| Description |
Jazz music has achieved the support of elite institutions, such as higher education and government arts initiatives, relatively recently. There is now a growing body of scholarly research on jazz history, performance practice, recordings, and music theory. However, there are widely differing conceptions of what should be included in histories, which events and figures should be emphasized, and even what constitutes jazz music in the first place. This study explores some of these questions by comparing the writings and interviews of two notable modern-day musicians, Wynton Marsalis and Nicholas Payton. Comparing the divergent discourses of these two men sheds light on differing conceptions of jazz and its place in American culture. Their perspectives can aid in understanding various social-historical factors and intellectual currents that influence jazz music in the twenty-first century and can help form a more nuanced historiography of the music's past. Furthermore, prioritizing the voices of black jazz musicians, as opposed to those of largely white critics and scholars, emphasizes their ownership of the cultural tradition from which they emerge. |
