Because I have had difficulty coordinating with the head of the Jazz Band in terms of finding a time to sit in on a rehearsal, I was not able to conduct my research this week. However, with Kiri's approval, I have decided to, instead, post new thoughts, insights, and ideas on my topic.
Kiri's comments on my previous post on my topic were especially helpful in crafting further thoughts as to what I should focus on. My questions, which mainly included the more technical aspects of the Jazz Band (ie. repertoire, how many performances they have, etc...), can be expanded to encompass the larger questions of why does the Jazz Band perform the pieces that they do? Is there a sense of "leader and follower" in their performances of pieces? Or, does the group perform as a collective unit, allowing the improvisatory nature of their music to guide them? In terms of the different musicians in the Band, what are each of their relationships to the music that they play? What is the general background of the musicians? Have they had little experience playing jazz or a lot? How could experience play into how they approach the music? Is this apparent in the utlimate performance?
On a larger scale, why does jazz music resonate so soundly with musicians? Is it its free form nature? Its all-inclusive nature?
I will be interested to see how the smaller "why" questions that pertain solely to the Brown Jazz Band become integrated with the larger scale questions that I have posed. How do these larger questions apply to the Brown Jazz Band?
3 comments:
I had the same problem; I haven’t been able to meet with my group, ARRR, because thy have been rehearsing with their new pirate members. So in my fieldnotes, I also outlined questions I have about how my music group functions. It would be interesting to explore not only how the Jazz Band functions internally, but also to examine its relationship to the larger Brown community. What made the current members join Jazz Band instead of other Brown or student-organized jazz ensembles? Why are they in Jazz Band? Do they like it, or are they taking it for course credit, or both? What do non-members think of Jazz Band? It will be cool to see what you come up with.
Jaime, I don't know if you have your heart set on doing a jazz band, but if you are just interested in jazz I am in a jazz combo and I'm pretty sure you'd be welcome to do my combo if you wanted to. Let me know if you're interested, it meets thursdays at 4:00.
I'm glad to see you making the most of this fieldwork delay by doing some more thinking about key questions. Keep me posted on whether you decide to take Julie up on her offer -- it could be great to work with a smaller ensemble, since you could potentially find out something meaningful about each individual participant's experience, and the questions you have already raised would still be relevant.
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