Jazz Avant-Gardes
MUSC 277
Spring 2024
| Section:
01
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| Crosslisting:
AMST 267 |
What is an avant-garde and what does it mean in the context of jazz? This course will explore this question focusing on the 1950s and 60s and beyond. We will take a holistic approach, examining the music and its surrounding community within the broader social and cultural currents of the times. These currents include European-inherited avant-garde aesthetics, the increasingly urgent civil rights movement and changing conceptions of freedom, artist collectives, and Afrofuturism. Three key artists will provide a focal point: Ornette Coleman, Cecil Taylor, and Sun Ra. Others will expand our view, including Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, Alice Coltrane, the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Anthony Braxton, Yoko Ono (a non-jazz artist who contributed to an experimental sensibility in NYC), and others. We will immerse ourselves in a combination of reading, listening to recordings, viewing videos, discussion, and some in-class performances. Throughout the semester we will pursue the parallel goals of using this movement in jazz to expand our understanding of avant-garde movements in general and using historical avant-garde movements to expand our understanding of how the phenomenon has played out in jazz. The first two weeks will function as a Jazz 101 boot camp, so no prior experience in jazz is necessary. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA MUSC |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Major Requirement for: (AMST)(MUSC) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: 75% - 89% |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Selections from:
Cottington, THE AVANT GARDE: A VERY SHORT INTRODUCTION
Charry, THE EMERGENCE OF AN AVANT GARDE IN JAZZ (work in progress)
Baraka, BLACK MUSIC
Kelley, THELONIOUS MONK
Lewis, A POWER STRONGER THAN ITSELF
L. Porter, JOHN COLTRANE
Monson, FREEDOMS SOUNDS
Spellman, FOUR LIVES IN THE BEBOP BUSINESS
Szwed, SPACE IS THE PLACE
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Examinations and Assignments:
Regular reading responses, occasional short writing assignments, and midterm and final projects |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
Additional requirements and/or comments
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| Instructor(s): Charry,Eric Times: ..T.R.. 10:20AM-11:40AM; Location: OLIN327B; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 18 | | SR major: 3 | JR major: 3 | | |
| Seats Available: 8 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: 3 | JR non-major: 3 | SO: 3 | FR: 3 |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 0 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
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