Framing freedom: bandleading in jazz and improvised music

Abstract

This thesis uses the concept of group language to examine the bandleader’s role in creating the sound world of an ensemble in jazz and improvised music. It contributes to existing scholarship on jazz and improvisation, as well as to literature around leadership in jazz and wider leadership theory to create a deeper understanding of the role of the bandleader.

Methodologically, the project combines the qualitative analysis of original interview data, with creative practice research methods. Anthropods – an ensemble in its own right – was established to run concurrently within and alongside the term of the doctoral project, enabling enquiry into the creation of the group’s sound world and the bandleader’s role from the very start through a four-year history. A body of creative musical practice was generated systematically through the author’s own practice-led enquiry on the development of group language within Anthropods. This original new body of creative output is presented as a combination of recordings, films, and scores as an integral part of this PhD submission.

The material output of the portfolio exemplifies systematic, creative scrutiny of the process of the ensemble’s emergent group language, including reflection on the role of the bandleader.

Alongside this longitudinal creative practice, ten semi-structured interviews were conducted with leading bandleaders. These were analysed through Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis to reveal how individual interviewees’ approaches to bandleading enable them to generate trust and to develop deep understanding of a band’s improvising language. Findings from the IPA interview study were integrated into the longitudinal creative practice with Anthropods, providing further insights into leaders’ relationships with their group’s language development, and strategies used by bandleaders of groups with mature shared musical group language. By connecting the emergent understanding of each bandleader’s approach with their musical output, this thesis illustrates how bandleaders’ working practices connect to their desired output, underlining how the bandleader’s main role relates to the development of the ensemble’s group language. It also highlights how bandleaders refine a personal, authentic approach to create the clarity and trust required in a successful improvising ensemble.