ABSTRACT
My primary jazz professor, the clarinetist Alvin Batiste, spoke frequently about the contradiction in traditional conceptions of Western music theory between what is “correct” theoretically and what is “right” musically. Thus, the task of the jazz musician is not only to understand music theory but also to know when to play music “right.” This notion of being “correct” and “right” has been key as I conceptualize a jazz methodology, particularly in light of how a “racial discourse and an ethnic epistemology” might inform my work (Ladson-Billings, 2000). For example, designing research questions, selecting or locating a site for research, identifying participants and gaining access are details that require deliberate thought. These decisions, like the knowledge the research will generate, are not made haphazardly and without consideration of their impact on the field, stakeholders and participants. These ideas are related to the idea of ensemble playing and improvisation. Playing together in front of a live audience influences the creative process differently than playing in a recording studio or an empty rehearsal hall. In qualitative research, the context not only affects the data collection process but also adds to
the understanding of the research question. For example, understanding the ways in which “urban” students experience middle school is in many ways contingent on where their school is located. The urban context is meaningful, but only if we unpack what and who constitutes urbanness (Popkewitz, 1998). How does schooling-physically and psychologically-compare with what students experience in their home communities? Furthermore, understanding how language is used at both the meta (body language, gesticulations, personal interactions) and the micro levels (vocabulary, syntax, grammar) is as important as the aesthetic value of the physical location in understanding the context within which students live and attend school. Thus, how the researcher, or “band leader,” and the participant, or “band member,” understands their relationship greatly influences the music they create. This begs the following questions: (1) What does research look like when the researcher sees herself as part of the community in which she collects data? (2) What can she learn when she is able to ask the intimate, “hard” questions about race and racism? (3) What insight can she bring to the data analysis when, in some ways, she understands that answering those questions is difficult, but necessary?
