In April 2018, I completed a Ph.D. dissertation in the UCLA Department of Ethnomusicology, entitled “Making Jazz Space: Clubs and Creative Practice in California, Chile, and Siberia.” It consists of four chapters and four narrative interludes that allow the reader to follow my moves through time and space as a jazz anthropologist, plus an introduction and conclusion.
The dissertation can be read online and downloaded as a PDF file through the University of California’s institutional repository, eScholarship:
If you do take the time to read it, I would absolutely love to hear from you. Feel free to contact me by email or by leaving a comment here on the blog with your thoughts.
For reference, I have also copied the table of contents below:
Introduction: Jazz Nowhere, Now Here
Using the Word “Jazz”
Methodological Considerations
Square, Circle, Triangle ■ ● ▲
■ Clubs ■
■ Consciousness ●
■ Community ▲
● Scene ■
● Field ●
● World ▲
▲ Space ■
▲ Listening ●
▲ Practice ▲
Further Relevant Literature
Jazz Ethnomusicology
Jazz Worldwide
Jazz Transnationalism
Chapter Outline
Chapter 1: Throwing Jazz History a Jazz Curve
1917:
California
Chile
Russia
1959:
California
Chile
Russia
1990:
California
Chile
Russia
Synchronic Analysis and Concluding Thoughts
Fade In: Portland To Los Angeles
Chapter 2: Los Angeles, California
Creating Space for Creative Music at bluewhale, Live Jazz and Art Space
Location
Interior
Social Location: Scene, Field, World
Change Over Time
Conclusion: So What?
Crossfade: Los Angeles to Santiago
Chapter 3: Santiago, Chile
Making the Hang at Thelonious, Lugar de Jazz
Erwin Díaz and the Story of the Space
Inside the Club
Making the Hang
Listening for La Resistencia
Conclusion: Toward a Politics of Possibility
Remix: Santiago to Novosibirsk
Chapter 4: Novosibirsk, Siberia
Improvising Cosmopolitanism Sideways at Truba Jazz Club
Encountering Jazz Cosmopolitans in Siberia
First Visit to Truba: On Being Vibed
Producing the Jazz Field
Last Visit to Truba: Thin Description
Another Jam Session: SibJazzFest
Conclusion: Jazz Anthropology Radically Unfinished
Fade Out: Novosibirsk to Portland
Conclusion: The Space of Jazz to Come
What’s Left?
Now What?
Alex W. Rodríguez 