Artistic Research in Jazz

Abstract

This chapter provides a discussion of the historical contexts surrounding the field of artistic research in jazz. It identifies epistemic activities in the history of Western art music and jazz and examines their relevance for recent approaches and initiatives in the field of artistic research. An analysis of the genesis of historical publications in jazz theory – George Russell’s Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization for Improvisation in particular – provides evidence of the relevance of musician-based knowledge regarding the structural understanding of jazz music and its creative development processes. In its final section, the chapter introduces compositional and performative approaches as methodical tools in historical jazz research, as exemplified in the author’s research project on aspects of identity and inheritance in the history of jazz in the city of Graz (underwritten by the Austrian Science Fund as part of its artistic research program).