Organisational Lessons from Jazz Musicians: It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing).

The aim of this study is to present and analyse the experienced phenomenon of professional jazz musicians. With particular attention devoted to jazz musicians' approach to leadership, creativity and innovation. The study adopted an original and innovative method of data collection using MySpace, the social networking website to contact research subjects, i.e. professional jazz musicians. Data was collected through use of in-depth semi structured interviews with sixteen jazz musicians and observation of The Lincoln Centre Jazz Orchestra (LCJO). The author is reflexive about the research process and the role the authors' personal characteristics may have had on the research process. Data was analysed by identifying the emergent themes that had arisen from the data. A case study is presented through use of data-rich verbatim quotes. The study answers the following research questions: What can the leadership approach of a jazz band add to the existing leadership literature? What can the study of jazz ensembles contribute to the existing theory of creativity and innovation in organisational teams? How accurately does the current organisational jazz literature reflect the characteristics of a modern jazz ensemble? The conclusion of this paper indicates that organisational leaders can draw on the approaches used by jazz musicians in order to create and sustain creative and innovative practices in their work

The Boston University Jazz Ensemble and Concert Band, Monday, October 19, 1998

This is the concert program of the Boston University Jazz Ensemble and Concert Band performance on Monday, October 19, 1998 at 8:00 p.m., at the Concert Hall, 855 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts. Works performed were Incredible Journey by Bob Mintzer, Four Mothers by Jimmy Giuffre, Cottontail by Duke Ellington, M.O.T. by Matt Harris, The Way by Slide Hampton, Take Five by Paul Desmond, It Don't Mean a Thing if it Ain't Got That Swing by Ellington-Mills, Cabeza De Carne by Matt Harris, Procession of the Nobles by Nicholas Rimsky-Korsakov, Pageant by Vincent Persichetti, American Civil War Fantasy by Jerry H. Bilik, and Marche Des Parachutistes Belges by Pierre Leemans. Digitization for Boston University Concert Programs was supported by the Boston University Humanities Library Endowed Fund

Canary in the dark

I began researching Appalachian culture in 1998. I wanted to tell a story about conflict and beauty while revealing my vision of who my people were/are. I strived to create a fiction not unlike poetry with realistic and minimalist features to give Appalachia the most accurate face possible as perceived by me through my own lens. I wanted to explore the idea of beauty: Virginia’s (the main character) ideas about her beauty, her culture and other cultures. What is beauty? Who defines it? Can it be found everywhere? How? What does it look like when it is somewhere you wouldn’t expect? (Such as in death or suffering) I wanted to explore the Appalachian’s idea of self. What is Appalachia? How does this idea of “place” manifest itself in the choices and conflicts of Appalachian people and their perception of themselves? And finally, can I show “outsiders” what I believe is our beauty

The Language of a Three-Year-Old Child

n/

Hammers and Strings

This thesis is a novel that explores the estranged relationship between a father and son. The protagonist, Benny Headley, has followed his musical dreams to Nashville, but after ten years has returned home to the small town of Morristown, Tennessee to care for his ailing father, Ben Headley, who is in the latter stages of Alzheimer’s. The style is simple and straightforward and does not call attention to itself so that characterization is better served. The plot is chronological with flashbacks incorporated to reveal important information. I will continue to revise this manuscript towards the goal of publication