Musicology Colloquium Series
Talk Title:
THE CRUELTY OF JAZZ: TOWARD A HEMISPHERIC POLITICS OF SOUND
Date and Time:
Thursday February 7, 2:00-3:30pm
Location:
Latin American and Iberian Institute (LAII) Conference Room
Talk Description:
Rooted in concepts of affect and Empire, this paper argues that jazz operated in various 20th century Latin American settings as a vital touchstone bearing the risks and benefits of urban modernization, hemispheric geopolitics, and transnational cultural production, “cruelly” echoing the United States’ cultural, political, and economic dominance in the hemisphere and beyond.
Biography:
Jason Borge is an Associate Professor of Latin American Culture at the University of Texas at Austin, where he teaches courses on Latin American and Hemispheric popular culture, music, film, and literature. He has published widely on such topics as vernacular music and sound studies, Hollywood in Latin America, popular vanguardism, and the intra-hemispheric dimensions of literature and film. His latest book is Tropical Riffs: Latin America and the Politics of Jazz (Duke University Press, 2018).
Caption for book cover: Tropical Riffs: Latin America and the Politics of Jazz (Duke, 2018)
Sponsored by The University of New Mexico Department of Music, The Department of Spanish & Portuguese, and The Latin American and Iberian Institute
Music from the Americas presents “Scaling the Wall”
“Scaling the Wall” is a project that promotes works for flute by Canadian, American and Mexican ex-patriate composers. It seeks to showcase how contemporary composers connected to those countries have successfully bridged the political, cultural and geographic borders crossing the western 100th meridian. Featured composers’ works vary in style, instrumentation and compositional approach, but also illustrate the universality of music, regardless of nationality.
Music from the Americas presents Iracema de Andrade, cello
Brazilian cellist Iracema de Andrade is strongly committed to the music of our time. Her repertory includes pieces for solo cello, cello and electronics, as well as multimedia and improvisation.
Dr. Kristina Jacobsen, Assistant Professor of Ethnomusicology, releases book
The Sound of Navajo Country: Music, Language and Diné Belonging (University of North Carolina Press), examines cultural intimacy and generational nostalgia on the Navajo (Diné) Nation (click here for brief interviews in English and Italian about her research).