Documenting Jazz Conference 2022

The University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD) in partnership with Jazz Heritage Wales, will host the fourth annual Documenting Jazz Conference at the Dylan Thomas Centre in Swansea, from November 9 to 12.

This year’s conference will focus on the theme of diversity and aims to create an interdisciplinary forum which is both inclusive and wide-ranging for sharpening awareness, sharing studies and experiences, and focusing the debate on the many aspects of diversity in jazz today.

Keynote speakers are Dr Joan Cartwright, world renowned jazz and blues vocalist, author, and composer and Dr Francesco Martinelli, renowned jazz historian, educator, and author of “The History of European Jazz.”  Other speakers include Jenna Bailey, Canadian writer, award winning oral historian and documentary filmmaker whose next book is on the Ivy Benson All Girl Band.

There will also be live performances from Burum, a unique Welsh band that fuse both the Welsh folk tradition and jazz, with other performances to be confirmed.

Jazz Heritage Wales is the oldest multi-media Jazz Collection in the UK and is the only Collection specialising in women’s jazz music and the cultural inheritance of African American music in Wales, based at the University’s Dylan Thomas Centre. It began in 1986 with Oral Histories and a review of any similar material within Welsh and UK archival collections. Over the years, many Oral Histories were gathered. These relationships were the foundation for Project work and ongoing donations.

Professor Jen Wilson, Jazz pianist, author, composer, and founder of Jazz Heritage Wales said: “The Conference is a new venture for us which should attract international interest in the cultural heritage of Wales contained within our Collections.  I am grateful to our Board of Trustees, volunteers and UWTSD for safeguarding this intriguing and important archive for our future generations.

She added: “Oral Histories are the bedrock of any history or heritage project, revealing the lives of the not famous as well as the big stars. All these stories help to piece together how our cultural heritage evolved.

“The Open University have recently used our research work for their music series How Jazz Came to Wales. The BBC4 documentary on blues singer Ottilie Patterson called “My Name is Ottilie” also used our research work and Ottilie’s Oral History. It was made by DoubleBand Films and will be screened in 2023.”

Professor Ian Walsh, Provost of the Swansea, and Cardiff Campuses of UWTSD said, “Documenting Jazz 2022 is far more than an academic conference, it’s a celebration of the unique role that jazz played in shaping the cultural and creative landscape of Swansea through the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries. It provided a visible platform for diversity and inclusion in an age where both were in short supply.”

The conference will raise the following questions:

Who gives voice to diversity in the jazz world? 

What does diversity mean in Jazz Studies in particular? 

Does jazz as musical and social practice contribute to intercultural dialogue? 

Has jazz transcended boundaries beyond its sub-cultures? 

Are diversity and inclusion problematic within mainstream education and research, programmes, perspectives, ethics, and methodologies? 

What can we say about jazz practice, its histories, and communities?

A call for papers has been announced which address the theme of diversity and offers the following points of departure: 

* Jazz as Social Practice                  

* Jazz and Technology                     

* Jazz and Gender                            

* Jazz and Sexuality                         

* Jazz and Politics                            

* Jazz and Aesthetics                     

* Jazz and Visual Culture                 

* Jazz and Disability                        

* Jazz and Improvisation

* Jazz and the Environment/Ecology

* Jazz and the virtual world/AI

* Jazz and Wellbeing

* Jazz Performance Practice

* Jazz in the Popular Imagination

* Jazz as Discourse

* Jazz and its Heritage Legacy

* Jazz and its Emerging Communities

Jazz Heritage Wales is grateful for the support from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David along with the The Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama (RWCMD) and Brecon Jazz.

Further Information

Rebecca Davies

Swyddog Gweithredol Cysylltiadau â’r Wasg a’r Cyfryngau

Executive Press and Media Relations Officer

Cyfathrebu Corfforaethol a Chysylltiadau Cyhoeddus

Corporate Communications and PR

Mobile: 07384 467071

Email: Rebecca.Davies@uwtsd.ac.uk