ABSTRACT
As we reach the middle of the second decade of the twenty-first century we are also drawing close to the centenary of jazz as a distinct genre of music. Of course, attempting to pinpoint an exact date would be a futile endeavour but nevertheless, what is clear is that jazz has evolved at a remarkable rate during its relatively short lifespan. This evolution, which encompassed many stylistic changes and innovations, was aided in no small part by the rapid technological advances of the twentieth century. Thus, what was initially a relatively localised music has been transformed into a truly global art form. Within a few short decades of the birth of the music, records, radio broadcasts and globe-trotting American jazz performers had already spread the music to a listening audience worldwide, and it was not long after this that musicians began to make attempts to ‘adapt jazz to the social circumstances and musical standards with which they were more familiar’.1 In the intervening decades, subsequent generations of indigenous musicians have formed national lineages that run parallel to those in America, and variations in cultural and social conditions have resulted in a diverse range of performance practices, all of which today fall under the broad heading of jazz. As a result, contemporary musicians and scholars alike are faced with increasing considerations of ownership and authenticity, ultimately being compelled to question whether the term jazz is still applicable to forms of music-making that have grown so far away from their historical and geographic origins.
