Research Strands

Copenhagen Jazz Festival 2009 by Andrew Dubber

Rhythm Changes project explores a number of important questions relevant to jazz and European cultural life.

The project is based on a multi-strand approach to the HERA JRP theme of Cultural Dynamics: Inheritance and Identity, and focuses primarily on 4 inter-related themes and research questions. Rhythm Changes examines the way in which jazz has developed in different European settings and uses a comparative study to interogate concepts of community, history and national identity.

Project strands include a range of research methods, from ethnograpy to practice-led investigation. The four research themes are:

Canon, History and Ideology

Identity, Hybridization and Communities in Flux

Nation, Identification and Inheritance

Cultural dynamics and social transformations

The themes and related research questions will serve to develop a broader understanding of the relationship between canonicity, tradition and myth, community and identity. Rhythm Changes will provide an understanding of inherited traditions and cultural practices at the same time as exploring the formation of new transnational identities.