Browsing by Author "Tiffin, Amanda"

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    An exploration of the gender and sexual dynamics for women performers in the Cape Town jazz community
    (2020) George, Aimée; Tiffin, Amanda; Bennett, Jane
    This research explores the dynamics of gender, sexuality and power for women performers within the jazz community in Cape Town. Although the history and development of South African jazz has been extensively researched, very few texts mention the presence and impact of women performers and has yet to include how questions of gender, power and sexuality influence both the cultures of jazz and the experiences of women jazz artists. The current study is strongly influenced by feminist theory, which seeks to uncover experiences obscured by patriarchal epistemologies. A qualitative methodology is used to ensure each narrative remains at the forefront of the research. Interviews were conducted with jazz women musicians involved in various roles within the jazz industry in Cape Town. These semi-structured interviews allow for these women to narrate their turbulent musical journeys. What is revealed and subsequently further explored are the rich identity politics involved in being women “performers”, what is assumed and expected of them, the role “boys clubs” play in their exclusion, and the pressures and implications of stringent gender stereotypes, beauty ideals and vicious hyper-sexualization. Moreover, I explore the analytics of power within this specific culture and its' effect on jazz women. Their accounts reveal how the Cape Town jazz community remains saturated with gender stereotypes and is seemingly committed to continuing violent displays of misogyny. The study argues that despite the prevalence of this misogyny, women jazz artists actively design strategies which skilfully and innovatively allow them to pursue influential careers, deepening the meaning of “jazz” in Cape Town and beyond. The research thus both extends the analysis of feminist jazz theorists in Cape Town, and suggests that understanding the contemporary dynamics of gender and sexuality in South African jazz artists' experience deserves more research.
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    An investigation into gender dynamics in saxophone teaching methodology in South Africa
    (2023) Laity, Ashley; Tiffin, Amanda
    This dissertation investigates the physiological differences between men and women with regards to the breathing process, and how this may impact women saxophonists' learning experience in jazz pedagogy in South Africa. Breath control and techniques are fundamental for woodwind instrument musicians. Universally, although there are woodwind publications that address breathing techniques and breath control, there is little mention of these physiological differences and what adjustments can be made in teaching to aid these differences. This research is rooted in the critical pedagogy framework, which seeks to conscientize both the student and the teacher through transformation in conversation and education. Quantative comprehensive literature review of medical research and a comprehensive review of woodwind pedagogical publications were conducted. Qualitative methodology was used to ensure the learning experience of women saxophonists remained the focal topic. Interviews were conducted with both male and female saxophone jazz educators and performers in the music industry in South Africa. These semi-structured interviews allow for all interviewees to narrate their own teaching philosophies and learning experiences in saxophone. The interviews were then analysed, and common themes were identified and explored. The physiological differences and their impacts for women saxophonists generate a gendered bias in the music industry, where it is assumed that these performers are not able to perform to the same standard as their male counterparts as they are women – the biological predisposition for difficulty in breathing is not taken into consideration for women performers. Accounts given by interviewees revealed a lack of awareness of the physiological differences between males and females, and consequently a lack of adjustment of teaching techniques to adjust for these differences. The failure to account for the difference in needs for female saxophone students was revealed to have contributed to gendered bias, and exacerbated anxiety-related medical developments. This dissertation argues the impact of these physiological differences, and suggests what adjustments can be made in the saxophone curriculum in South Africa to help aid women players who are predisposed to breathing difficulties. This study further argues that despite these differences, women performers are fully capable of performing with the same skill as their male counterparts, and covert bias within the saxophone curriculum should be addressed - thus the conscientization of jazz saxophone education in South Africa. This dissertation extends the critical education and sociology of music framework and suggests that implementing a solid framework for breathing techniques in saxophone that incorporates physiological differences deserves further research.
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    Cycles: exploring the intertextual relationships between Bheki Mseleku, Bokani Dyer and Thandi Ntuli
    (2022) Röntsch, Claire; Tiffin, Amanda
    Bheki Mseleku was a South African-born jazz pianist, composer and improviser. During his life-time, Mseleku had a prominent career in London and since his death his compositions have been widely performed in South Africa. In the late 1970s he went into exile and moved to London, where he received greater recognition as a composer and performer than in his homeland. From 1991 to 2003 Mseleku recorded six original albums, displaying a lyrical and technical jazz pianism. As a composer, Mseleku was prolific, incorporating a cyclical style with extensive use of harmonic sequences, as is evident in his work Aja (1997). He also employs both Zulu and European musical aesthetics, such as in Celebration (1991), as well as an introspective spiritualism such as in Looking Within (1993) and Meditations (1992). In recent years, there has been renewed interest in Mseleku's music, both from jazz musicians as well as jazz scholars. This research discusses and considers the relationships between Mseleku's compositions and those of younger South African jazz pianists Bokani Dyer (b. 1986) and Thandi Ntuli (b. 1987). Through the use of intertextual theoretical frameworks and jazz analysis, this thesis explores the notion of influence and the dialogical relationships of these artists' compositions. These intertextual structures are paired with a close reading of selected works of Mseleku, Dyer and Ntuli, to critically discuss the posthumous influence that Mseleku has had on two members from a younger generation of South African jazz musicians. This research aims to consider Mseleku's role and influence within South African jazz music. This dissertation deconstructs the intertextual relationship between the music of Bheki Mseleku and Bokani Dyer and Thandi Ntuli. In doing so, this research questions how Mseleku's musical praxis informs that of Dyer's and Ntuli's, as well as how intertextual relationships can be explored through jazz musical analytical methodologies.
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    Looking Back to the Future: The South African Big Band Jazz Aesthetic Curating the South African Jazz Songbook for Jazz Orchestra
    (2023) Wyatt, Marcus; Tiffin, Amanda; Campbell Michael
    This creative research project involved the curating of repertoire for a special performance in the Royal Albert Hall, of a South African Jazz Songbook, featuring the Metropole Orkest and selected soloists, and the resulting music preparation process for the concert. The objective of this project was to provide an overview of the story and sound of South African jazz to a mainly international audience. The primary challenge was to encapsulate the sound of a country that is comprised of numerous cultures and languages, all of which interact with jazz in a distinct and individualistic manner. This creative endeavour, in essence, was an attempt to address the question of what defines South African big band and orchestral jazz. Further focal questions were explored, specifically the questions of how South African jazz is distinguished from other approaches to jazz, and what characteristics South African jazz shares with global and American big band and orchestral styles of jazz. The creative research process was conducted in several stages. The first stage involved curating the repertoire, with considerable attention paid to creating a programme that encompassed as wide a representation of South African jazz styles as possible, whist maintaining broad audience appeal. It was important for the project that the list of works selected would best capture the essence of South African jazz. Further consideration was given to which songs and artists have helped to establish the South African jazz sound both locally and on the global stage. The next stage concerned the selection of appropriate soloists for the performance. Following this stage, was the music and score preparation. The process of arranging a South African jazz songbook for jazz orchestra involved careful consideration in terms of what comprises a distinct South African jazz sound in relation to the traditionally Western classical ensemble. It was crucial to determine the most effective approach to the writing and arranging of these works. This involved the identification of devices and tropes that define an African orchestral jazz sound. Further consideration was given to whether there would be a noticeable departure from this sound if the music were to be arranged or composed by someone unfamiliar with the intricacies of South African jazz, such as an arranger from a European or American background. The final stages of the project included the rehearsal process, and preparation for the final performance.
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    South African Jazz in Frame: A creative research project exploring South African jazz through photography
    (2023) Hendricks, Lauren; Tiffin, Amanda
    The aim of this creative research project was to investigate and document the closely connected relationships between South African jazz musicians and South African jazz photographers through their contributions such as the images, videos and the stories behind each of the respective art forms. The research looks at the specific contributions selected photographers have made to the South African jazz genre, in documenting the process and the art. The intent was to explore the creative process of seeing South African jazz documented in imagery, and through sound and music. This project also sought to unpack the artistic and creative approaches used by the selected photographers, and investigated their relationship with the music. The project explores the idea of telling stories through both respective art forms, through image and sound, and reflecting this through a curated performance and exhibition. Qualitative research methods were used to inform the creative process. The research process was conducted in two parts: semi-structured interviews with three selected South African jazz photographers, followed by a concert performance combined with an exhibition of selected photographs by the three jazz photographers, and some of my own work. By uniting a visual exhibition and a live performance presenting South African jazz music, I aimed to create an intimate and captivating experience. Through the live performance, the project aimed to explore how sound and image relate, Furthermore, this project has shed light on the complexities of capturing live jazz performances, and how the photographs have documented and celebrated the richness and diversity of South African jazz.