What can everyday aesthetics teach us about jazz practice?

Abstract

The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy explains how the evolving field of everyday aesthetics seeks to offer an alternative to the ‘tendency to equate aesthetics with the philosophy of art by arguing that aesthetic experiences are present in many aspects of daily life. Furthermore, the article highlights the fact that often what counts as an everyday activity for one person might be much more unusual for another. Consequently, despite the fact that there are some activities that are largely common to all of us—eating, sleeping—it should also be acknowledged that context plays a vital role in the discourse on the everyday. In this article I will examine how concepts that arise in the discourse on everyday aesthetics relate to the understanding of contemporary jazz performance practice. I will focus on how the daily practice and performance of jazz gives rise to a number of areas of conceptual questioning, and consider how everyday aesthetics might serve as a model for contextualizing the numerous methodological components of jazz performance practice. Citing examples from the work of historical musicians—Lee Konitz and Steve Lacy—as well as from my own practice, and with reference to the daily activities of instrumental study, group rehearsal and repeated performance, I will present a reading of jazz performance practice that seeks to challenge