The Cultural Politics of Jazz Collectives This Is Our Music [Paperback]

The Cultural Politics of Jazz Collectives: This Is Our Musicdocuments 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, Swedens Ett minne f?r livet, Wonderbrass from South Wales, the contemporary Dutch jazz-hip hop scene, and Austrias 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 factors, local education, and cultural values among improvising musicians.

1. Introduction: Jazz as a Collective Problem Nicholas Gebhardt  2. Complaining Time is Over: Network and Collective Strategies of The New York Musicians Organization Michael C. Heller  3. Playing politics: Dutch improvising musicians facing the authorities Loes Rusch  4. Sound Visions and Free Initiatives: The Cultural Politics of Creative Improvised Music Collectives A. Scott Currie  5. Musical Hybridity in the New European City: The Jazz Hip Hop Collectives of C-Mon & Kypski and Kytopia Kristin McGee  6. Collective Cultures and Live Jazz in Birmingham Tim Wall and Simon Barber  7. San Francisco State Universitys Music Federation: The Political Machine behind a Jazz Cooperative for Teachers Meredith Eliassen&l„