abstract: This thesis examines the jazz jam session’s function in the constitution of jazz scenes as
well as the identities of the musicians who participate in them. By employing ritual and
performance studies theories of liminality, I demonstrate ways in which jazz musicians,
jam sessions, and other social structures are mobilized and transformed during their
social and musical interactions. I interview three prominent members of the jazz scene in
the greater Phoenix area, and incorporate my experience as a professional jazz musician
in the same scene, to conduct a contextually and socially embedded analysis in order to
draw broader conclusions about jam sessions in general. In this analysis I refer to other
ethnomusicologists who research improvisation, jazz in ritual context, and interactions,
such as Ingrid Monson, Samuel Floyd, Travis Jackson, and Paul Berliner, as well as ideas
proposed by phenomenologically adjacent thinkers such as Gilles Deleuze, Martin
Heidegger, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, and Karen Barad.
This thesis attempts to contribute to current jam session research in fields such as
ethnomusicology and jazz studies by offering a perspective on jam sessions based on
phenomenology and process philosophy, concluding that the jam session is an essential
mechanism in the ongoing social and musical developments of jazz musicians and their
scene. I also attempt to continue and develop the discourse surrounding theories of
liminality in performance and ritual studies by underscoring the web of relations in social
structures that are brought into contact with one another during the liminal performances
of their acting agents. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Music 2019
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:asu.edu/item:53868 |
| Date | January 2019 |
| Contributors | Lebert, Raymond Russell (Author), Wells, Christopher J. (Advisor), Stover, Christopher (Committee member), Solis, Theodore (Committee member), Arizona State University (Publisher) |
| Source Sets | Arizona State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Masters Thesis |
| Format | 79 pages |
| Rights | http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
Page generated in 0.0018 seconds