "Harlem Renaissance Dedication: Jazz Band Concert." The concert featured the Ouachita Jazz Band, directed by Dr. Austin Motley, and guest artists Dr. Jennifer Mitchell and Graham Scarborough. The concert took place on February 26, 2024, in the Jones Performing Arts Center.

Playing Changes: Music As Mediator Between Japanese And Black Americans, E Taylor Atkins

Faculty Books & Book Chapters

Since the mid-twentieth century, music has played a central role in encounters and interactions between the people of Japan and those of African descent. It proved far more effective for pro- moting interracial dialogue and understanding than efforts in the early 1900s to foster an alliance against white supremacy and imperialism. This essay unpacks the ways that encounters with Black music transformed Japanese musicking and generated knowledge and empathy for people of African descent among Japanese. Personal interactions between Black and Japanese musicians constituted a process of “grassroots globalization” that circumvented the dominance of American mass media in representing African …

An Examination Of Maria Schneider’S Big Band Artistry Through The Lens Of Wind Band Arranging, Amy Birdsong

Dissertations, 2020-current

Within the world of instrumental music there tends to be strict adherence to styles and genres that have historically been connected to a standard collection of instruments. Wind ensembles are expected to perform contemporary art music, orchestral transcriptions, or military marches, with little expectation of individual creative interpretation. Jazz ensembles, or “big bands,” are expected to perform styles of music such as “swing,” which cannot be properly notated using western notation, while also being rigidly glued to reduced instrument choices, repetitive chord cycles and standard song forms. While wind ensemble performers are confined to read and perform all aspects of …

Vibes At The Village Vanguard: Hauntings, History, And The Construction Of Jazz Place, Mark Mccorkle

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

There are ghosts that haunt the Village Vanguard. Or at least that’s what people say.

This dissertation examines the role of the contemporary jazz club as a site of heritage and meaning making in jazz cultures. I take New York’s revered jazz club, the Village Vanguard, as a case study, as it is the subject of many fanciful tales. These stories describe the club’s history as alive; the spirits of the legendary musicians from a bygone era of jazz who once performed at the Vanguard are said to haunt the present club’s soundwaves. Often described by writers as the club’s …

Jules Colombel's Senior Recital, Jules Colombel

All Music Department Programs

This recital is in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Music in Music Performance.

Ouachita Jazz Band In A Concert, Jazz Band

Student Concert Performances, Programs, and Posters

This is the poster for the Ouachita Jazz Band concert held on December 8, 2023, at Dr. Jack's.

Jazz: A Jam Session, Jazz Arkansas Ministries, Austin Motley, Kristen La Madrid, Bruce Johnston, Ryan C. Lewis

Faculty Performances

This is the poster for the Jazz Jam Session held on November 17, 2023, in Dr. Jack's Coffee House. The session featured Dr. Austin Motley on trombone, pianist Kristen La Madrid, Dr. Bruce Johnston on bass, and Dr. Ryan Lewis on drums.

Ouachita Jazz Band In A Concert, Jazz Band, Austin Motley

Student Concert Performances, Programs, and Posters

This is the poster from the Jazz Band Concert held on November 13, 2023, and directed by Dr. Austin Motley. The concert was held in the Jones Performing Arts Center.

History Of Jazz, Charles "Trey" Wright

KSU Distinguished Course Repository

This course is an in-depth study of jazz styles, historical periods, and innovative artists in the jazz idiom.

Ember Jazz Trio, Music Department

Concert and Recital Programs

The recital program for a performance of selections from Brooklyn-based Ember Jazz Trio's albums "August in March," "No One is Any One," and "New Year." Performed October 21, 2023.

Skoo-Bee-Dee-Boo-Bop-Scat: The Impacts Of Vocal Jazz Improvisational Techniques On The Secondary Choral Student And Secondary Choral Program, Sara Beth Carroll

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Despite evidence that vocal jazz improvisation techniques are valuable tools for increased ear training and vocal technique knowledge, the specific impacts of vocal jazz training for the secondary school chorister have yet to be fully expressed. The singing and musicianship benefits of improvisational techniques matter because they impact the young choral singer and the individual student experience in and contribution to the school choir program. This study expressed the impacts of vocal jazz improvisational pedagogy for the secondary school vocalist as a member of the school choir program and the individual student musician. Guided by Eisner’s model of arts-based research, …

"With The Butterfly Sleeves Naka Filipiniana": Contemporary Study Of Filipinx American Women In Popular Music, Georgette Luluquisin Patricio

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines contemporary Filipinx-American women artists and the ways in which they use their music to construct their identity against Western portrayals of the Filipinx/a woman. Unlike other Asian Americans, Filipinx Americans try to attain the status of the "model minority" because they were at one point in history considered US nationals with American training, but they also do not adhere to it in the same way that Japanese and Indian Americans do. The model minority myth is the notion that Asian Americans have to overcome a certain struggle or challenge in order to achieve the American Dream. Of …

Lucky’S Legacy: Determining An Effective Relationship Between Music And Business Management Principles, Jacob Joseph

Honors Projects

The Recognition-Conversation-Reflection (hereafter “RCR”) framework is modeled after popular change management frameworks for accomplishing projects and goals, utilizing concepts found often in business management and strategy. While traditionally these ideas are found in the workplace, they also serve as complex practices that can be used in various contexts. The music industry is composed of a plethora of professions exploring vast genres and interpretations of melody around the world. Despite its diverse perspectives, music is rooted in performance involving ensembles of varying capacities. With the complexities of the RCR framework and the diversity of the music industry, the question I looked …

Bike Ride: An Audio/Visual Examination Of Liminal Spaces As A Ritual For Personal Growth, Myles Kelley

Honors College

On March 6th, 2023, I presented a creative thesis titled “Bike Ride” in Minsky Recital Hall. This experience was the culmination of my work beginning in the spring of 2022, and it featured a set of live small ensemble charts (informed largely by Jazz vocabulary) which I set to a collection of film photographs I took on late night walks through campus. In the production and execution of “Bike Ride”, my goal was to examine the emotional power of liminal spaces as they are defined in both Psychology and Photography. The resulting performance, which was re-exhibited in the Collins Center …

Exploring Jam Sessions In New York, Ricardo Pinheiro

The IASJ Journal of Applied Jazz Research

This paper addresses the relationship between jazz jam sessions in Manhattan, and the concepts of Scene, Ritual and Race. These issues emerged during research that, from an ethnomusicological perspective, focused on the role of jam sessions in Manhattan as a privileged context for the following:

i) learning performative styles of jazz,

ii) developing the creative process,

iii) constructing professional networks,

iv) establishing of the status of musicians.

Studying and analysing the jam sessions at five jazz performance venues in New York, I demonstrate the vital importance of participating in jam sessions by examining their relationship with this performative occasion (Pinheiro …

Improvisation, Consciousness And Cosmos: An Integral View Of Jazz Research, Ed Sarath

The IASJ Journal of Applied Jazz Research

Ed Sarath on improvisation, consciousness and cosmos, as well on integral theory.

Jazz Choir Arranging: Tips And Best Practices, Connor Bennion

WWU Graduate School Collection

Countless available arrangements exist for jazz bands and traditional choirs, but the field of publicly available vocal jazz ensemble arrangements is still emerging. Educators directing vocal jazz ensembles may be drawn to creating their own arrangements when they want their ensembles to perform songs for which there are no publicly available arrangements, or when published arrangements do not fit the needs of their ensemble. However, educators without a background in arranging may be at a loss for where, or how, to begin. Scholarship on arranging music for jazz choirs is limited, leaving educators wishing to improve their arranging skills scant …

A "Third Dimension": The Art Of "Fusing" Arabic Music And Jazz, Grace Molinaro

Senior Projects Fall 2023

Senior project submitted to the Division of Social Studies of Bard College.

The fusion of Arabic music and jazz has been surging in recent years, especially with the rise of global music streaming platforms yielding increased accessibility to different art forms and traditions of music. Musicians approach this "fusion" from a variety of angles and musical backgrounds, depending on their goals, training and vision unique to their own context. This paper examines the work of four Arab and Arab American musicians who create music that can be considered a fusion of Arabic music and jazz, investigating the music making process …

Seamus Jennings Solo Transcription Project, Seamus Jennings

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

No abstract provided.

Stick Strokes And Swing Ratios Of Billy Higgins, Benjamin Shelley

Research Datasets

This dataset contains a millisecond-accurate record of Billy Higgins' jazz swing ride rhythm on a selection of recordings between 1959 and 1964. Calculations have been made to also record the beat and upbeat lengths, and the swing ratio for each completion of the jazz swing ride rhythm. An overall swing ratio average for each recording is included.

Same As It Ever Was: An Exploration And Demonstration Of Techniques For Repurposing And Modernizing Advanced Musical Vocabulary In Mainstream Commercial Music, Aidan Scrivens

Composition/Recording Projects

In the market for tertiary level commercial music education, educators find themselves pulled between students' commercial stylistic interests and the seemingly incommensurable genres better suited to exploring advanced theoretical concepts and vocabulary. This divide can lead to a motivational deficiency in a student that, in turn, can hinder their development and render their collegiate experience less worth the expense. In the interest of combating this potential motivational deficiency, this recording project and accompanying paper explores and demonstrates the process of modernizing and recontextualizing material found in these less commercially mainstream genres. By adapting vocabulary and approaches learned from the transcription …

An Analysis Of Allan Holdsworth’S Techniques And Their Application To Fundamental Melodic Devices, James Dasilva

Recital Papers

This thesis analyzes Allan Holdsworth's improvisational style for the purpose of applying his techniques, such as string skipping and omnidirectional fretboard movement, beyond the jazz-rock idiom and expanding the melodic potential of the guitar.

Recuerdos De Mi Niñez, Noel Barsenas

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis contains an original work for orchestra that features programmatic elements and musical gestures referencing previous generations of composers as well as other influential relatives of the author that are then recombined into a personal style. The document also contains commentary about the piece’s personal, historic, and cultural contexts, as well as a theoretical analysis addressing the form, structure, and harmonic content of the work.

From Words To Grammar And Grammar To Speech: A Practical Analysis Of Charlie Parker, University Of Denver

Musicology and Ethnomusicology: Student Scholarship

Today, there exists a respectable body of work analyzing the music and life of Charlie Parker. Parker left behind around 900 recordings, a prolific body of work. There remains a great deal of solos to be transcribed and studied although there is much research examining hundreds of Parker solo transcriptions and proffering pedagogy to be used by the student of jazz improvisation in order to learn how to improvise within the musical language of Charlie Parker. Scholars have not paid a great deal of attention to how to synthesize the various research and pedagogies into a methodical guide for the …

Més Enllà Dels Tòpics D’Espanya. Tete Montoliu En Context, Antoni Pizà

Publications and Research

Benjamin Fraser, professor de la Universitat d’Arizona, publica Beyond Sketches of Spain, una biografia del jazzman Tete Montoliu, la identitat del qual s’explora a través d’una sèrie de prismes culturals com la ciutat, la catalanitat i la discapacitat.

Take Six, Their Music, And The Impact On Music Education, Roberto L. Burton

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

While the inclusion of popular music and music ensembles in music education programs continues to gain momentum internationally, it appears that a need exists for music educators to develop a more concrete understanding of how somebody might construct a popular music education curriculum. And presented in a way that supports the shared vision of a democratic, inclusive, and rigorous music education. Although there is a rich tradition of choral singing and many fantastic works to share with students, music educators who studied Accapella changed our perspectives. They began to incorporate popular music with students because music educators found that it …

Jazz Sampling Hip Hop: A View Of The Expanded Rhythm Section And The Musical Interactions Between Musicians And Machines, Molly Kaylynn Redfield

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This document presents a study on a musical fusion that I term “jazz/hip hop.” The study presents a historical overview of jazz/hip hop origins beginning with 1960s beat poets to jazz/hip hop artists emerging in the early 2000s. Modeled after Phillip Tagg’s and John Fiske’s semiotic methodology and William C. Banfield’s African American Cultural Theory and Heritage Model, the methodology defines the musical and cultural aesthetics of jazz/hip hop. Interviews from jazz/hip hop artists are presented; justifying the use of hip-hop aesthetics and countering the argument that commercial elements are added for mainstream recognition. I examine that samples musically interact …

The Modern Jazz Guitarist's Approach To Standard Repertoire, Stephan T. Wieder

Recital Papers

This paper examines Gilad Hekselman, Jonathan Kreisberg, Julian Lage, Lage Lund, Mike Moreno, and Kurt Rosenwinkel through the lens of written transcription. All six musicians are analyzed using standards such as; "Stella By Starlight", "Stablemates", "I'll Be Seeing You", "Sandu", and many more. The study of their transcriptions combined with details about their technique and musical equipment, will reveal a clearer understanding of their methods and style. The analysis of these transcriptions focuses on four main elements: phrasing, rhythmic choices, melodic choices, and overall thematic development.

Digital Killed The Analog Star: An Evaluation Of Copyright Law And Its Effects On The Modern Jazz Musician, Anne Wamsley

Undergraduate Theses

This paper is a survey of modern American copyright law and an analysis of its effectiveness in the digital age through the use of grounded theory research practices, including a review of precedent and history of copyright law and interviews of jazz musicians that have varied levels of experience in different positions throughout the industry. Since music has become a commodity, it has needed to be protected by the law to ensure that musicians are paid fairly for the consumption of their work. Before the modern era, musicians made their living predominantly from record, tape, and CD sales, making concert …

The Hidden Voices: Peggy Gilbert And The International Sweethearts Of Rhythm, Katelyn Still

Honors Theses

Women throughout history have had to contend with sexism and racism. A woman's voice was restricted and viewed as inferior in the south. This treatment was magnified in the world of jazz. Jazz was viewed as a boisterous male art form where a demure woman did not belong. A woman's musical voice, her form of expression, was often discredited by the public. Since women's talents were discredited, their musical voices were often hidden from history. This paper shines a light on the suppression of the female voice while uncovering the successful women of Peggy Gilbert and The International Sweethearts of …