Jazz Education and the Tightrope of Tradition1

Abstract

This chapter talks about the place of George Russell and Marshall Stearns in the development of jazz education. The work of Russell and Stearns is seen as important not because of their institutional connections, but because of their relationships to those outside of the academy. Both men drew heavily upon their experiences with and connections to jazz musicians outside of the academy. In the same way, the activities undertaken at the Lenox School of Jazz also proved important to the development of pedagogical methods later in the 1960s. The chapter talks about how knowledge and the education of jazz came about, as well as the boons that would aid its development. The first real boon to the learning of jazz came about in 1917 with the release of “Livery Stable Blues.” Recordings would enable writings on jazz education, but these writings were often treated as method books or textbooks for jazz.