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MUSICOLOGY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF AMSTERDAM

24/09/2016

Blowing Gabriel Out of the Clouds: Jazz and the Afterlife

Colloquium Musicology
Prof. dr. Walter van de Leur

Thursday 20 October, 15:30-17:00
Nieuwe Doelenstraat 16, room 3.01

Abstract
The afterlife is a site of many fantasies, and it figures in numerous jazz narratives. Biographies and documentaries unproblematically present the likes of Armstrong and Coltrane as saints or angels, who after fulfilling their mission on earth have rejoined their creator. Often the concept of immortality is played out in overt religious terms. Jazz in heaven—and sometimes in hell—is a trope that drives many jazz jokes, but it seriously is the hook of Howard E. Fischer’s documentary jazz film They Died Before 40: ‘The greatest jazz band in history has been playing in heaven for more than 50 years!,’ the promotional blurb trumpets. For the film, different iconic recordings of Stardust have been digitally spliced to produce a tune ‘recorded in heaven’ by a band ‘organized in heaven’; apparently real recordings from the Hereafter have not materialized so far.
     Jazz fans who are not sure they will get to see the heavenly band perform, can opt for a final resting place in the Jazz Corner at Woodlawn Cemetery (The Bronx, New York), where more than 2,000 mausoleum and burial plots went on sale in 2014, for ‘lovers of jazz who are anxious to spend eternity near to the legends they have loved in life.’ According to cemetery executive director David Ison, the plots sold out quickly: ‘It’s absolutely incredible ... we allotted several sites just behind Miles Davis and they’re almost all gone.’
     In this paper I will look at jazz and death, and the fantasies that the ‘most live music performed in the here and now’ calls up when jazz greats die. The narratives surrounding the passing of musicians reflect how fans, critics and historians have understood and understand jazz and its practitioners. Myths about either the triumphant successes of larger than life immortals or the lonely sufferings of tragic geniuses reveal various assumptions that feed into ideas about what sets jazz apart from other musics.

Jazz-musicologist Walter van de Leur received his Ph.D. from the University of Amsterdam (UvA), and teaches at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam (CvA), where he is Research Coordinator in the Jazz and Classical Master’s programs, Jazz historiography electives teacher in the Jazz Master’s program, and Music History teacher in the Jazz Bachelor’s program. On behalf of the CvA, he is Professor of Jazz and Improvised Music at the UvA. He has published in a variety of peer-reviewed academic journals and edited volumes as well as in non-academic journals. Two book manuscripts are currently in process, one on the reception of jazz in Europe, and one on jazz and death.

12/09/2016

Reasoning through Art: The Articulation of Embodied Knowledge

Colloquium Musicology
Prof. dr. Henk Borgdorff

Thursday 22 September, 15:30-17:00
Nieuwe Doelenstraat 16, room 3.01

Abstract:
My contribution will start with asking whether research by artists, so-called artistic research, is equivalent to academic research. Artists in their research often make use of insights, methods and techniques, which stem from social science, humanities or technological research, but it is not clear what artistic research itself has to offer to academia. In my talk I will develop a positive understanding of research in and through the arts, touching upon its epistemology and methodology, and addressing the form and relevance of its outcomes. I will point to four related issues that are pertinent to research in and through art: an advanced understanding of discursivity, of reasoning; the methodological relevance of material practices and things; innovative ways of publishing art in academia; and advanced forms of peer review. This will be illustrated by the workings of the Journal for Artistic Research and its associated Research Catalogue. Besides, it is key to the advancement of the artistic research field that we not only advertise and export our epistemological and methodological distinctiveness, but that we also join forces with others in our attempt to re-think academia.