An Ecology of the Large Jazz and Improvising Ensemble Scenes in the UK

这个多学科的研究项目源于我14年的专业参与，在英国，欧洲和北美的当代大型合奏爵士乐和即兴音乐。解决爵士乐，文化政策和媒体研究中的关键问题，我的目标是探索专业的大型合奏，组织和基础设施的可持续生态系统，并考虑为什么这些是目前相对缺乏在英国相比，在欧洲其他地方。从20世纪60年代起，英国是爵士乐和即兴音乐创新的国际温床，其中大型合奏尤为突出，例如吉布斯，韦斯特布鲁克，惠勒，科利尔等人（卡尔，1973）。然而，20世纪90年代Loose Tubes（Heining，2018）和Jazz Warriors（摩尔，2007）的解散标志着一个显着的转变;虽然今天的英国爵士乐毫无疑问与以往一样富有创造力（哈钦森，2018），但活跃的大型编队明显减少。最近，英国议会委托的一份《英国爵士乐评论》在其最初的职权范围内完全忽略了专业的大型合奏团，这已经成为常态（APPJAG，2021）。古典交响乐团及其文化，社会和经济背景的演变是许多学术活动的焦点（Botstein，1996; Flanagan，2012）然而，在爵士乐和即兴音乐中的大型合奏方面缺乏类似的工作，特别是在美国以外。该项目是第一个全面调查他们在英国和欧洲的意义，遗产和价值的项目，从而更好地理解和欣赏这些合奏及其与当代文化的相关性，特别是在更广泛的爵士乐领域面临的问题和挑战的背景下（Raine，2020; Riley & Laing，2010）.主要的研究问题是：a）大型爵士乐和即兴合奏在更广泛的文化景观中的文化，社会和经济价值是什么？B）一个大型爵士乐和即兴合奏团要取得艺术、经济、商业、政治、社会和环境方面的成功和可持续性，必须具备哪些文化和物质条件？c）当代大型爵士乐和即兴合奏团目前如何在英国文化环境中运作，以及如何更好地运作？该项目的概念框架是由学者，包括Hesmondhalgh（2013年; 2019年），科恩（2000年; 2013年）和弗里思（2004年; 2008年）对文化政策，价值和遗产的工作。我的研究包括两个阶段：第一个（1-4年的兼职研究）旨在通过进行文化映射和案例研究，以流行音乐研究中越来越多地使用的生态方法（Behr et al，2016;货车der Hoeven et al，2021），但目前在爵士乐研究中较少使用，来对这些问题做出初步回应。我将使用一系列的方法，包括访谈，定量数据分析（例如财务帐目、门票/唱片销售）和文化政策调查。（3-6年级）通过研究主导的实践建立在这一基础上（Smith & Dean，2009）当我试图为大型爵士乐和即兴合奏定义一个可持续的最佳实践模型时，我将通过建立和运行一个新的旗舰专业英国团队来测试和改进，使用与第一阶段类似的方法不断分析和评估。

This multidisciplinary research project emerges from my 14 years' professional involvement with contemporary large ensemble jazz and improvised music across UK, Europe and North America. Addressing key issues within jazz, cultural policy, and media studies, I aim to explore sustainable ecosystems of professional large ensembles, organisations, and infrastructure, and to consider why these are currently relatively lacking in Britain compared to elsewhere in Europe. From the 1960s onwards, the UK was an international hotbed for innovation in jazz and improvised music, with large ensembles particularly prominent e.g. Gibbs, Westbrook, Wheeler, Collier et al (Carr, 1973). However, the disbandment of Loose Tubes (Heining, 2018) and Jazz Warriors (Moore, 2007) in the 1990s marked a notable shift; whilst British jazz today is unarguably as creative as ever (Hutchinson, 2018), there are significantly fewer active larger formations. This has become normalised to the extent that a recently commissioned parliamentary Review Of Jazz In England omitted professional large ensembles entirely within its initial terms of reference (APPJAG, 2021).The classical symphony orchestra and the evolution of its cultural, social, and economic contexts is the focus of much scholarly activity (Botstein, 1996; Flanagan, 2012) yet similar work on the large ensemble within jazz and improvised music is lacking, especially outside of the United States. This project is the first to fully investigate their significance, heritage, and value in the UK and Europe, leading to a greater understanding and appreciation of these ensembles and their relevance to contemporary culture, particularly in the context of questions and challenges facing the wider jazz sector (Raine, 2020; Riley & Laing, 2010).The primary research questions are:a) What is the cultural, social, and economic value of the large jazz and improvising ensemble in the wider cultural landscape?b) What are the cultural and material conditions necessary for a large jazz and improvising ensemble to achieve artistic, economic, commercial, political, social, and environmental success and sustainability?c) How do contemporary large jazz and improvising ensembles currently operate within the UK cultural environment, and how could they operate better? The project's conceptual framework is informed by the work of scholars including Hesmondhalgh (2013; 2019), Cohen (2000; 2013), and Frith (2004; 2008) on cultural policy, value, and heritage. My study contains two phases: the first (years 1-4 of part-time study) seeks to develop initial responses to the questions, through conducting cultural mapping and case studies in an ecological approach increasingly used within Popular Music studies (Behr et al, 2016; van der Hoeven et al, 2021) but currently lesscommon within jazz research. I will use a range of methods including interviews, quantitative data analysis (e.g. financial accounts, ticket/record sales), and cultural policy investigation.The second phase (years 3-6) builds on this through research-led practice (Smith & Dean, 2009) as I attempt to define a model of sustainable best practice for large jazz and improvising ensembles, which I will test and refine through establishing and running a new flagship professional UK group, continuously analysing and evaluating using similar methods to phase 1.