The KCB research group Jazz, Improvised and Popular Music (or JIP), established in 2021 by Matthias Heyman, is open to all forms of jazz, (non-idiomatic) improvised music and popular music with a focus on contemporary perspectives in a performance-oriented context. Two research strands guide JIP’s overall vision: hybridity and historicity.
- Hybridity centres on the idea that jazz and related genres, both historical and contemporary, are hybrid forms that freely draw on other musical styles, genres and periods, both Western and non-Western. This hybridity is implicitly and explicitly central to jazz, as reflected in concert practice, education and research. For historicity,
- JIP takes the cultural-musical contextualisation and demystification of historical figures, repertoire, techniques, and stylistic traits from jazz as a starting premise. This research strand is also inherent to jazz, in which a thorough - and historically informed - knowledge of tradition is considered vital to creating a present and personal artistic identity.
All ongoing research projects within our group fall under one or both strands, either in the interdisciplinary and intercultural combination of influences, techniques and stylistic traits, or in the analysis and practical application of historical insights. Accordingly, cross-disciplinary work is inherent to JIP’s vision, for example, in setting up joint projects and research events with other research groups (both within KCB and externally), as such creating a collaborative and dynamic research environment.
JIP's vision is embedded in KCB's overarching research vision, in particular in the four generic lines of research. For example, all members focus on artistic research processes, particularly in the field of creation and improvisation, but the necessary attention is also paid to broader musical-cultural contextualisation. Depending on the central theme of the research project, this is done by framing specific sub-aspects in organology, technology, and Brussels, as well as national and international contexts.
JIP members, all of whom are established jazz artists and educators, are regular presenters-performers at local, national, and international research events (e.g., conferences hosted by Rhythm Changes, EPARM, JEN), publish in dedicated scholarly journals (e.g., ARJAZZ, Popular Music), and are members of relevant networks (e.g., IASPM, INARJ), thereby ensuring the broad distribution and communication of our research insights and results.
Contact
Matthias Heyman
