Author: Mo Li

Publisher:

Published: 2018

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13:

This thesis situates the importance of the evolution of jazz in Beijing within the broader history of the music in China, particularly the twentieth century. Prior to this study, numerous researches on Chinese jazz have been focused on jazz in Shanghai, where jazz was first introduced into China. The significance of Beijing as the cradle of a jazz revival, and the stylistic features of jazz in China over various periods, are often neglected. Furthermore, a comparison of the roles of jazz in China, before and after the 1980s, reveals the significance of Beijing's jazz revival to the current Chinese society. The arguments developed around musical morality and identity of jazz musicians constitute pertinent links to past events, starting with yellow music, to the current jazz scene in Beijing. Yellow music, or obscene music, was the term used to refer to jazz from the 1950s to the 1980s. Although this term indicates taboo in the moral codes of modern China, it became a catalyzing force within the Beijing jazz community. During the three decades from the 1990s to the 2010s, friction intensified between the jazz community and the commercialization of music entertainments, which ultimately crystalized a tie between its members, and evolved into identity. Meanwhile, a portion of the Beijing jazz community adopted a post-modernist perspective, refusing to identify with potential limit on development. Under the pressure of the Chinese cultural industry on the livelihood of jazz musicians, this "postmodernist" portion and identity advocators need each other to sustain the growth, or survival of the whole community. For this reason, coexistence turned to be the structure for inner relationships of the community, marking the decline of the momentum in questing for an ultimate interpretation of social roles inside the community. This structure of the jazz community epitomized the decentered pursuits for recognition in the broader society of Beijing.