An Ecology of the Large Jazz and Improvising Ensemble Scenes in the UK
Lead Research Organisation:
Birmingham City University
Department Name: ADM Birmingham School of Media
Abstract
This multidisciplinary research project emerges from my 14 years' professional involvement with contemporary large ensemble jazz and improvised music across UK, Europe and North America. Addressing key issues within jazz, cultural policy, and media studies, I aim to explore sustainable ecosystems of professional large ensembles, organisations, and infrastructure, and to consider why these are currently relatively lacking in Britain compared to elsewhere in Europe.
From the 1960s onwards, the UK was an international hotbed for innovation in jazz and improvised music, with large ensembles particularly prominent e.g. Gibbs, Westbrook, Wheeler, Collier et al (Carr, 1973). However, the disbandment of Loose Tubes (Heining, 2018) and Jazz Warriors (Moore, 2007) in the 1990s marked a notable shift; whilst British jazz today is unarguably as creative as ever (Hutchinson, 2018), there are significantly fewer active larger formations. This has become normalised to the extent that a recently commissioned parliamentary Review Of Jazz In England omitted professional large ensembles entirely within its initial terms of reference (APPJAG, 2021).
The classical symphony orchestra and the evolution of its cultural, social, and economic contexts is the focus of much scholarly activity (Botstein, 1996; Flanagan, 2012) yet similar work on the large ensemble within jazz and improvised music is lacking, especially outside of the United States. This project is the first to fully investigate their significance, heritage, and value in the UK and Europe, leading to a greater understanding and appreciation of these ensembles and their relevance to contemporary culture, particularly in the context of questions and challenges facing the wider jazz sector (Raine, 2020; Riley & Laing, 2010).
The primary research questions are:
a) What is the cultural, social, and economic value of the large jazz and improvising ensemble in the wider cultural landscape?
b) What are the cultural and material conditions necessary for a large jazz and improvising ensemble to achieve artistic, economic, commercial, political, social, and environmental success and sustainability?
c) How do contemporary large jazz and improvising ensembles currently operate within the UK cultural environment, and how could they operate better? The project's conceptual framework is informed by the work of scholars including Hesmondhalgh (2013; 2019), Cohen (2000; 2013), and Frith (2004; 2008) on cultural policy, value, and heritage. My study contains two phases: the first (years 1-4 of part-time study) seeks to develop initial responses to the questions, through conducting cultural mapping and case studies in an ecological approach increasingly used within Popular Music studies (Behr et al, 2016; van der Hoeven et al, 2021) but currently less
common within jazz research. I will use a range of methods including interviews, quantitative data analysis (e.g. financial accounts, ticket/record sales), and cultural policy investigation.
The second phase (years 3-6) builds on this through research-led practice (Smith & Dean, 2009) as I attempt to define a model of sustainable best practice for large jazz and improvising ensembles, which I will test and refine through establishing and running a new flagship professional UK group, continuously analysing and evaluating using similar methods to phase 1.
From the 1960s onwards, the UK was an international hotbed for innovation in jazz and improvised music, with large ensembles particularly prominent e.g. Gibbs, Westbrook, Wheeler, Collier et al (Carr, 1973). However, the disbandment of Loose Tubes (Heining, 2018) and Jazz Warriors (Moore, 2007) in the 1990s marked a notable shift; whilst British jazz today is unarguably as creative as ever (Hutchinson, 2018), there are significantly fewer active larger formations. This has become normalised to the extent that a recently commissioned parliamentary Review Of Jazz In England omitted professional large ensembles entirely within its initial terms of reference (APPJAG, 2021).
The classical symphony orchestra and the evolution of its cultural, social, and economic contexts is the focus of much scholarly activity (Botstein, 1996; Flanagan, 2012) yet similar work on the large ensemble within jazz and improvised music is lacking, especially outside of the United States. This project is the first to fully investigate their significance, heritage, and value in the UK and Europe, leading to a greater understanding and appreciation of these ensembles and their relevance to contemporary culture, particularly in the context of questions and challenges facing the wider jazz sector (Raine, 2020; Riley & Laing, 2010).
The primary research questions are:
a) What is the cultural, social, and economic value of the large jazz and improvising ensemble in the wider cultural landscape?
b) What are the cultural and material conditions necessary for a large jazz and improvising ensemble to achieve artistic, economic, commercial, political, social, and environmental success and sustainability?
c) How do contemporary large jazz and improvising ensembles currently operate within the UK cultural environment, and how could they operate better? The project's conceptual framework is informed by the work of scholars including Hesmondhalgh (2013; 2019), Cohen (2000; 2013), and Frith (2004; 2008) on cultural policy, value, and heritage. My study contains two phases: the first (years 1-4 of part-time study) seeks to develop initial responses to the questions, through conducting cultural mapping and case studies in an ecological approach increasingly used within Popular Music studies (Behr et al, 2016; van der Hoeven et al, 2021) but currently less
common within jazz research. I will use a range of methods including interviews, quantitative data analysis (e.g. financial accounts, ticket/record sales), and cultural policy investigation.
The second phase (years 3-6) builds on this through research-led practice (Smith & Dean, 2009) as I attempt to define a model of sustainable best practice for large jazz and improvising ensembles, which I will test and refine through establishing and running a new flagship professional UK group, continuously analysing and evaluating using similar methods to phase 1.
