Editorial
University of Leeds, UK
Once again, the publication of this new issue of Jazz Research Journal offers us an opportunity to share bittersweet changes and news with our readership. After five years, our enigmatic and generous colleague Nic Pillai stepped down from his role as Editor. Taking over from the original founders of the journal (Catherine Tackley and Tony Whyton), Nic, alongside Katherine Williams and Nick Gebhardt, has pushed the journal into ever more creative and critical waters, further engraining the journal’s original aim of interdisciplinarity and new ways of thinking. Nic’s legacy was aptly articulated in the co-authored journal manifesto, particularly in the vision for a kind and compassionate jazz studies. In the space created by Nic, we have welcomed two new Editors: Haftor Medbøe (Edinburgh Napier University) and Tom Sykes (Liverpool Hope University). We are excited to add Haftor’s industry experience and Tom’s expertise in pedagogy to the editorial team. Equally, in this issue, we introduce a new and ongoing ‘Parallel Experiences’ series, created and coordinated by our Reviews Editor, Judit Csobod, as a part of our engagement with the journal manifesto. We look forward to working together as a new team as we continue to create a space for criticality and collaborative development, exploration and reflection, inclusivity and accessibility, and kindness and compassion.
In this Open issue of Jazz Research Journal, we once again bring together contributors from across a range of disciplines, offering cultural and critical views on jazz through four articles, a Parallel Experience piece, and a book review.
Firstly, we welcome back Alan Ainsworth who, through detailed archival work, brings to light the significance of the Jazz Book Club to British jazz. Published between 1956 and 1967, Ainsworth traces the Book Club’s development and the contribution that this subscription-based publication made to the ways in which jazz was discussed, defined, visualised, and valued, in addition to providing an invaluable contextual account of jazz audiences in the UK during this period. Read within the current context of Open Access debates, the struggles of independent music publications (such as The Quietus in the UK), and the increasing use of eBook review copies, the cultural value of the Jazz Book Club and its subsequent loss is sharply felt. What is heartening is the work that scholars such as Ainsworth do in ensuring the legacy of these publications and their community, work which JRJ is very keen to support and share.
Next, Cornelia Lund and Holger Lund address the lack of academic engagement with Roger Tilton’s film Jazz Dance (1954) through an evocative study of both the means and techniques used by Tilton and collaborators, and the aesthetic approach to the combination of jazz music and jazz dance. Drawing on their art, film and media backgrounds, the authors not only bring together a critical and detailed analysis of the film’s production, but also transport the readers into frenetic scenes recorded in only one night. As with the previous article by Alan Ainsworth, Lund and Lund question academic silences and processes of value and evaluation in their consideration of the ‘glorious state of unorderly in-between’, here encapsulated within Jazz Dance.
Our third full-length article by Denin Slage Koch tracks Benny Goodman’s state-sponsored tour of Thailand and King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s 1960 state visit to the United States, within the context of the Vietnam War. At times a very difficult read due to the racist views of prominent state and industry figures, the author draws together various sources to explore the racial and national politics of jazz tours, focusing in particular on an under-researched case as a key event in jazz and American history. Furthermore, and keeping in mind recent critiques of Higher Education institutions and staff use of quoted racial slurs in teaching, this article acts as a clear example of sensitive engagement, considered language use and clear framing of discriminatory actions and quotes.
The fourth piece, written by Lee Griffiths, offers eight meditations on musical signification. Influenced by his experience as a musician and a researcher and the work of philosopher Karen Barad, in this short and provocative piece Griffiths considers the question of musical significance. Building on the more experimental and informal elements of JRJ, as encouraged by the journal’s previous section Extended Play, this piece speaks across and beyond jazz studies and perhaps articulates some ruminations shared by our readership.
Next, we introduce the first of the Parallel Experiences series. Created and curated by Review Editor Judit Csobod, this new element of JRJ takes as its discussion point the form and function of academic conferences. Following a summer of post-pandemic restrictions, this topic intends to reignite discussion within and beyond jazz studies and academia, and to reinvigorate attempts to rethink and rework the form of the academic conference. With our recent journal mission statement clearly in mind, this piece focuses on issues such as accessibility and inclusion, critical engagement and the supportive development of colleagues, and asks what we can learn from our lockdown experiences, other disciplines and industry events in the reimagining of the academic conference.
Finally, we include a lively and poetic review by Andrew Scott of the late Stanley Crouch’s (2007) book Kansas City Lightning: The Rise and Times of Charlie Parker. Enforced with an abundance of cultural references across time and place, Scott builds the case for a fresh and distinctive take on a well-known life story, enough to convince the reader to get their hands on a copy without delay.