Cultural Values in International Jazz Competitions.

This project aims to enrich our knowledge of the cultural value and artistic meaning surrounding jazz by investigating how international jazz competitions can be used to (re)produce, articulate, and negotiate certain values and beliefs about the music, such as collectivity, exceptionalism, and tradition. This will be done through a multi-layered comparative analysis of two of the most prestigious and longest running international jazz competitions, the B-Jazz International Contest (1979, Belgium) and the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition (1987, US). The research's interdisciplinary approach is designed to engage multiple perspectives (WP1: historical, WP2: demographic), levels (WP3: written, visual, aural), and actors (WP4: directors, jury, and contenders). As research on jazz contests is virtually non-existent, this project will extend and expand our understanding of the meaning and significance of jazz practices by gathering historical and demographic data about music competitions and offering innovative interpretations of the cultural values on which they are based. As such, it aligns with recent scholarly concerns with cultural dynamics and meaning-making, and its results will be of particular interest to music scholars, professionals from the cultural and creative industries, and conservatoire educators and students.

Keywords:COMPETITION, VALUES, JAZZ, MEDIATION

Disciplines:Criticism and theory, History of music, Musicology and ethnomusicology, Music not elsewhere classified, Humanities and the arts not elsewhere classified

Project type:Collaboration project