SMT-Jz Special Interest Group
Business Meeting; Friday, November 11, 2005
Hyatt Regency, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Report by Henry Martin: November 15, 2005
Attending: Gary Bertholf, Ben Bierman, Steve Block, Aleck Brinkman, Ted Buehrer,
Matthew Butterfield, Eric Charry, Cynthia Folio, Ben Givan, Robert Hodson, Rose
Ingberman, Patricia Julien, Steve Lanon, Steve Lindeman, Henry Martin (chair),
James McGowan, Garrett Michaelson, Gabriel Miller, Sam Mukherji, Valerie Nicholson,
Chris Parrello, Adam Ricci, Keith Salley, Scott Spiegelberg, Steve Strunk, Dariusz
Terefenko, Bob Wason, Keith Waters, Kent Williams
The 2005 business meeting was the eleventh of SMT-Jz.
o The session Jazz Chord Scale Theory and Improvisation, in part proposed by
SMT-Jz, took place from on Friday afternoon, November 11. Our special session
on Chord-Scale Theory was modified by the SMT Program Committee, which retained
two papers and added two others. We thank the 2005 Reading Committee: Steve
Block (chair), Bob Wason, and Rob Hodson! Although our proposal was not accepted
in its entirety, I think it is important to recognize that this was, I think,
the first time a jazz session was scheduled during "primetime" (understood
as Friday morning, Friday afternoon, or Saturday morning) of an SMT annual meeting.
As a member of the 2005 Program Committee, I observed how the committee did
not distinguish among types of music being considered in assembling the program;
the focus, rather, was on the strength of the proposals themselves. I think
we members of SMT-Jz can be proud of helping diversify the music discussed at
SMT meetings and the advancement of scholarship in jazz theory! Papers at Friday’s
session were read by Jason Titus (who because of a family emergency was unable
to attend; his paper was read by Dariusz Terefenko), Keith Salley, Eric Charry,
and Dariusz Terefenko.
o The Eighth Annual SMT jam session took place on Friday, November 11, from
8 to 11PM. We thank Patricia Julien for her continuing efforts that have made
this a welcome annual event! Because Patricia will be unable to attend the AMS/SMT
next year in Los Angeles, Matt Butterfield offered to help set up that session,
which will be sponsored jointly by the AMS and SMT.
o SMT-Jz Award for Jazz Scholarship. No award was given this year. The SMT-Jz
Award Committee for 2005 was Steve Larson (chair), Patricia Julien, and Rose
Ingberman. We thank them for their service! Patricia will continue as the chair
of the 2006 Award Committee; joining her in this committee will be Keith Waters
and Kent Williams. Kent will continue as chair of the 2007 Award Committee.
Nominations for the award should be forwarded to any member of the committee.
Watch this list for announcements regarding the award and reminders for nominations.
o The Annual Review of Jazz Studies: ARJS #13 is currently in production and
should appear in 2006. ARJS #14, a special issue on Mary Lou Williams, should
be submitted to the publisher shortly as well. HM is seeking submissions to
the ARJS. We are also seeking book and CD reviewers along with suggestions for
publications or historically significant CDs to review.
o Plans for next year: Los Angeles 2006 (with AMS): One of the curious byproducts
of the success of our interest group is the sense that jazz scholarship is no
longer quite so isolated. Because I am confident that good jazz-theory proposals
submitted to the SMT Program Committee will be given full consideration and
because the Program Committee reserves the right to modify special session proposals
anyway, I suggested to the membership that it is no longer necessary for us
to continue annual submission of special session proposals. It might be better
to propose special sessions more rarely, if only to make them "special,"
and devote some of our annual meeting time to specific issues in jazz theory
that we could explore more informally.
While the attending members agreed with this point in principle, we decided
to proceed with the planned 2006 special session proposal for an analysis symposium
on Kind of Blue. Our procedure this year will be different: normally we issue
an SMT-Jz Call for Proposals (open to anyone), from which the Reading Committee
anonymously chooses four proposals to unite as the special session proposal,
which then the Chair of the Reading Committee writes up and submits to the SMT.
We have decided to make the process more informal and in effect devolve power
to the Reading Committee and its Chair. The Chair, working with the other Reading
Committee members, will read the proposals, then decide how best to organize
a special session proposal. The Reading Committee will shape the overall proposal,
which might include deciding on the length of individual presentations, format
(perhaps a panel with moderator), etc. Reading Committee members may include
their own work. The final proposal to the SMT Program Committee will preserve
anonymity, as required by the SMT, and not violate length guidelines or other
relevant SMT proposal specifications. The Reading Committee for the Kind of
Blue analysis symposium is Keith Waters (chair), Cynthia Folio, and Bob Wason.
Thanks, Keith, Cynthia, and Bob!
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CALL FOR PROPOSALS
Analysis of any aspect of the Miles Davis record Kind of Blue for a special
session proposal to be submitted to the SMT for the AMS/SMT meeting in Los Angeles,
November 2-5, 2006.
Preferred format is pdf file, which may include music examples, although MS
Word format is permissible (without examples); three pages maximum + three pages
of music examples maximum.
Address email submissions to Keith Waters (keith.waters@colorado.edu)
DEADLINE: Proposals must be received on or before December 15, 2005
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o Our SMT-Jz meeting in Los Angeles 2006: In line with deemphasizing special
session proposals and increasing time spent on substantive issues in jazz theory,
Rose Ingberman suggested that we devote half of our meeting time in Los Angeles
to discussing reharmonization (the topic tentatively slated for a special session
proposal to the SMT in 2007). From such a session, she suggested that ideas
for a special session proposal could arise. Rose’s idea was received enthusiastically.
I have already requested that our meeting room next year include a piano, blackboard
or dry-erase board with 5-line staves, and CD player. In the interests of efficiency,
let me suggest two ideas for organizing this time and maximizing member participation:
1) We read a relevant article or passage from a book and discuss it.
2) We decide on a popular or jazz standard; members compose reharmonizations,
then bring in photocopies of them and any charts, graphs, etc. to pass around,
perform, and discuss. Members might bring in photocopies of well-known pianists’,
guitarists’, or arrangers’ reharmonizations as well, in addition
to CD recordings.
3) Other ideas
I lean toward idea #2. Please let me know privately what you think and I will
tally poll results. For other ideas or variations on #1 and #2, please respond
to the listserv.
o Web Site. James McGowan has generously offered to set up a website; Aleck
Brinkman has offered to assist him. Thanks, James and Aleck! I will ask the
SMT Networking Committee for space on the SMT server. Once we have a site, we
can proceed with content: bibliography, a list of jazz presentations at SMT
meetings, sources of transcriptions, links to relevant websites in jazz theory,
a database of scholars and musicians who have published material on jazz theory,
etc. are among the possibilities.