Place and imagined community in jazz
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/jazz.33273Keywords:
Jazz, Community, Venue, Musiticans, MobilityAbstract
This article investigates the concept of imagined community amongst the professional jazz musicians; more closely the way that this imagined community functions within the scene. Through the focusing on the imagined community, the article extends the examination into the performance venues, the movement between venues and the meanings attached to them, revealing the reasons why an imagined community is beneficial for the musician. The research data is composed of ethnographic fieldwork was conducted in jazz circles in the United Kingdom between 2006 and 2012. Through the exploration of the places occupied by the musicians, the article reveals how the community becomes concrete through the musicians’ movements. The article examines what added value it might hold for them. All in all, the investigation makes sense of the social conditions that create the need for such a community.
References
Anderson, Benedict (2006) Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. London: Verso.
Ashworth, Gregory J., and Brian Graham, eds (2005) Senses of Place: Senses of Time. Aldershot: Ashgate.
Augé, Marc (1995) Non-Places: Introduction to an Anthropology of Supermodernity. London: Verso.
Becker, Howard S. (1984) Art Worlds. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Berliner, Paul F. (1994) Thinking in Jazz: The Infinite Art of Improvisation. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226044521.001.0001
Casey, Edward S. (2013) Fate of Place: A Philosophical History. Berkeley: University of California Press. https://doi.org/10.1525/california/9780520276031.001.0001
Coulson, Susan (2012) ‘Collaborating in a Competitive World: Musicians’ Working Lives and Understandings of Entrepreneurship’. Work, Employment & Society 26/2: 246–61. https://doi.org/10.1177/0950017011432919
Edwards, Derek, and Jonathan Potter (1992). Discursive Psychology. London: Sage.
Finlayson, Alan (2012) ‘Imagined Communities’. In The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Political Sociology, ed. Edwin Amenta, Kate Nash and Alan Scott, 273–82. Oxford: Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444355093.ch24
Holt, Fabian, and Carsten Wergin (2013) ‘Introduction. Musical Performance and the Changing City’. In Musical Performance and the Changing City: Post-Industrial Contexts in Europe and the United States, ed. Fabian Holt and Carsten Wergin, 1–24. New York: Routledge.
Hytönen-Ng, Elina (2013) Experiencing ‘Flow’ in Jazz Performance. Farnham: Ashgate.
——(2015) ‘“A Musician Who Puts on a Gig”: Local Promoter’s Multiple Roles and Hierarchies at a Small British Jazz Club’. IASPM@Journal 5/2: 58–72.
——(2017) ‘Contemporary British Jazz Musicians’ Relationship with the Audience: Renditions of We-Relations and Intersubjectivity’. In Musicians and Their Audiences: Performance, Speech and Mediation, ed. Ioannis Tsioulakis and Elina Hytönen-Ng, 69–85. London: Routledge.
Jenkins, Joy M. (2016) ‘The Good Life’. Journalism Studies 17/3: 319–36. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2014.982942
Johnson, Bruce, ed. (2017) Jazz and Totalitarianism. London: Routledge.
Kanno, Yasuko (2003) ‘Imagined Communities, School Visions, and the Education of Bilingual Students in Japan’. Journal of Language, Identity, and Education 2/4: 285–300. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327701JLIE0204_4
Kanno, Yasuko, and Bonny Norton (2012) ‘Imagined Communities and Educational Possibilities—Introduction’. Journal of Language, Identity, and Education 2/4: 241–49.
McGrath, James (2010) ‘Ideas of Belonging in the Work of John Lennon and Paul McCartney’. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Leeds Metropolitan University, Leeds.
Merriam, Alan P., and Raymond W. Mack (1960) ‘The Jazz Community’. Social Forces 38/3: 211–22. https://doi.org/10.2307/2574084
Monson, Ingrid (1996) Saying Something: Jazz Improvisation and Interaction. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Potter, Jonathan, and Margaret Wetherell (1987) Discourse and Social Psychology: Beyond Attitudes and Behaviour. London: Sage.
Powers, Jillian L. (2011) ‘Reimaging the Imagined Community: Homeland Tourism and the Role of Place. (Imagined Communities in the 21st Century)’. American Behavioral Scientist 55/10: 1362–378. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764211409380
Prouty, Ken (2012) Knowing Jazz: Community, Pedagogy, and Canon in the Information Age. Jackson, MI: University Press of Mississippi.
Relph, Edward (2008) Place and Placelessness. Research in Planning and Design. Reprinted with new preface. Vol. 1. London: Pion Limited.
Tsioulakis, Ioannis (2011) ‘Working or Playing? Power, Aesthetics and Cosmopolitanism among Professional Musicians in Athens’. PhD dissertation, Queen’s University Belfast.
Tuan, Yi-Fu (2006) ‘Paikan Taju. Aika, Paikka Ja Minuus’. In Paikka: Eletty, Kuviteltu, Kerrottu, Vol. 85, ed. Seppo Knuuttila, Pekka Laaksonen, Ulla Piela and Petja Aarnipuu, 15–30. Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura.
Willig, Carla (2003) ‘Discourse Analysis’. In Qualitative Psychology: A Practical Guide to Research Methods, ed. Jonathan Smith, 159–83. London: Sage Publications.
Ashworth, Gregory J., and Brian Graham, eds (2005) Senses of Place: Senses of Time. Aldershot: Ashgate.
Augé, Marc (1995) Non-Places: Introduction to an Anthropology of Supermodernity. London: Verso.
Becker, Howard S. (1984) Art Worlds. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Berliner, Paul F. (1994) Thinking in Jazz: The Infinite Art of Improvisation. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226044521.001.0001
Casey, Edward S. (2013) Fate of Place: A Philosophical History. Berkeley: University of California Press. https://doi.org/10.1525/california/9780520276031.001.0001
Coulson, Susan (2012) ‘Collaborating in a Competitive World: Musicians’ Working Lives and Understandings of Entrepreneurship’. Work, Employment & Society 26/2: 246–61. https://doi.org/10.1177/0950017011432919
Edwards, Derek, and Jonathan Potter (1992). Discursive Psychology. London: Sage.
Finlayson, Alan (2012) ‘Imagined Communities’. In The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Political Sociology, ed. Edwin Amenta, Kate Nash and Alan Scott, 273–82. Oxford: Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444355093.ch24
Holt, Fabian, and Carsten Wergin (2013) ‘Introduction. Musical Performance and the Changing City’. In Musical Performance and the Changing City: Post-Industrial Contexts in Europe and the United States, ed. Fabian Holt and Carsten Wergin, 1–24. New York: Routledge.
Hytönen-Ng, Elina (2013) Experiencing ‘Flow’ in Jazz Performance. Farnham: Ashgate.
——(2015) ‘“A Musician Who Puts on a Gig”: Local Promoter’s Multiple Roles and Hierarchies at a Small British Jazz Club’. IASPM@Journal 5/2: 58–72.
——(2017) ‘Contemporary British Jazz Musicians’ Relationship with the Audience: Renditions of We-Relations and Intersubjectivity’. In Musicians and Their Audiences: Performance, Speech and Mediation, ed. Ioannis Tsioulakis and Elina Hytönen-Ng, 69–85. London: Routledge.
Jenkins, Joy M. (2016) ‘The Good Life’. Journalism Studies 17/3: 319–36. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2014.982942
Johnson, Bruce, ed. (2017) Jazz and Totalitarianism. London: Routledge.
Kanno, Yasuko (2003) ‘Imagined Communities, School Visions, and the Education of Bilingual Students in Japan’. Journal of Language, Identity, and Education 2/4: 285–300. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327701JLIE0204_4
Kanno, Yasuko, and Bonny Norton (2012) ‘Imagined Communities and Educational Possibilities—Introduction’. Journal of Language, Identity, and Education 2/4: 241–49.
McGrath, James (2010) ‘Ideas of Belonging in the Work of John Lennon and Paul McCartney’. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Leeds Metropolitan University, Leeds.
Merriam, Alan P., and Raymond W. Mack (1960) ‘The Jazz Community’. Social Forces 38/3: 211–22. https://doi.org/10.2307/2574084
Monson, Ingrid (1996) Saying Something: Jazz Improvisation and Interaction. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Potter, Jonathan, and Margaret Wetherell (1987) Discourse and Social Psychology: Beyond Attitudes and Behaviour. London: Sage.
Powers, Jillian L. (2011) ‘Reimaging the Imagined Community: Homeland Tourism and the Role of Place. (Imagined Communities in the 21st Century)’. American Behavioral Scientist 55/10: 1362–378. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764211409380
Prouty, Ken (2012) Knowing Jazz: Community, Pedagogy, and Canon in the Information Age. Jackson, MI: University Press of Mississippi.
Relph, Edward (2008) Place and Placelessness. Research in Planning and Design. Reprinted with new preface. Vol. 1. London: Pion Limited.
Tsioulakis, Ioannis (2011) ‘Working or Playing? Power, Aesthetics and Cosmopolitanism among Professional Musicians in Athens’. PhD dissertation, Queen’s University Belfast.
Tuan, Yi-Fu (2006) ‘Paikan Taju. Aika, Paikka Ja Minuus’. In Paikka: Eletty, Kuviteltu, Kerrottu, Vol. 85, ed. Seppo Knuuttila, Pekka Laaksonen, Ulla Piela and Petja Aarnipuu, 15–30. Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura.
Willig, Carla (2003) ‘Discourse Analysis’. In Qualitative Psychology: A Practical Guide to Research Methods, ed. Jonathan Smith, 159–83. London: Sage Publications.
Published
2017-08-02
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Hytönen-Ng, E. (2017). Place and imagined community in jazz. Jazz Research Journal, 11(1), 62-79. https://doi.org/10.1558/jazz.33273
