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The Culture of Jazz Aesthetics Anthropology 148a: Language and the Culture of Art Instructors: Profs. Kenny Burrell and Alessandro Duranti Monson, I. 1996. Saying Something: Jazz Improvisation and Interaction. Chicago: Chicago University Press. Study Questions Introduction 1. Why is it important to focus on the rhythm section in understanding jazz as an art form and cultural practice? 2. What is a "vernacular perspective" on jazz? Ch. 1 1. How does music create community and how is the community made manifest in Monson’s ethnographic experience? 2. What does Monson mean when she calls the interview a “secondary genre”? 3. What choice did Monson make for representing the talk of jazz musicians? Ch. 2 1. How do jazz musicians conceptualize the role of bass/piano/drums in the rhythm section? 2. What did you learn about interaction among musicians in this chapter? 3. How is the relationship between the rhythm section and the soloist described in the chapter? 4. Describe the meaning of the following terms: keeping time, comping, soloing, walking, playing pedal points, groove (as a noun and as a verb). Ch. 3 1. What’s the “interactive improvisational process”? 2. How does Monson and the musicians she interviewed connect jazz with conversation? Ch. 4 1. Why does Monson bring in the concepts of “double consciousness” and “signifying”? 2. What’s intermusicality? 3. How is quoting used in jazz and what kinds of reactions does it evoke? Ch. 5 Ch. 6 Coda |