This study explored the experiences of prominent jazz vocalists regarding the collaboration between the vocalist and pianist during duo performances. The work relationship between a jazz vocalist and accompanist is a unique phenomenon due to the improvisatory and collaborative nature of jazz. Effective co-performer interaction and communication are two essential components within an improvisational music setting. A spirit of spontaneity ir required in order for improvisation and interpretation to take place in real-time and on stage; aspects which cannot be duplicated or replicated during rehearsals. A qualitative research approach was employed by means of a collective case study, exploring the views and experiences of three prominent South African and three international jazz vocalists. Data was gathered through semi-structured interviews. Furthermore, artefacts including audio and audio-visual recordings of each of these performers were studied to ascertain aspects of the vocal-piano collaboration. Thematic data analysis presented four main themes: (1) individuality; (2) interactive relationships; (3) musicianship; and (4) the present moment. The findings revealed that the roles of both partners within the vocal-piano duo collaboration are evenly distributed, yet have distinctive functions. Each new performance between the same vocal-piano duo is an innovative execution, a skilful and artistic equilibrium. It embodies a companionship playing out on stage in view of an audience, yet with the subtle sharing of musical messages. / Mini Dissertation (MMus)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / UP Postgraduate fund / Music / MMus / Unrestricted

Both researchers and jazz professionals believe the expansion of jazz performance programs in universities over the last several decades warrants a need for critical research into the processes and experiences by which jazz students develop into professionals. Although the number of colleges offering degrees in jazz performance has risen dramatically during this time, instructional approaches remain relatively standardized throughout the schools. The purpose of this study was to investigate the experiences of five working professional New York City jazz musicians in an attempt to better understand how they learned to improvise and develop their individual voices. These musicians included Joe Lovano, Otis Brown III, Francisco Mela, James Weidman, and Matthew Wilson. In this study I used Wenger's (2008) theory of Communities of Practice as the theoretical framework for an exploration of the meaning, practice, community, and identity of these five professional jazz musicians. Data collected for this case study entailed interviews, observations, and collection of artifacts. The interview data provided by the participants were transcribed and coded for the purpose of identifying emerging themes. The themes were then woven into a narrative based on the participants' responses to a series of open-ended questions. The themes that emerged included auto-biographical recollections of the participants' earliest musical experiences. The musicians spoke openly about their childhoods and various aspects of the context of their learning experiences on the way to becoming jazz professionals. The discussion included the musicians' views on communicating through improvisation, mentoring, and the value of relationships created through involvement in a jazz community on the development of a unique improvisational voice. Two major themes emerged in data analysis. First, Joe Lovano and Us Five experienced university jazz educations but in interviews and observation, the musicians seemed not dependent on, or even utilizing that part of their past. Instead, the musicians strongly emphasized community and community building, professional on-stage experience, and longitudinal exposure and life study that many college jazz majors may never experience. Second, the musicians eschewed certain viewpoints within the music profession, within university music programs, and within the public sector that musicians can simply blend technical prowess with diligent study of a prescribed curriculum to become a professional jazz musician. Here the interviewees uniformly suggested that a unique, individual voice was necessary for acceptance within the field. Finally, I present an example based upon the data from this study of how Wenger's (2008) community of practice could be used to develop a new understanding of the process of jazz improvisation and the development of a unique improvisational voice in an institutional setting.

The purpose of this study was to develop and test systematically a theoretical model that delineated the constructs and subsumed variables of jazz improvisation performance. The specific research questions were; what specific performance variables are related to single line jazz solo improvisation performance? and; what is the most cogent groupings of variables into underlying constructs which characterize single line jazz solo improvisation performances for all performers, student performers, and professional performers?

The Master’s Recital recorded on the compact disc that accompanies this paper presents seven compositions. Five of them are my own, and two are my arrangements of compositions by musicians that I admire. The paper includes scores of the original compositions and arrangements, as well as program notes that offer historical background, summaries of the form, and observations on performance practice for each selection. My goal is to demonstrate to jazz devotees and to music lovers in general the capabilities of the steel pan instrument within a jazz combo setting. Each composition exploits the full range of challenges the percussionist faces in a jazz combo performance. I explore different stylistic approaches and musical concepts that enable a high level of improvised musical performance on an instrument that is relatively new to jazz.

This, the first study at doctoral level of any white female jazz instrumentalist, provides an overview to the long, active and enduring musical career of British-born, New York-based jazz pianist, Marian McPartland (born 1918). For over six decades, besides being a pianist and a composer, she has been prominent in the professional roles of educator, writer, record producer and recording artist, radio broadcaster and advocate. The scope and impact of this multi-layered career are conveyed through the medium of a Website profiling significant aspects of her professional life through textual, aural and visual presentation. Although not claiming to be exhaustive, this Website brings together a comprehensive collection of data covering all aspects of Marian McPartland's career. Data have been gathered and collated from material in the public domain, and all such sources are acknowledged and referenced. The Website is navigable through three links at the bottom of the Home Page - 1) Historical Perspective; 2) Selected Analyses; and 3) Marian McPartland In Context. Part One of the Website provides access to Marian McPartland's various professional roles in jazz, as well as public profiles, and is consolidated by listings of support material. Part Two of the Website contains formal analyses of four of her compositions, each preceded by a short introduction. The analyses are based on scores transcribed from her recorded improvisations. A discussion of her stylistic approach follows the analyses. Part Three of the Website contextualizes Marian McPartland as a woman in jazz during its major historical and stylistic movements. An Introduction and a Conclusion provide the academic framework for this study. The Introduction outlines the rationale for the study, the dimensions of the study, the methodologies used, and the research process. The Conclusion provides critical commentary on Marian McPartland's musical career, and deductions are made about her significance in and contribution to jazz, based on the evidence presented in the Website. A CD of the entire Website completes the presentation of this thesis, included under Supplementary Material in the back pocket of the thesis. This overview of Marian McPartland's entire career makes an original contribution to knowledge on this jazz artist, and, in a broader sense, provides an important resource for future research in the area of jazz music and musicians.

This study of contemporary jazz discourse and gender applies the techniques of critical discourse analysis, inspired by M.A.K. Halliday's systemic functional linguistics and Norman Fairclough's qualitative critical discourse analysis, to explicate the unequal distribution of power in society as represented by the institutions of jazz and mass media, in discourse about jazz vocal artists. Specifically, the study focuses on the way the genres of jazz CD review, jazz performance review, and interviews with jazz artists – disseminated via the institutions JazzTimes and Live New Orleans – represent the artists' identities, roles, achievements and skills. Following Norman Fairclough and the feminist scholar Mary Talbot, the study assumes that institutions of mass media not only discursively construct the gender of jazz vocal artists, but also represent the performers' achievement and skills from a hegemonic standpoint, reflecting the commonsense assumptions about women and men and their roles in patriarchal society.