Constructing the Jazz Tradition: Jazz

¶ … Constructing the Jazz Tradition: Jazz Historiography," author Scott Devaux argues that "the accepted historical narrative for jazz" confers on the music a type of "pedigree," making it acceptable and palatable by the public (526). Academic acceptance of jazz portrays it as the classical music of America. Conferring a pedigree onto jazz also glorifies its specifically African and African-American roots, and therefore jazz has "an important political dimension," (526). Devaux contends that this academic historical narrative of jazz is unfair and overly simplistic in its scope, defining the genre, style, history, and social phenomena of jazz too narrowly. As evidence for his claim, the author shows that classifying jazz into a myriad of sub-genres that emerged in a chronological or geographic manner can be problematic especially since so many styles coexisted in the same place and time. Moreover, these styles often shared very little in common. Devaux urges music historians to create different and alternate historiographies of jazz.

Devaux proposes in part a revision of jazz historical narrative that presents the music not as a series of fragmented and isolated genres but rather as a "culmination of all that has come before," (530). When jazz is viewed in this manner, the historical narrative becomes organic rather than linear and compartmentalized. Devaux's article is valuable for the musical scholar not because it contains factual information about the history of jazz, information that as the author points out is plentiful, even ubiquitous. What Devaux hopes is not to illustrate new facets of the lives of jazz musicians but rather to present the entire portrait of jazz from unique and varying perspectives. Moreover, the author suggests that there may be no singular correct way to draft a historical narrative about jazz: jazz can be a springboard for discourse in a variety of subjects, from race relations to American history to musical theory.