African influences on jazz: A lecture–demonstration

This presentation focuses on selective aspects of sound patterns and performance traditions from sub-Saharan African societies that are retained in various ways in African–American jazz and performance styles. The talk will examine specific timbres and their related practices of repetition, collective improvisation, the acoustic phenomenon of pitch-bending, and texture. Recorded examples as well as live performances will highlight these elements and establish their relationships to the sub-Saharan African examples. A group of jazz musicians drawn from the OSU Jazz Division will perform specific items that further illustrate the concepts and practices outlined.