Ken Prouty argues that knowledge of jazz, or more to the point,
claims to knowledge of jazz, are the prime movers in forming jazz's
identity, its canon, and its community. Every jazz artist, critic,
or fan understands jazz differently, based on each individual's
unique experiences and insights. Through playing, listening,
reading, and talking about jazz, both as a form of musical
expression and as a marker of identity, each aficionado develops a
personalized relationship to the larger jazz world. Through the
increasingly important role of media, listeners also engage in the
formation of different communities that transcend not only
traditional boundaries of geography, but increasingly exist only in
the virtual world.
The relationships of "jazz people" within and between these
communities is at the center of "Knowing Jazz." Some communities,
such as those in academia, reflect a clash of sensibilities between
historical traditions. Others, particularly those who inhabit
cyberspace, represent new and exciting avenues for everyday fans,
whose involvement in jazz has often been ignored. Other communities
seek to define themselves as expressions of national or global
sensibility, pointing to the ever-changing nature of jazz's
identity as an American art form in an international setting. What
all these communities share, however, is an intimate, visceral link
to the music and the artists who make it, brought to life through
the medium of recording. Informed by an interdisciplinary approach
and approaching the topic from a number of perspectives, "Knowing
Jazz" charts a philosophical course in which many disparate
perspectives and varied opinions on jazz can find common
ground.
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