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International Association of Schools of Jazz

The IASJ Ongoing Dialogues are sessions during IASJ Jazz Meetings in which teachers, representatives and guests come together to discuss a wide array of topics concerning jazz education and jazz in general. Experts from all around the world openly share their experiences, opinions and points of views. Differences in cultures are made clear as well as unexpected common grounds. The debates are high level, ground breaking and new insights generating. Below there are some articles that were discussed during the Ongoing Dialogues during the IASJ Jazz Meeting, 23-29 June 2012 in Graz, Austria.
Thanks, Walter Turkenburg

Bill Anschell: Carreers in Jazz

Careers in Jazz
- By Bill Anschell (www.billanschell.com)

Every year, university programs spit out thousands of highly trained jazz musicians sporting hard-earned diplomas and high hopes. But when these graduates hit the first formal rite of jazz passage – a desperate trip to the local pawn shop – they learn that the diploma is literally not worth the paper it's printed on.  Entering school, their dream was simple: To perform music they love for attentive audiences in jazz clubs, concert halls, and festivals, and to earn a fair wage for their efforts 1. But set loose from the nurturing womb of the campus, they quickly experience the shock of an indifferent and often hostile new reality. read the entire article Bill Anschell: Carreers in Jazz

Kurt Ellenberg: Jazz in Crisis

2010 05 30 Kurt Ellenberger: Jazz in Crisis
The last few years have been particularly bad for the jazz community. The latest spate of bad tidings began in the spring of 2008, when the International Association of Jazz Educators (IAJE) went into a precipitous financial decline, resulting in bankruptcy, shortly after the annual conference in Toronto, which lost money. They blamed it on "poor attendance due to a weak US dollar," but I couldn't help but remember the old joke about jazz musicians (and jazz organizations, apparently):
Q: "How does a jazz musician end up with a million dollars?"
A: " Give 'em $2 million to start with."
read the entire article: Kurt Ellenberg: Jazz in Crisis

Bill Anschell: Jam Session

Jazz Jam Sessions:  A First-Timer's Guide
- by Bill Anschell

Ready to check out your first jam session?  There's much more to jazz music - and to the "session" in particular - than meets the eye. This primer will help you better appreciate the intense psychodrama being played out on stage. Special "Insider's Hints" ("I.H.") highlighted throughout the text will help you make the most of your maiden voyage.

I.H.: Although your food and drink dollars are the lifeblood of the jazz economy, remember that to the musicians, you're irrelevant. Don't make requests. Don't start dancing. And don't try to sing along. The last thing the session needs is another ego. Things are complicated enough already. read the entire article: Bill Anschell: Jam Session

Michael Kahr: Jazz and the City

Jazz & the City: A Research Project on Jazz in Graz
Jazz & the City: Identity of a Capital of Jazz is a 2-year research project funded by the Austrian Science Fund FWF and conducted at the institutes for jazz and jazz research at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz (KUG). The work involves historical, analytical and artistic research and investigates the role of jazz in the formation of identity in the city of Graz. This presentation will introduce the project and its research branches and will provide some interesting information on the history of jazz in Graz with a particular focus on the significance of Graz as a European forerunner regarding the academic institutionalization of jazz. The lecture will also discuss the academic role of artistic research in jazz.

Project Website: www.jazzandthecity.org

Kurt Ellenberg: Jazz Audience

2012 05 23 Kurt Ellenberger: Jazz Audience
Since my Huffington Post article on jazz education and audience development, many (including this very blog) have asked "Well, if education isn't the answer, what's the solution? How do we develop and maintain a strong jazz audience?"
Audience development is a complicated issue, and it's not limited to jazz. Every artist and arts organization is trying to answer the same question. We've identified a problem and we're going to "build" something to solve it. Sounds so simple, doesn't it? read the entire article: Kurt Ellenberg: Jazz Audience

Dimos Dimitriadis: Education in general

During the IASJ Jazz Meeting in Graz, Austria, Dimos Dimitriadis, Greece, questioned the relevance of the education in general. Many of our educational prinicples are from a former stage of our evolution, the industrial revolution. Since we are now living in the digital revolution, the era of permanent change, our educational system needs to be changed essentially.

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