Editorial
Judit Csobod
University College Dublin, Ireland
Haftor Medbøe
Edinburgh Napier University, Scotland, UK
Tom Sykes
Liverpool Hope University, UK
The publication of this latest open issue of Jazz Research Journal is brought to you by the newly formed editorial team of Haftor Medbøe, Tom Sykes, Sarah Raine, and Judit Csobod (Reviews Editor). We are excited to present a range of work that includes an examination of jazz and gender in Spain, reflections on jazz photography and practitioner/scholarly collaborations, reassertions of care within improvisational practices, and a consideration of jazz and the environment, in addition to two book reviews and a topical Parallel Session.
The first article in this issue is by Rebeca Munoz-Garcia and Constanza Tobio- Soler. The authors argue that because gender and feminist studies of music in Spain have tended to focus on score-based genres rather than jazz, there is an opportunity for such approaches to contribute to developing a new interdisciplinary jazz research culture in Spain. As a culturally specific style, the authors
use flamenco jazz in order to illustrate what a gender-based interrogation can bring to our understanding of jazz in Spain.
Next, we present a piece on the environmental consequences of jazz production. Examining both the carbon footprints of recorded media and festival production, Haftor Medbøe muses on how we might quantify and address the implications of the production of culture in this age of climate crisis through individual and collective action. Falling well short of offering a singular solution, Haftor points to our individual responsibilities in pushing for necessary policy change at both institutional and governmental levels and developing shared, joined-up approaches across the sector.
We welcome Yotam Ronen who illuminates his journey of interdisciplinary collaboration through careful positioning and unpacking of human relationships in the making of “Rega”, a 17 min/41 sec multi-media improvisation. Touching on early experiences and improvisational gatekeeping, Yotam brings to life an ego- less space that allows each participating improviser to uplift the other in the exploration of space, calling for care and empathy over exceptionalism, technical prowess, and power in both practice and pedagogy.
In a reflective piece on creative practice related to jazz research, Brian Homer writes about his practice in jazz photography and how it has evolved through a long-term involvement with the Birmingham Centre for Media and Cultural Research Jazz Studies cluster (UK). From his ethnographic and auto-ethnographic
research and photographic practice, Brian reflects on the ways in which his approach has changed to consider wider perspectives of musicians’ lives off the bandstand as well as capturing their jazz expression in performance that reflects his knowledge of them as individuals.
In the second edition of our edited panel series, our contributors address issues around an increasingly important and demanding element of our professional life: diverse practices aiming to secure inclusivity and equality. We have asked five colleagues—Wim Wabbes, Terri Lyne Carrington, jashen edwards, Aoife Concannon, and Friede Merz—to share their experiences in and with inclusivity and equality practices as a means to reinvigorate these discussions and (potentially) re-contemplate our existing mission of making positive and sustainable changes in securing a healthy and diverse working environment for ourselves and those following in our footsteps.
In the Reviews section, Afrofuturism scholar Erik Steinkog contemplates William Sites’s recent Sun Ra monograph, looking at relationships between cityscape, philosophy, religion and culture, whilst Amber Clifford-Napoleone reflects on Jen Wilson’s investigations in the connections between race and women’s emancipation in Wales’s history and how these were important in establishing the local jazz culture.
The forthcoming double special issue of Jazz Research Journal, expected Winter 2024, is on the theme of creative practice in jazz. This issue will include a variety of topics and approaches to jazz practice, creativity, research, and their intersections. In the meantime, we hope that you enjoy reading our final 2023 issue.