Ethnomusicology Today

In this episode we talk with Javier León and Ed Wolf about the upcoming SEM 2019 pre-conference symposium: “Heritage and the Politics of Inclusion in Latin American Brass Bands.” This November, the Society for Ethnomusicology will hold its 64th Annual Meeting in Bloomington, Indiana. On November 6, the day before the start of the annual conference, the society will present two pre-conference symposia: one focused on Film as Ethnography and the other on Latin American Brass Bands.

In this episode, we discuss with Bonnie McConnell how community-oriented and participatory-based musical performances impact global health initiatives. By investigating the relationships between kanyelang musicians, government officials, health workers, and local communities, Bonnie discusses the value of musical performance and participation in local health education and effective global health strategies.

In this episode, we discuss performative ecology with Brian Dietrich, whose article, “’Summoning Breadfruit’ and ‘Opening Seas:' Toward a Performative Ecology in Oceania” was published in the Winter 2018 issue of the journal, Ethnomusicology. Diettrich explores the concept of performative ecology in his discussion of ótoomey (summoning breadfruit) and ocean wayfinding and voyaging songs in the islands of Chuuk. Through his study of both historical and present-day musical performances in Chuuk, Diettrich explains how knowledge about social, spiritual, and environmental connectivity is bound up in musical performances. Brian Diettrich is a Senior Lecturer in Ethnomusicology at Victoria University of Wellington.

Sydney Hutchinson and Byrd McDaniel discuss race, gender, and embodiment in air guitar performances.

In this episode we talk with Marié Abe, whose article “Sounding Against Nuclear Power in Post-3.11 Japan: Resonances of Silence and Chindon-ya” was recently published in the journal, Ethnomusicology. Abe explores the Japanese musical advertisement practice chindon-ya and how it has become politicized as the sounds of anti-nuclear street protests after the 3.11 nuclear disaster. Abe examines the tensions between chindon-ya’s role in street protests and the socially mandated practice of the silence of jishuku. Marié Abe is assistant professor of music at Boston University.

In this episode we talk with Juan Diego Diaz Meneses regarding his article “Listening with the Body: an Aesthetics of Spirit Possession Outside the Terreiro.” In his investigation of the aesthetics of spiritual possession, Juan Diego compares the ritualistic practices of Candomblé and the musical performances of Orkestra Rumpilezz to highlight the similarities and differences between spiritual possessions in the context of Afro-Bahian music.

In this episode we talk with Allen Roda, whose article “Ecology of the Global Tabla Industry” was recently published in the journal, Ethnomusicology. Roda examines the global tabla industry as a complex ecosystem involving many contributors, including instruments, the artisans who make them, and the musicians who play them. Roda explores the material culture of the tabla and the complex craftsmanship that goes into manufacturing it. Allen Roda is an adjunct lecturer at New York University and works in the Department of Musical Instruments at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

In this episode we talk with Anna Morcom, whose article “Terrains of Bollywood: (Neoliberal) Capitalism and the Transformation of Cultural Economies” was recently published in the journal, Ethnomusicology. Morcom explores changes in post-1990’s Indian dance culture. She contrasts the Bollywood dance craze in the middle classes with the rise of less culturally-accepted dance bars, bars in which dancers were showered with money to perform seductively. As a consequence of neoliberal capitalist ideals and the class disparity between those who worked in and frequented dance bars with those who opposed them, these bars have faced numerous legal challenges despite their significant contribution to the Indian dance economy. Anna Morcom is a Senior Lecturer at Royal Holloway, University of London.

In this episode we talk with Gregory Booth, whose article “Copyright Law and the Changing Economic Value of Popular Music in India” was recently published in the journal, Ethnomusicology. In his investigation of intellectual property rights within the context of the Indian popular music industry, Gregory traces the influence of copyright laws and new technologies on the social and economic value of popular music. Gregory Booth is an Associate Professor of Ethnomusicology at the University of Auckland, New Zealand..

In this episode we talk with David Kaminsky, whose article “Just Exotic Enough,” was recently published in the journal, Ethnomusicology. David interrogates the discourse of two Swedish, non-Jewish chamber klezmer bands, drawing out the complexities of heritage, identity, and cultural ownership. As a musical tradition cultivated by Jews in the east European diaspora, but now widely played by both Jewish and non-Jewish musicians throughout America, Europe, and elsewhere, klezmer has specific interest for David, who self-identifies as an American Jewish scholar. David Kaminsky is an assistant professor of Ethnomusicology at the University of California, Merced.

In this episode, we discuss the rock-and-roll tribute band phenomenon with John Paul Meyers, whose article “Still Like That Old Time Rock and Roll,” was published in the Winter 2015 issue of the journal, Ethnomusicology. Meyers explains tribute bands as a case study for exploring the active role historical consciousness plays in shaping listeners’ engagement with popular music. By reviving the sounds—and sights—of a previous generation, tribute band concerts serve to establish historical narratives within popular music culture. John Paul Meyers is a visiting assistant professor of African-American Studies at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.