Hook‐Ups and Train Wrecks: Contextual Parameters and the Coordination of Jazz Interactions

Abstract

This article discusses the importance of several parameters of context integral to jazz musicians' ability to hear musical signs as meaningful, such as performers' individual backgrounds and the various other styles of music available in the aural landscape, and how those parameters influence what the musicians play. Several examples from an ongoing ethnography of jazz jam sessions suggest that context is constituted by several variables, that different variables may become salient at different times, and that different interactants vary in their ability to attend to these variables. This study thus extends and elaborates frame analysis by showing that, while an interaction frame of the sort described by Goffman (1974) may perdure, it is subject to change, and the nature of the context it provides for interactions can change whenever a new interaction is initiated.

Mastering the jazz standard: Sayings and doings of artistic valuation

“…She says that it is about harmony, melody and the rhythmic "knowledge", something that is tested out in conventional 'jam sessions' (cf. Dempsey, 2008;Faulkner and Becker, 2009;Gibson, 2010). By describing jazz excellence in a clear, concrete manner, and concentrating the description to the fundamentals of harmonic, melodic and rhythmic knowledge, Anna is stressing trainable skills and competences.…”

“…In this regard, Bourdieu's approach departs from takes on jazz practices as it has derived in cultural sociology rooted in Goffmanian interactionism and Wittgensteinian contextualizations (cf. Faulkner and Becker, 2009;Becker, 2000;Monson, 1996;Gibson, 2010;Dempsey, 2008) -in that it seeks to anchor the "language games" in the deeper dispositional habitus that each candidate carries to the performance. When the jury finally distinguishes between legitimate and illegitimate expressionsor, what amounts to the same thing: if the candidates are attuned to the conventions or notthese aesthetic and social selection games merge.…”

Stimulated Recall Interviews in Ethnography

“…In jam session performances, elements of context such as the age or education of the people playing on the bandstand, differences between different nightclubs, or the histories of particular compositions, influence how musicians play music with one another (Dempsey 2008). The stimulated recall interviews I conducted helped to expose several important variations in the context of jam sessions, exposing which elements of context musicians pay attention to and how those elements can affect their performances.…”

“…In general, the results of this study have shown that there are certain notable elements of context to which people attend while interacting, such as background characteristics of others with whom they interact and the location of an interaction. Such contextual elements play a significant role in guiding people's decision making process, allowing them to select among different strategies for playing music (Dempsey 2008). The interviews demonstrated what counted as a sign that demanded a response from others (Dempsey 2010).…”

Skolning i jazz : Värde, selektion och studiekarriär vid folkhögskolornas musiklinjer

“…Jazzforskningen innehåller exempelvis rikligt med analyser där själva jammandet, de komplexa interaktionerna mellan musikerna, utgör ett huvudintresse (Faulkner & Becker 2009;Becker, 2000;Monson, 1996;Dempsey, 2008;Gibson, 2010). I forskningen om jazzmusikers sociala bakgrunder har jazzens könade och rasifierade dimensioner varit föremål för omfattande forskningsinsatser (Monson, 1995;Rustin & Tucker, 2008;Whyton, 2010a;Buscatto, 2007;Bruér & Westin, 1989;Arvidsson, 2014).…”