- School of Media
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- Music, Culture, Jazz, Musicology, Critical Musicology, Festivals and music, and 22 morePopular musicology, Popular Music & Gender, Jazz Studies, Jazz Studies And New Media, Recording, Popular Music, Music and Ritual, Music and Media, Music and identity, British Black Music, African-American Music, Gender Studies, Improvisation, Iconography (Music), Music Education, Sound and Image, Literature and Music, Testimony, John Coltrane, Jazz Education, Jazz in Britain, and Jazzforschungedit
- My research work deals specifically with music and its place within the creative industries, from the packaging of po... moreMy research work deals specifically with music and its place within the creative industries, from the packaging of popular music to the iconic representations of jazz artists. I’ve published widely on a variety of related topics, including jazz history, the politics of music education, the cultural influence of recordings and interdisciplinary approaches to music.
My first book, Jazz Icons: Heroes, Myths and the Jazz Tradition, was published by Cambridge University Press in 2010. My second book, Beyond A Love Supreme, will be a cross disciplinary study of the musical and cultural influence of John Coltrane's seminal album, and will be published by Oxford University Press.
As the founding editor of the international journal The Source: challenging jazz criticism, I created the first peer reviewed interdisciplinary journal for jazz studies and he now co-edit the internationally peer-reviewed Jazz Research Journal with Equinox.
I have recently been awarded just under €1 million to lead a three-year, pan-European project entitled Rhythm Changes: Jazz Cultures and European Identities. The ground-breaking project, the first and largest of its kind for jazz in Europe, has been funded as part of the Humanities in the European Research Area's (HERA) theme 'Cultural Dynamics: Inheritance and Identity', a joint research programme funded by 13 national funding agencies to 'create collaborative, trans-national research opportunities that will derive new insights from humanities research in order to address major social, cultural, and political challenges facing Europe'. As an interdisciplinary research project, Rhythm Changes will examine the inherited traditions and practices of European jazz cultures, developing new insights into cultural exchanges and dynamics between different countries, groups and related media.
I joined the University of Salford in September 2007 after 10 years at Leeds College of Music. In my work at Leeds, I was responsible for the creation, management and strategic development of the Centre for Jazz Studies UK and the Leeds International Jazz Conference.edit
This book examines the symbolic importance of John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme in relation to the formation of an authoritative jazz canon. The book explores how the iconic album has come to fulfil a quasi-religious role in jazz and... more
This book examines the symbolic importance of John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme in relation to the formation of an authoritative jazz canon. The book explores how the iconic album has come to fulfil a quasi-religious role in jazz and explores the role that seminal jazz recordings play in the everyday lives of both musicians and audiences.
The jazz volume of the Library of Essays on Popular Music is a valuable resource for researchers, enthusiasts, teachers and students. The featured articles in this volume provide an overview of jazz studies writings from the 1990s to the... more
The jazz volume of the Library of Essays on Popular Music is a valuable resource for researchers, enthusiasts, teachers and students. The featured articles in this volume provide an overview of jazz studies writings from the 1990s to the present day, and each text engages with issues that are central to the changing discourse of jazz in popular culture. The volume includes studies of specific scenes, artists and periods from jazz history, and also comments on broader aspects of musical discourse, from ontological considerations to the politics of canon formation, from issues of representation to international perspectives. The collection encourages readers to engage in comparative thinking and analysis, and contributions touch on a range of themes that will be of interest to scholars who situate jazz at the heart of popular music studies.
Today, jazz history is dominated by iconic figures who have taken on an almost God-like status. From Satchmo to Duke, Bird to Trane, these legendary jazzmen form the backbone of the jazz tradition. Jazz icons not only provide musicians... more
Today, jazz history is dominated by iconic figures who have taken on an almost God-like status. From Satchmo to Duke, Bird to Trane, these legendary jazzmen form the backbone of the jazz tradition. Jazz icons not only provide musicians and audiences with figureheads to revere but have also come to stand for a number of values and beliefs that shape our view of the music itself. Jazz Icons explores the growing significance of icons in jazz and discusses the reasons why the music’s history is increasingly dependent on the legacies of ‘great men’. Using a series of individual case studies, Whyton examines the influence of jazz icons through different forms of historical mediation, including the recording, language, image and myth. The book encourages readers to take a fresh look at their relationship with iconic figures of the past and challenges many of the dominant narratives in jazz today.
Read Andrew Blake's review of Jazz Icons published in the Times Higher:
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storyCode=412736§ioncode=26
Read Ian Patterson's review at www.allaboutjazz.com:
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=38363
Read Andrew Blake's review of Jazz Icons published in the Times Higher:
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storyCode=412736§ioncode=26
Read Ian Patterson's review at www.allaboutjazz.com:
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=38363
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This chapter examines the complexity of the relationship between John Coltrane's recordings and audivisual material following the release of his seminal album A Love Supreme in 1965. Drawing on video footage of the Classic... more
This chapter examines the complexity of the relationship between John Coltrane's recordings and audivisual material following the release of his seminal album A Love Supreme in 1965. Drawing on video footage of the Classic Quartet's televised European Festival performances, I discuss the symbolic importance of Coltrane's music in relation to the notion of an authoritative jazz canon. The chapter comments ont he ways in which audiovisual mediations of jazz feed into mythoc representations of the past and enable seminal recordings and artists to accrue a series of cultural meanings that go betyond the production of sound.
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The Cultural Politics of Jazz Collectives: This Is Our Music documents the emergence of collective movements in jazz and improvised music. Jazz history is most often portrayed as a site for individual expression and revolves around the... more
The Cultural Politics of Jazz Collectives: This Is Our Music documents the emergence of collective movements in jazz and improvised music. Jazz history is most often portrayed as a site for individual expression and revolves around the celebration of iconic figures, while the networks and collaborations that enable the music to maintain and sustain its cultural status are surprisingly under-investigated. This collection explores the history of musician-led collectives and the ways in which they offer a powerful counter-model for rethinking jazz practices in the post-war period. It includes studies of groups including the New York Musicians Organization, Sweden’s Ett minne for livet, Wonderbrass from South Wales, the contemporary Dutch jazz-hip hop scene, and Austria‘s JazzWerkstatt. With an international list of contributors and examples from Europe and the United States, these twelve essays and case studies examine issues of shared aesthetic vision, socioeconomic and political fact...
Research Interests: Psychology, Jazz Studies And New Media, Musicology, Improvisation, Politics, and 13 moreCultural Musicology, Jazz Studies, Intellectual and cultural history, Jazz History, Free Improvisation, Jazz Improvisation, Jazz, Philosophy of Jazz, Jazz Education, Health and Wellbeing, Free Jazz, Jazz and Free Improvisation, and Routledge
Educational and psychological research suggests that gender and musical genre can influence musical learning and the development of musical identities, particularly during adolescence. However, there is a relative paucity of educational... more
Educational and psychological research suggests that gender and musical genre can influence musical learning and the development of musical identities, particularly during adolescence. However, there is a relative paucity of educational studies in higher education (HE) concerning the possible impact on musical learning of gender and musical genre, either individually or collectively. As part of a two‐year comparative study funded under the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)'s Teaching and Learning Research ...
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This paper, following on from our previous paper focusing on findings regarding students' approaches to learning, explores students' approaches to performance with... more
This paper, following on from our previous paper focusing on findings regarding students' approaches to learning, explores students' approaches to performance with particular focus on musical self-efficacy beliefs and experiences of performance anxiety in solo and group performances. The research design included a large questionnaire survey followed up by 13 case study interviews and six focus groups. Survey participants were 170 undergraduate musicians studying in three distinctively different higher education institutions, ...
Research Interests: Psychology, Music, Music Education, Perception, Education, and 15 moreResearch Design, Higher Education, Focus Groups, Performance, Music Performance, Jazz, Self Efficacy, Learning Environment, Case Study, Focus Group, Curriculum and Pedagogy, Student Approaches to Learning, Institutional Culture, Higher Education Institution, and Questionnaire Survey
Research Interests: Psychology, Music, Music Education, Perception, Education, and 15 moreResearch Design, Higher Education, Focus Groups, Pedagogy, Cognitive Style, Learning Environment, Approaches to Learning, Case Study, Focus Group, Perceived Control, Questionnaires, Curriculum and Pedagogy, Institutional Culture, Higher Education Institution, and Questionnaire Survey
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Recorded by his quartet in a single session in 1964, John Coltrane's A Love Supreme is widely considered one of the greatest jazz albums of all time. A significant record of Coltrane's transition from the bebop and hard bop of his... more
Recorded by his quartet in a single session in 1964, John Coltrane's A Love Supreme is widely considered one of the greatest jazz albums of all time. A significant record of Coltrane's transition from the bebop and hard bop of his earlier recordings to the free jazz style perfected throughout the rest of his career, the album is also an embodiment of the deep spirituality that characterized the final years of his life. The album itself comprises a four-part suite; the titles of the four parts - "Acknowledgment," "Resolution," "Pursuance," and "Psalm" - along with the poem Coltrane composed for inclusion in the liner notes, which he "recites" instrumentally in "Psalm" reflect the religious aspect of the album, a quality that contributes to its mystique and symbolic importance within the canon of seminal jazz recordings. In Beyond A Love Supreme, author Tony Whyton explores both the musical aspects of A Love Supreme, ...
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Since at least the mid-1990s jazz scholars have challenged established jazz histories, using a range of critical methodologies to examine the con-structed nature of existing narratives. More recently, studies have set out either to write... more
Since at least the mid-1990s jazz scholars have challenged established jazz histories, using a range of critical methodologies to examine the con-structed nature of existing narratives. More recently, studies have set out either to write new jazz histories or to expose the underlying ...
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Debates in jazz history are aesthetic marks which reflect discourses about the directions the music might take. In September 2013 experts from Europe and the USA met at the Darmstadt Jazzforum to discuss how such debates inform the... more
Debates in jazz history are aesthetic marks which reflect discourses about the directions the music might take. In September 2013 experts from Europe and the USA met at the Darmstadt Jazzforum to discuss how such debates inform the perception of jazz to this day. The essays in this book focus on the effects of jazz debates on the aesthetic opinion. They examine historical as well as current debates within the German jazz scene. They discuss the gender debate in jazz, asking how an ideal of masculinity influences both the music and its reception as well as where in the jazz discourses one might find room for women and the LGBT community. Finally, they focus on the latest debate about the term "jazz" itself, touching questions about both historical and aesthetic ownership of music.
The Routledge Companion to Jazz Studies presents over forty articles from internationally renowned scholars and highlights the strengths of current jazz scholarship in a cross-disciplinary field of enquiry. Each chapter reflects on... more
The Routledge Companion to Jazz Studies presents over forty articles from internationally renowned scholars and highlights the strengths of current jazz scholarship in a cross-disciplinary field of enquiry. Each chapter reflects on developments within jazz studies over the last twenty-five years, offering surveys and new insights into the major perspectives and approaches to jazz research. The collection provides an essential research resource for students, scholars, and enthusiasts, and will serve as the definitive survey of current jazz scholarship in the Anglophone world to-date. It extends the critical debates about jazz that were set in motion by formative texts in the 1990s, and sets the agenda for the future scholarship by focusing on key issues and providing a framework for new lines of enquiry. It is organized around six themes: I. Historical Perspectives, II. Methodologies, III. Core Issues and Topics, IV. Individuals, Collectives and Communities, V. Politics, Discourse an...
The 2014 conference ‘Growing Up: Jazz between 1960 and 1980' in Lucerne provided a stimulating environment for the examination of European identity in jazz, and offered several fascinating insights into the musical landscape and... more
The 2014 conference ‘Growing Up: Jazz between 1960 and 1980' in Lucerne provided a stimulating environment for the examination of European identity in jazz, and offered several fascinating insights into the musical landscape and changing cultural discourses of jazz during this period in history. This article builds on the overarching theme of the Conference by examining what the concept of ‘growing up' means for jazz within this time period. I explore ways in which the concept itself can contain certain assumptions about the maturing of an art form and the progress of history, and encourage a way of thinking about jazz's place in Europe that is problematic. Whilst it is important to consider the historical development of music and its changing reception through time, the concept of growing up reinforces a number of assumptions about art music and its place in European culture; it has the ability to shape how we view the movement of music and culture, what social and cult...
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The Cultural Politics of Jazz Collectives: This Is Our Music documents the emergence of collective movements in jazz and improvised music. Jazz history is most often portrayed as a site for individual expression and revolves around the... more
The Cultural Politics of Jazz Collectives: This Is Our Music documents the emergence of collective movements in jazz and improvised music. Jazz history is most often portrayed as a site for individual expression and revolves around the celebration of iconic figures, while the networks and collaborations that enable the music to maintain and sustain its cultural status are surprisingly under-investigated. This collection explores the history of musician-led collectives and the ways in which they offer a powerful counter-model for rethinking jazz practices in the post-war period. It includes studies of groups including the New York Musicians Organization, Sweden’s Ett minne för livet, Wonderbrass from South Wales, the contemporary Dutch jazz-hip hop scene, and Austria‘s JazzWerkstatt. With an international list of contributors and examples from Europe and the United States, these twelve essays and case studies examine issues of shared aesthetic vision, socioeconomic and political fact...
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Publisher's description of book: It is often said that jazz is America’s great gift to the world, but while true, this belies the surprising, often crucial role that Europe has played in the development and popularity of jazz... more
Publisher's description of book: It is often said that jazz is America’s great gift to the world, but while true, this belies the surprising, often crucial role that Europe has played in the development and popularity of jazz throughout the world. Based on a series of symposia attracting leading scholars, critics, and musicians from throughout Europe and the United States, Eurojazzland first addresses the impact of European musical traditions and instruments on the formation and development of American jazz. Part two details the vital experiences of American musicians on European soil, from black minstrels to such jazz greats as Benny Carter and Duke Ellington, and deals with European jazzmen and their developments of American jazz styles. The final part chronicles the importance of European critics and musicologists in jazz criticism and offers essays on European contributions to jazz musicianship and production. Eurojazzland proves that jazz is simply too rich and varied for o...
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Beyond A Love Supreme: John Coltrane and the Legacy of an Album
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... Vincent Cotro References Porter, Lewis (2007) John ColtraneSa vie, sa musique, trans. V. Cotro. Paris: Outre Mesure. DeVito, Chris, David Wild, Yashiro Fujioka and Wolf Schmaler (2007) The John Coltrane Reference, ed. L. Porter.... more
... Vincent Cotro References Porter, Lewis (2007) John ColtraneSa vie, sa musique, trans. V. Cotro. Paris: Outre Mesure. DeVito, Chris, David Wild, Yashiro Fujioka and Wolf Schmaler (2007) The John Coltrane Reference, ed. L. Porter. London and New York: Routledge. ...
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... New Jazz Histories. Catherine Tackley, Tony Whyton. Full Text: PDF.
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14-17 April 2016. Birmingham City University, UK. The 4th Rhythm Changes conference for international jazz scholars.
