Dixieland, Swing and Bebop: The Hidden History of Jazz Patronage

(September 2022 Kickoff Cafe)

In his September CALL Café, Jeremy Brown will combine lecture and performance to illustrate the hidden history of jazz patronage. For a host of historical and sociological reasons, for late nineteenth- and much of twentieth-century jazz, patronage took on forms that are only loosely related to the historical customs of other Western musics. As a result, patronage in jazz differs markedly from the support enjoyed by American composers and musicians of concert music. Furthermore, if recognized at all, it is often marginalized and more frequently simply ignored as a critical force. Yet there are producers, writers, clubs, record labels, wives and girlfriends, bandleaders, and a host of organizations, all of which inspired and encouraged the musicians who created and performed jazz. Moreover, the beneficial behaviors they exhibited impacted the evolution of this new music significantly.

J. Brown performing with the Calgary Jazz Orchestra

Bio: Jeremy Brown is Professor of Music at the University of Calgary (1990-present) and performs as a jazz, classical and free improviser, primarily on the saxophone. He is also a woodwind doubler and performs on flute, clarinet, and penny whistle. At the University of Calgary School of Creative and Performing Arts, he has been a conductor of the wind bands and the jazz bands. Dr. Brown teaches courses in improvisation, instrumental music education and SoTL, the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. He has written numerous pedagogical articles, book chapters and Festschrift contributions. His recent book The Wind Band Music of Henry Cowell (Routledge Press, 2018) includes definitive recordings of Cowell's band music with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra's winds, conducted by Dr. Brown. He is currently writing a book New Perspectives on Jazz Patronage for Routledge. He was series editor and lead compiler of the inaugural Royal Conservatory of Music Saxophone Series (Frederick Harris Music, 2014), a multi-volume saxophone anthology with graded repertoire, etudes, technical studies and orchestral excerpts. (Image courtesy of J. Brown)