Returning to jazz research at last

Because choral singing took over in my life, it’s been a while since I go my head into jazz education research.

From 1999 to 2006, I gave frequent clinics at IAJE (International Association for Jazz Education), including New Orleans (1999), Long Beach (2004) and New York (2005). With Jamey Aebersold, I was one of two members of the IAJE Resource Team, appointed to answer questions and write articles for teachers about teaching improvisation, work that I loved. 

So it is fantastic to be able to continue my connection with jazz educators worldwide now as a member of the Editorial Board of Jazz Education in Research and Practice, which is the official academic journal of Jazz Education Network (JENRing), the organization that replaced IAJE.

In recent months, my head has been beck in developing topics like:

• how to develop better assessment criteria for jazz performance at high school and degree level

• the place of women and trans people in jazz

• race in jazz in 2026 - what has changed and what has remained the same

• jazz arranging for big bands - new harmonic and melodic approaches

• how to hold a place of jazz as place for creatives, disruptors and innovators in an often rigid jazz curriculum

So watch my Substack for some nerdy stuff about jazz: what it is, and how to teach it in ways that facilitate creativity and innovation, while genuinely preserving the jazz tradition.