The Jazz Chameleon: The 9th Nordic Jazz Conference
The Finnish Jazz & Pop Archive, Helsinki, August 19–20, 2010

Since its arrival on the public scene in the early 20th century, jazz has been characterised by a remarkable ability to cross musical, social and cultural borderlines. In terms of musical style and character, jazz has often crossed genre categories and undergone through radical changes. In terms of geographical and cultural boundaries, one of the most notable developments in jazz has been the internationalisation of its sound. Furthermore, jazz has also been able to ‘travel in time’. The explicit sense of traditions characterises jazz history: jazz music speaks to the past and is informed by what has been before.

What are these crossings really like? How have they changed during the history of jazz?

Organisers of The Jazz Chameleon: The 9th Nordic Jazz Conference welcome presentations on generical, geographical, historical and other (e.g. theoretical, aesthetic, educational) crossings in jazz. The main emphasis of the presentations will be on Nordic countries and their histories but we warmly welcome other aspects as well.

Proposals for presentations and work groups should be submitted as abstracts of up to 200 words by April 1, 2010 to Janne Mäkelä. Please include the name of the speaker(s), email, affiliation, and the title of the paper or workshop group.

The conference will have two invited keynote speakers, planning for Professor Bruce Johnson (Universities of Turku, Glasgow, UK and Macquarie, Australia) and Doctor Pekka Gronow. Furthermore, the conference will feature discussion on the collaboration between the members of Nordic jazz archives as well as performances by Finnish jazz musicians.

There will be a small participation fee. The main organiser of the conference is the Finnish Jazz & Pop Archive.

On behalf of the organisers,
Janne Mäkelä, Director
The Finnish Jazz & Pop Archive

The Finnish Jazz & Pop Archive organises the 9th Nordic Jazz Conference in Helsinki and administers JazzConference.net website in 2010. Further information about the 9th Nordic Jazz Conference will be soon available.

Please note that information concerning previous Nordic Jazz Conference(s) has been moved to a different section and the blog messages below concern 8th Nordic Jazz Conferenre.

The complete programme for The 8th Nordic Jazz Conference is now available for download here.
The 8th Nordic Conference is supported by Det Obelske Familiefond

Please note that there are some program changes. The only session on Thursday will be the workshop which will take place in the morning. The conference will finish with a lunch at the university.

The FAQs & practical information section have been improved to get a clear view of travel directions, accomodation etc.

Invitation to The 8th Nordic Jazz Conference 25-27th of August 2009 at Aalborg University

Centre for Danish Jazz History at Aalborg University welcomes everyone to sign up for The 8th Nordic Jazz Conference which will take place the 25-27th of August 2009. The conference will feature more than 10 speakers from the Nordic countries, Germany, Australia and Latvia. See the program here.

A few people have asked about how to sign up for the conference, conference fee and program etc. Some of that informations is now available in the FAQ section which will be updated as the planning goes on.

The CFP deadline for the 8th Nordic Jazz Conference is coming up but it is still possible to submit papers on the subjects ‘National and local jazz history writing in the Nordic countries’ and ‘The collaboration between the Nordic jazz archives’. Free papers regardless subject are also welcome. The conference program and practical information are expected to be published 18th May.

Please email papers to thomasaj@hum.aau.dk

Centre for Danish Jazz History at Aalborg University welcomes researchers, music journalists and other interested to participate in The 8th Nordic Jazz Conference which will take place the 25-27th of August 2009. Read More...

Dr. Wolfram Knauer attend the 8.th Nordic Jazz Conference as keynote speaker on the following subject:

History or Histories?

Why it is so difficult to draft a European jazz history

If European jazz has developed an own identity in recent years and decades, it is an identity of diversity. Yet, diversity in European jazz is quite different from diversity as present in American culture. It is a diversity based on century-old cultural traditions, differences and cross dissemination. The word "glocalization" has been used to describe this specific idea of a regional dialect within a seemingly globalized musical idiom. I will ask about the implications of glocalization for the drafting of a European jazz history. The paper will also discuss how a European archival network could help with the drafting of such a European jazz history.

Dr. Wolfram Knauer, the director of JazzInstitut Darmstadt, studied musicology, English and American literature, art history and sociology and holds a Ph.D. from Kiel University. Read More...