The sonic camera

Intermodality and intermediality in contemporary jazz composition

Authors

  • David Cosper New Zealand School of Music, Victoria University of Wellington

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/jazz.v7i2.19899

Keywords:

Jazz and Cinema, Ben Allison, Music Analysis, Music Perception, Narrative, Film Theory

Abstract

In this work, I explore the resonance and recurrence of visual metaphors in the discourse surrounding contemporary jazz composition and performance, much of which I suggest resists analytical approaches privileging cyclicity in form and relationships between pre-composed and improvised tonal language. I argue that, as a recurrent conceptual glitch, these analytical approaches often focus exclusively on performative process rather than on listener experience and on strictly aural rather than synesthetic models of listener subjectivity. As an alternative, I propose a cinematographic narrative approach based on theories of visual subjectivity and the composition of visual images. As an example, I discuss the music of bassist and composer Ben Allison.

Author Biography

  • David Cosper, New Zealand School of Music, Victoria University of Wellington

    Dr David Cosper is Lecturer in Contemporary Music and Culture at the New Zealand School of Music.

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Published

2015-04-30

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Cosper, D. (2015). The sonic camera: Intermodality and intermediality in contemporary jazz composition. Jazz Research Journal, 7(2), 203-237. https://doi.org/10.1558/jazz.v7i2.19899