NB! this text is a work in development
Subversive disentanglements
On queerness as a locus for artistic developments
To what degree can one claim that music is either straight or queer when sound in and of itself is devoid of sexual orientation? Perhaps it is helpful to move focus towards the individual and the impetus that drives musical development forward. It cannot be a fruitful exercise to “out” any performers and creators, dead or living, rather this research project seeks to find resonance in the body of work of those who have been known to thematize their “otherness” in their musical practice, be it through performance (think of the extraordinary flamboyant Little Richard and the quirky, dear I say queer, dancefloor anthems of Arthur Russell) or composition (think of the utterly out-there ideas of John Cage, or Pauline Oliveros’ practices for listening and sounding). Queerness has, as pointed out by Sherrie Tucker in “When did Jazz Go Straight? A Queer Question for Jazz Studies” (University of Kansas) been a little interrogated presence in the worlds of jazz, and thereby in improvised music:
(…) It is meant as an alternative to hushed lines of inquiry that occasionally pop up in panels and articles and hallway talk: “Why are there no queers in Jazz?” or “Who are the queers in jazz?” or “Why do queers like opera, Broadway show tunes, indie white girls with guitars, techno, but not jazz?”. Better outtakes available
To make sense of this research project, I feel it is relevant to outline how I came to this question. Yes, I am what only a decade ago would be referred to as queer and that in today’s vernacular is called “gay” (enter a whole new discussion about the terminology of “queer” and “gay” and how they exist in a fractious symbiosis). In my pursuit of knowledge and experience within music as a young man, I chose a path that was laid out for me: Jazz education. It was, and continues to be, an interesting experience to deconstruct and reassemble through transcription and interplay the different eras of jazz and improvised music that not only sought to subvert an establishment and became the score to an ongoing fight against social injustice, but found itself in nearly perpetual opposition to its previous self, all the while coming to a realisation that I might be a queer, and most likely one of very few. I did, like many before and after me, lead a double life, going to jazz gigs and jam sessions only to sneak away in the late hours to engage with the driving life-force that propels a young man: the hookups. It was an exercise in a split existence between fluids separated by water-tight compartments.
The task:
- Present at forums
- Write papers
- Read papers
- Figure out who's someone in the field, and what I can ignore
Journals:
- HUB
-
