Jazz and American Culture
Columbia University
English
Fall 2007
Writing, Literature, Poetry, & Drama
Sonic Texts of the Black Atlantic
Columbia University
Department of Music
Jazz Narrative in Novels and Film
University of Kansas
American Studies/English
Fall 2006
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
How you'll be graded: On the basis of: a (probably take-home) final exam (34%); a 2000-word, documented research paper on a topic you select and I approve, due by beginning of class on 28 November (34%); a combined grade based on the quality of your participation in class, and the quality of your response papers (frequently assigned in class, and due via the class Blackboard site by noon the following Tuesday) on the books and films screened (33%).
The Complete Arista Recordings of Anthony Braxton (Liner Notes)
In 1974, Anthony Braxton was considered a radical among radicals. This was true not least for his distinctive embrace of post-war European avant-garde composition, then assumed to be particularly uncongenial to the average listener's taste.
Thelonious Monk and the Performance of Poetry
Bernstein asks why poets would read their work aloud and what happens when they do. He views the performance of poetry as a "competing realization" of the written work and explores the possibilities for tonal, rhythmic, and phrasing dynamics that performance adds to poetry. That in turn suggests a comparison with jazz performance, and specifically that of Thelonious Monk for his pauses and silences.
Dominant Positions: John Coltrane, Michel Foucault, and the Politics of Representation
Nicholls argues that the way artistic projects are represented depends at least in part upon the willingness of critics to look beyond musical sounds alone and take notice of issues of identity and social positioning-their own and that of the artists they evaluate. To illustrate this point, she discusses the varying reception of John Coltrane, whose stature gave him a platform to resist and redress the negative judgments his experimental work received.
Jazz in Modern American Literature
University of Kansas
English
Fall 2006
O For A Thousand Tongues To Sing: Anthony Braxton’s Speculative Music
In this article, composer and educator Mike Heffley analyzes the libretto and score of a Braxton's magnum opus, the opera Trillium R (Shala Fears for the Poor) of 1991. With the term "speculative music," Heffley designates music as a "speculum," or a mirror of the natural world or cosmic order. Heffley considers the opera's libretto in the context of the entire corpus of Braxton's writings, particularly his Tri-Axium Writings of 1985. Heffley argues that Braxton's use of language is "a driving force behind, first, his music, and, further, his body of work as a whole . . ."
The Avenging Angel: Black Music and the Afro-technological
Washington explores the work of two distinguished African-American science fiction writers who portray music as a form of technology. Henry Dumas and Samuel R. Delany have imagined music as a tool for avenging social wrongs as well as for creation and healing in several of their works. In both cases, the author's mythical music bears a strong resemblance to the blues for its "brutal honesty" and disregard of polite convention.
I Wanted to Live in That Music: Blues, Bessie Smith, and Improvised Identities in Ann-Marie MacDonald's Fall on Your Knees
In Ann-Marie MacDonald's novel Fall On Your Knees, women improvisers (including a fictitious character based on Bessie Smith) use their music to transcend both conventional musical practices and gender roles. In Sidall's reading of MacDonald's book, Smith is a viable role model in life as much in fiction, since she "signif[ies] that kind of freedom to imagine, and even create, new communities."
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