Great Performances in Jazz

Many realize that jazz has produced a wonderful body of music. Like all art however, jazz also presents the scholar with a host of issues worth further exploration. In this course, we examine "great" performances in jazz history. These performances are "great" not only musically, but also for their ability to spark discussion. In this class, performances are approached as a text with which we can examine such issues as race relations in America, ideas of cultural hierarchy, concepts of authenticity, political and popular definitions/uses of jazz and notions of virtuosity (among other issues). Further, as the usefulness of strict chronological approaches to history has been contested-it is argued that historical narratives result in an evolutionist or teleological aesthetic-issues structure this course. Great Performances in Jazz engages history, music appreciation, cultural studies, historiography and sociology in an exciting and unique way.