PhD Thesis, University of Sydney

A Deeper Shade of Blue: A Compositional Folio Informed by Ethnographic Research into the Sydney Jazz Scene

Jeremy Rose

This folio contains scores and audio recordings of five original compositions with critical commentary and ethnographic investigation. The research aims to test existing concepts of an Australian jazz identity and create new constructs for how music is created by a practicing jazz composer and performer. The research presents the results elicited from 11 interviews with selected Sydney jazz scene participants, providing an oral account of the way they create, conceive and perceive jazz music in Sydney and to compare evidence.

In the five compositions I research various ways of integrating improvisation, non-Western and Australian influences into jazz and classical music contexts. I provide a case study of eclecticism and the role of improvisation in shaping programmatic goals with specific reference of my major work Iron in the Blood: Music Inspired by Robert Hughes’ The Fatal Shore for jazz orchestra and two narrators. The other works include River Meeting Suite for saxophone quartet, sitar, vocals, tabla and iphone, Oneirology for saxophone quartet and piano, Between Worlds for string quartet and saxophone and Border Control for flute, piccolo, bass clarinet, trumpet and vibraphone.

This research addresses some of the deficiencies in the literature on Sydney jazz and creative music and illuminates the creative practices lying behind the creation of localised jazz identities through a case study of my composition portfolio and creative process. By expanding discussion beyond my own compositions, this project helps flesh out how “Australian” approaches to jazz composition, are realised across the Sydney scene and how these are distinct from other locales of jazz music production around the world.

My perspective as a significant stakeholder within the jazz community, given that I am a performer, composer, performing artist, band manager and label director provides the research with a unique credibility and valuable insight into the field.

Keywords: Australian jazz, big band, saxophone, composition, Australian identity, Sydney jazz, jazz identity

This PhD comprises a folio of creative work and accompanying thesis. It is in three volumes and includes five recorded works.

To download a copy of my PhD thesis (Volume I), click here 

To Download a copy of my PhD thesis (Volume II - scores part I), click here

To Download a copy of my PhD thesis (Volume III - scores part 2), click here