Theory of music and musicology Books

Book SynopsisCovering the breadth of Native musical experience, from traditional to contemporary stylesTrade Review"Essential reading for ethnomusicologists, Native music scholars, and other readers who are interested in the musical journeying of people and repertoires across North America."--Great Plains Quarterly"Tara Browner's edited volume on American Indian music, originally published in 2009 and issued as a paperback in 2022, provides context and analysis that sheds light on key areas where music intersects prominently with Indian cultures: dance, identity, mythology, poetics, and spiritual power." --Journal of Folklore Research Reviews"This anthology offers an exciting variety of scholarly studies of musical practices of First Peoples. This highly influential work undoubtedly makes an important contribution to the field of ethnomusicology, containing essays that will become widely cited."--Beverley Diamond, author of Native American Music in Eastern North America: Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture"A fascinating and innovative collection of case studies, including work by Native American scholars as well as articles co-authored by non-Native scholars and Native community members. This collection's special strength is the rich variety of methodological approaches and communities presented, some of which have been underrepresented in previous literature in American Indian ethnomusicology. This work will certainly appeal to scholars in ethnomusicology, anthropology, folklore, linguistics, Native American studies, and cultural studies."--Victoria Lindsay Levine, author of Writing American Indian Music: Historic Transcriptions, Notations, and ArrangementsTable of ContentsContributors are T. Christopher Aplin, Tara Browner, Paula Conlon, David E. Draper, Elaine Keillor, Lucy Lafferty, Franziska von Rosen, David Samuels, Laurel Sercombe, and Judith Vander.

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Book SynopsisWhat does a life with art offer that a life without art does not? This title asserts that the fundamental point of the enterprise of art is the creation and delivery of values that are not singularly available in the nonart world. It discusses visual art, literature, music, theater, and other art forms, arguing that as art both liberates.Trade Review“The clearest, most carefully developed piece of philosophy I have ever read. Sleinis’s extensive knowledge of the arts themselves enables him to supply examples that are illuminating. A major contribution to aesthetics.”--George Dickie, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of Illinois at Chicago and the author of Art and Aesthetic: An Institutional Approach

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Book SynopsisFostering national culture in Singapore through Chinese street opera performanceTrade Review“Interesting and informative ... this work presents a valuable case study in the historical fluctuation of cultural categories that challenges the notion of inherent artistic value.”--Journal of Folklore Research"A fascinating effort to rethink the question of art as cultural capital in a nationalist narrative."--The Journal of Theatre Research International"A valuable contribution to the study of traditional performing arts in Singapore and is a useful resource not only for ethnomusicological studies but also for non-music students alike."--The World of Music"This groundbreaking study examines the ways Chinese street opera has been redefined and transformed as part of the process of nation building in Singapore. It becomes a lens through which we can observe changing social dynamics, the pragmatic ways performance can be appropriated and/or reinterpreted by various social groups, and the politicized ways in which cultural representation can intersect with ideas about nationalism, modernity, and cosmopolitanism. The author makes excellent use of business and management models in his sophisticated exploration of organizational structure, entrepreneurship, and cultural development in Chinese street opera. A stimulating book, it is one of the few studies of traditional performing arts in Singapore and Malaysia, which makes it a very precious resource."--Margaret Sarkissian, associate professor of music, Smith College"Based on detailed ethnographic and archival research, this study of Chinese opera in Singapore subtly highlights the nuances of professional vs. amateur performance, the contributions of different dialect groups, and the tie-in by the 1990s with officially promoted cultural nationalism and tourism. The author is a cultural insider whose linguistic expertise and personal experience greatly enrich his treatment of the topic."--Helen Rees, author of Echoes of History: Naxi Music in Modern ChinaTable of ContentsAcknowledgments vii Introduction 1 1. Chinese Opera in Singapore, 1940s-1960s 15 2. Chinese Street Opera and Professional Opera Troupes 42 3. Amateur Chinese Opera and Confucianism 75 4. Reinstating Patronage and Tradition: Chinese Temples and the Revival of Chinese Street Opera 96 5. Tourism and Cultural Authenticity in Chinese Opera 117 6. Chinese Opera and the Concept of Culture in Singapore 138 Conclusion 159 Notes 165 Glossary 183 Bibliography 197 Index 215

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Book SynopsisA fascinating ethnographic record of vanishing musical genres, traditions, and practicesTrade Review"Kartomi's book reaffirms the value of classic ethnomusicological research. . . . Highly recommended."--Choice"This is a delicious book -- to be savoured, appreciated for its richness of detail and admired for its texture and cohesion. An innovative work, of great significant for describing, categorising and analysing Indonesia's traditional musical arts."--Inside Indonesia"The first comprehensive text detailing Sumatran music-dance traditions, based on forty years of fieldwork and scholarship, is, above all, a wonderfully encyclopedic collection of fascinating data and careful, honest description--in short, a classic ethnomusicological text."--Journal of the American Musicological Society"This book deserves credit as a significant contribution in englarging the body of knowledge of Indonesian traditional music."--Indonesia"Kartomi's impressive compendium of data, combined with engaging scholarship, is an important contribution to Asian studies, one that will likely inspire many students and scholars to think about Sumatra in new ways through its history of expressive culture and performance."--The Journal of Asian Studies"Rich in both extremely specific detail (in the form of musical transcriptions and artful play-by-play descriptions of events) and extremely broad theoretical musings about history, acculturation, gender,and pan-Sumatran themes and trends. . . . Here (as in person) Kartomi combines genuine warmth and gregariousness, a keen eye and ear for detail, and a disarmingly pragmatic matter-of-factness about potentially surprising or difficult subjects to fully engage her readers. It all makes for extraordinarily entertaining as well as informative reading"--Journal of Folklore Research"This volume presents a lifetime of writings by a distinguished scholar on the musical arts of Sumatra. Readers get a comprehensive glimpse of the myriad music and dance styles, ritual and religious life, cultural politics, and ecological and gender issues that permeate the island."--David D. Harnish, author of Bridges to the Ancestors: Music, Myth, and Cultural Politics at an Indonesian Festival"Widely recognized as the expert on the music of Sumatra, Margaret Kartomi provides a wealth of information on the music of various regions of the huge and culturally diverse island of Sumatra in Indonesia. No other book comes close to the treasure trove of descriptive data and detail here."--R. Anderson Sutton, author of Traditions of Gamelan Music in Java: Musical Pluralism and Regional Identity

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Book SynopsisThe first English translation of a foundational treatise in music theory

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Book SynopsisOffers a sophisticated interrogation and reinterpretation of minstrelsy, significantly broadening historical views of black-white musical exchange.Trade ReviewIrving Lowens Book Award, Society for American Music (SAM), 2015. "The book is a fascinating journey from the waterways and barns of 19th-century America to the parchment and canvases of Mount and his depictions of our ever-changing landscape. Mr. Smith combines those observations with deep historical and archival research, illuminating the vast multi-ethnic cultural exchange that lies at the heart of what it means to be American." --Rhiannon Giddens, Wall Street Journal "This books provides a new set of roots for minstrelsy, an intriguing look at popular culture in early American among non-elites, and an innovative method of using multiple disciplines and sources, which in many ways should be a model for historians to think about the past from different angles."--Register of the Kentucky Historical Society "This erudite, extensively researched, and persuasively argued study sheds important new lights on the origins (especially music and movement) of American blackface minstrelsy. Highly Recommended."--Choice"The Creolization of American Culture is heavily dependent on extensive archival research, and. . . . will be invaluable to researchers. . . .It is a pleasure to read a work grounded in primary sources."--Art Libraries Society of North America"A dazzling addition to the literature on American popular music and its history. The Creolization of American Culture is fresh, vital, compelling, and deeply pertinent to understanding a world in which we yet live."--Dale Cockrell, author of Demons of Disorder: Early Blackface Minstrels and Their World"More than just a book about the artist William Sidney Mount, this study is also an interrogation and reinterpretation of the scholarship on minstrelsy, a topic of increasing importance in interpreting American cultural history. This outstanding piece of work advances our understanding of the black-white vernacular music and dance that took place in colonial America and the early republic."--Jeff Todd Titon, author of Early Downhome Blues"Smith broadens an understanding of a vital stage in the development of American vernacular and popular culture and continues 'minstrelsy's rehabilitation' in scholarly research."--Volume !"Inspired by the work of Lott, Lhamon, and Cockrell, Smith advances an exciting vein of scholarship seeking to recuperate, theorize and historicize one of America's more curious and enduringly relevant cultural moments."--Journal of Folklore Research "In this thoroughly researched and well-documented study, Christopher J. Smith. . . incorporates a dialogue of scholarship on the history of blackface minstrelsy, biographical information on early blackface performers, and musicology and iconography research to offer not only the story of one man, but also a reinterpretation of American culture."--History: Reviews of New Books "The thesis of this book is refreshing, the analysis sparkling, and the argument grounded in the most exacting and superbly supported research. . . . A major contribution to the scholarship."--The Journal of American Culture "An important piece of scholarship that . . . offers significant insights into the development and meaning of blackface minstrelsy."--JWPM

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Book SynopsisCollects material from mid-1970s through 2010 to trace the evolution of ethnomusicological thinking about women, gender, and music, offering a perspective of how questions emerged and changed in those years, as well as Koskoff's reassessment of the early years and development of the field.Trade Review"One of the clearest overviews of the history of feminist and gender studies--in general and in the specific domains of musicology, ethnomusicology, and anthropology--that I have read. The bibliography alone is worth the price of admission."--Margaret Sarkissian, author of D'Albquerque's Children: Performing Tradition in Malaysia's Portuguese Settlement"A clear summary of key ideas and pioneering books and presents illuminating descriptions and definitions of central concepts and terms. This book is valuable for its depth and fluent writing. Recommended."--Choice"This volume represents 40 years of research and writing by one of the most influential ethnomusicologists in the discipline. . . . One of the characteristic features of this book is the author's voice, captured in a writing style built on a candour that draws the reader into the heart of the narrative. . . . This is a personal (and intellectually rigorous) account-- one filled with hilarious anecdotes, personal misgivings, and candid admissions of doubt. . . . Stylistically accessible while theoretically sophisticated, the book also is suitable for a wider readership interested in feminism, gender studies, and music." --Ethnomusicology Forum"An accessible and engaging reflection on the contribution of feminist scholarship to ethnomusicology from the early 1970s to 2012."--American Anthropologist"A scholarly book rarely satisfies the academic reviewer fully, as one publication scarcely can cover all relevant ground in its field(s) of research. Ellen Koskoff’s A Feminist Ethnomusicology is an inspiring exception: I strongly encourage scholars and students interested in music, anthropology, gender, and feminist scholarship to read it."--Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute"An essential and flagship book to research in ethnomusicology."--MUSICultures

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Book SynopsisBased on extensive research in India and Pakistan, this book examines the ways drumming and voices interconnect over vast areas of South Asia and considers what it means for instruments to be voice-like and carry textual messages in particular contexts.Trade Review"As can be expected from Richard K. Wolf, The Voice in the Drum is an erudite and masterful contribution to South Asian ethnomusicology. But it is more: a deep contribution to experimental writing, full of nuanced engagement with why the poetics and politics of representation is critical to contemporary music ethnography."--Steven Feld, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology and Music, University of New Mexico"Emerging afresh from numerous fields of cultural anthropology, including ethnology, ethnomusicology, humanistic anthropology, linguistics, the anthropology of religion, visual anthropology, and others, The Voice in the Drum contributes new insights and creates innovative methodologies much needed in today's growing anthropological and empathic understandings of the performance of emotion in South Asian Islam."--American Anthropologist"The Voice in the Drum, by Richard Wolf, Professor of Music and South Asian Studies at Harvard, is a completely unique development in ethnomusicology. By skillfully drawing out his research interests through the character of Muharram Ali, Wolf manages to draw the reader into a historical drama of idealism and naivete falling apart." --Leonardo Reviews"Innovative and richly detailed." --American Ethnologist"No one else has conducted such multi-local research on traditions like this, and he has done a masterful job of relating these otherwise disparate traditions by highlighting their affinities, especially in terms of the ways in which their performers conceive of the drums as speaking in one manner or another. The result is a remarkable and unique scholarly opus."--Peter Manuel, author of East Indian Music in the West Indies: Tan-singing, Chutney, and the Making of Indo-Caribbean Culture

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Book SynopsisOne of the twentieth century's most important musical thinkers, James Tenney did pioneering work in multiple fields, including computer music, tuning theory, and algorithmic and computer-assisted composition. From Scratch arranges, edits, and revises Tenney's hard-to-find writings into one indispensable collection. Selections focus on his fundamental concernswhat the ear hearsand include thoughts and ideas on perception and form, tuning systems and especially just intonation, information theory, theories of harmonic space, and stochastic (chance) procedures of composition.Trade Review"This collection of essays propels Tenney studies into the next critical stage, making publicly accessible the writings of one of the most compelling musical thinkers in the American contemporary music scene. In their well-selected diversity, these writings are a marvelous expression of the breadth of Tenney's aesthetic and theoretical thinking; surely this book will serve as an essential cornerstone to scholars for decades to come."--David W. Patterson, contributing editor of John Cage: Music, Philosophy, and Intention, 1933–1950"If you want to encounter one of the major thinkers of twentieth century music, James Tenney's writing is worth getting to know, and if you're at all interested in the history of music technology and its development, his writing is essential."--Sound Bytes Magazine"This new book is without doubt a landmark publication for those involved in Tenney scholarship,. . . . This collection of writings provides a superbly revealing insight into Tenney's work, and the couching of prominent texts alongside much less well-known ones helps to enrich the understanding of him and his work." --Tempo "A testament to avant-garde musical thought from the 1960s until the advent of postmodernism in the 1980s, and it also raises questions that are in many regards perennial. Recommended."--Choice"The intellectual and creative path chronicled here is inspiring, particularly as Tenney's questions about the experience of music-making remain deeply relevant today."--Computer Music Journal"Enables us to hear anew Tenney's deep musical resonances, and offers us the gift of Tenney's insights about music."--Notes"Tenney's writings provide an invaluable model for artists interested in connecting aesthetics to scientific understandings of human perception and the material world."--Chris Brown, composer and co-director of the Center for Contemporary Music at Mills College

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Peter Manuel's book is therefore a welcome addition to the existing Indian historiography of the Caribbean… Manuel uses mainly an ethnographic approach to support his analyses, essentially visiting and participating in events relating to Bhojpuri music in India, the Caribbean (mainly Trinidad) and the Indo-Caribbean North American diaspora. This approach has produced one of the most compelling books on Indo-Caribbean music… Manuel must be commended for producing this important scholarship on music in the Caribbean in particular, as well as India and the Indian diaspora in general."--Ethnomusicology Forum"A truly significant contribution. . . . The focus on under-theorized, flexibly handled, challengingly conceived if sometimes simple musical phenomena is much in keeping with Manuel's work throughout his career and this book is, in my view, a crowning achievement in that regard."--Richard Wolf, author of The Voice in the Drum: Music, Language, and Emotion in Islamicate South Asia"A definitive study of diverse musical traditions among the Indian communities of Trinidad, Suriname, Guyana, and the U.S. Manuel offers a descriptive/historical study based no extensive fieldwork. . . . Although he has published in this area previously, there are no comparable books. . . . no one else could have written such a comprehensive and clear study. Recommended."--Choice "Of great value to scholars and students of both Caribbean and Indian music, as well as to individuals with a general interest in diaspora studies."--Journal of Folklore Research"An ambitious study of diaspora dynamics with significant implications for contemporary understandings of Indo-Caribbean identity and musical traditions, national identity in Trinidad, Guyana, Suriname, and Fiji, and the concept of diaspora itself. Timely and relevent in its topic, scope, observations, and conclusions, it fills a gap in the extant literature on Indo-Caribbean musical traditions, specifically with regard to tassa drumming… Tales, Tunes, and Tassa Drums is destined to be well-received and much consulted in the years to come."--Notes"In Tales, Tunes, and Tassa Drums Peter Manuel investigates the concepts of retention and invention in underexplored musics of the Indo-Caribbean diaspora that have only been briefly studied in previous ethnomusicological research… A captivating read for anyone interested in music in the Caribbean and diaspora studies more generally."--Latin American Music Review"Manuel distinguishes himself by remaining clear-headed with his analysis, elegantly using apolitical musical analysis to inform discussion of long-standing social tensions between Indian-and African-Trinidadians without getting bogged down in unnecessary details. . . . Tales, Tunes, and Tassa Drums is thoughtful and witty while demonstrating a depth of knowledge that no other author could achieve."--Western Folklore"The author is careful not to over-generalize, looking at each example in comparative contexts before making any broad theoretical claims. The work is provocative and will be a welcome addition to the literature on Indian diasporic music."--Frank J. Korom, author of Hosay Trinidad: Muharram Performances in an Indo-Caribbean Diaspora

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewCo-winner, Philip Brett Award, LBTQ Study Group of the American Musicological Society (AMS), 2016. Honorable mention, Alan Merriam Prize, 2016. "Makes important contributions to gender studies and queer studies as well as to ethnomusicology and dance ethnology. In clear language and through richly textured ethnographic work, Sunardi develops a nuanced account of an ever-changing landscape of gender ideology as it is negotiated through the study, performance, and discourse of dance in east Java."--Henry Spiller, author of Erotic Triangles: Sundanese Dance and Masculinity in West Java"Christina Sunardi's lively and personal account of the neglected performance culture of East Java, Indonesia, interweaves the words and stories of dancers, musicians, and choreographers with an account of the complex relationship between gender, embodiment, power, tradition, and memory. Her long-term ethnographic encounters as scholar and performer have yielded a close-grained and subtle analysis of culture and tradition founded on the dynamic multiplicity and diversity of music and dance within the region. An important contribution."--Felicia Hughes-Freeland, author of Embodied Communities: Dance Traditions and Change in Java

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Her prose is at once engaging and accessible, her thinking rich in theoretical depth and imagination. This is a book that charts new territory at the fused horizons of music, dance, and popular culture studies." --Michael Bakan, author of World Music: Traditions and Transformations"Becoming Beautiful will offer many readers a window into experiences of beauty and redemption enjoyed by ballroom dance practitioners."--Middle West Review"Joanna Bosse, in Becoming Beautiful, plumbs the personal journeys people undertake 'in intimate conversation' with others in the dance worlds they construct. In doing so, she has produced a work of groundbreaking scholarship which is both moving and profoundly insightful."--Ted Solís, editor of Performing Ethnomusicology: Teaching and Representation in World Music Ensembles"Becoming Beautiful is elegantly conceptualized and artfully written. In her focus on predominantly White, Midwestern, middle and upper class suburbanites who self-identify as ballroom dancers--and who for the most part do not play music themselves--Joanna Bosse explores and problematizes salient issues of class, cosmopolitanism, exoticism, the ethnic/racial imaginary, and musicianship to destabilize a host of foundational markers of the ethnomusicological enterprise, including the function and value of music itself. Her prose is at once engaging and accessible, her thinking rich in theoretical depth and imagination. This is a book that charts new territory at the fused horizons of music, dance, and popular culture studies."--Michael Bakan, author of World Music: Traditions and Transformations

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"A valuable contribution to our deeper understanding of the rich, intricate, and elaborate culture of the Appalachian mountain region of America."--Civil War Book Review "This book is meticulously researched, a thorough telling of the story of Appalachian dance, beginning with its European, African-American, and Native-American roots, continuing to modern times. Perhaps because he’s a dancer himself, Jamison writes in a very engaging, reader-friendly manner which scholars and hobbyists alike should appreciate. Highly recommended"--Bluegrass Unlimited"Jamison demonstrates how the history of dance is the story of America: immigration, race, trade, culture, identity, fashion, social stratification, and innovation. The closer you look, the more fascinating it all becomes. . . . This book is about dance, true, but it also provides an analogue for so many other things, reminding us, once again, that few forms of art. . . are ever quite what they seem."--Sing Out! "No praise is too high for this book. . . . Essential for anyone interested in American dance history or southern Appalachian culture."--Country Dance and Song Society News"An enjoyable read. Valuable for those interested in dance, music, African American studies, Native American studies, and US history in general. Recommended."--Choice "Phil Jamison has done an admirable job… Hoedowns, Reels, and Frolics is highly informative and entertaining; it would be a worthy addition to the library of any folk dance-- or folk music-- scholar or enthusiast."--Journal of Folklore Research

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Merchant offers a nuanced, intelligent understanding of the relationship between gender and musical culture in contemporary Uzbeck society. In addressing the place of women in the musical life of the country, she throws light not only on the music but also on how the music has negotiated and contributed to the historical dynamic that has existed since the Soviet Union annexed Uzbekistan… A valuable resource for those interested in anthropology, Central Asian studies, gender studies… Highly recommended."--Choice"Readable and useful not only to those interested in the legacies of Soviet rule, but also to ethnomusicologists and scholars interested in gender issues."--Journal of Folklore Research"A beautifully textured account of contemporary Uzbekistan's national project, and the central role of women musicians in this construction. . . . Filled with interesting and timely material, this book is truly a wonderful read."--Ellen Koskoff, author of A Feminist Ethnomusicology"Merchant has listened carefully to the voices of Central Asian women musicians, so this book advances understanding of both a neglected world area and of women's experience in a postcolonial, Islamic-influenced society."--Mark Slobin, author of Folk Music: A Very Short Introduction"This book provides a timely focus on gender in Central Asian music--an area which deserves greater attention. It includes strong ethnographic material and interviews with musicians, draws on relevant theoretical literature, and addresses a range of issues concerning gender and the performance of Uzbek national identity, genre, and gendered economies of performance."--Rachel Harris, author of The Making of a Musical Canon in Chinese Central Asia: The Uyghur Twelve Muqam

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Book SynopsisMusicians rapping in kriolu--a hybrid of Portuguese and West African languages spoken in Cape Verde--have recently emerged from Lisbon's periphery. They popularize the struggles with identity and belonging among young people in a Cape Verdean immigrant community that shares not only the kriolu language but its culture and history. Drawing on fieldwork and archival research in Portugal and Cape Verde, Derek Pardue introduces Lisbon's kriolu rap scene and its role in challenging metropolitan Portuguese identities. Pardue demonstrates that Cape Verde, while relatively small within the Portuguese diaspora, offers valuable lessons about the politics of experience and social agency within a postcolonial context that remains poorly understood. As he argues, knowing more about both Cape Verdeans and the Portuguese invites clearer assessments of the relationship between the experience and policies of migration. That in turn allows us to better gauge citizenship as a balance of individual achievTrade Review"Cutting edge. While plenty of books have raised issues of cultural practice and citizenship, few--if any--focus on expressive culture. Pardue has already established himself as a scholar of hip-hop and he brings a depth and richness of experience from his earlier work on Brazil to see the full challenge that Cape Verdean rappers pose not just to Portugal but to Europe and Europeanness."--Marissa Moorman, author of Intonations: A Social History of Music and Nation in Luanda, Angola, from 1945 to Recent Times"A compelling interdisciplinary study of identity and citizenship among Cape Verdean rappers based in contemporary Lisbon. Building upon his groundbreaking work on Brazilian hip-hop, Pardue shifts his focus across the Atlantic by incorporating nodal points of the Lusophone triangle (Portugal, Cape Verde, and Brazil) that share common histories based on colonialism and slavery, where hybrid cultures have emerged and complex postcolonial entanglements continue to evolve."--Fernando Arenas, author of Utopias of Otherness: Nationhood and Subjectivity in Portugal and Brazil"A sharp analysis. The author makes an accurate diagnosis of the poetics of production of political-cultural and identity-related statements, revealing a politics of difference radically permeated by the weight of the postcolonial memory and history in the contemporary Cape Verdean and Portuguese contexts."--Víctor Barros, University of Coimbra"Cape Verde, Let's Go! is an interesting and worthwhile study of diasporic racial, linguistic, and musical identity. . . . The book's greatest value. . . . is in bringing attention to an area of Europe--and to European colonial system--that is often eclipsed by focus on England, France, and Spain."--Anthropology Review Database

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewBruno Nettl Prize, Society for Ethnomusicology, 2017 "Bravo! This critical gloss of Latin American music scholarship and compendium of works by Latin American scholars is much needed, long overdue, well-conceived, and well-informed."--Daniel Sheehy, Director and Curator, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings"I love this book. A major contribution to Latin American research--in both ethnomusicology and musicology--as well as related fields such as anthropology, sociology, political science, and gender studies."--Craig Russell, author of From Serra to Sancho: Music and Pageantry in the California Missions"This book fulfils the aims of the editors and it is an essential reading for those interested in the study of Latin American popular music."--Journal of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Wonderfully engaging and engaged, this ethnography and history moves us between the microcosm of once remote central Himalayan communities, and the macrocosm of cosmopolitan musical transformations. Recasting Folk helps us deeply understand questions of contingency, authenticity, identity, and economy and the ideas of folk music and Indian civilization through the reflexive lens of musical value and the refractive prism of its production." Daniel M. Neuman, coauthor of Bards, Ballads and Boundaries: An Ethnographic Atlas of Musical Cultures in West Rajasthan"A deep, detailed exploration of local musicians engagement with modernity and media and the construction of ˜folk" music in the Indian Himalayan state of Uttarakhand. Rather than take the idea of ˜folk " as an unexamined given or reject it altogether, Fiol seeks to understand it as a discourse within the history of postindependence India and Uttarakhand, offering a framework for thinking about other regional music cultures in modern India. ” Carol Babiracki, Syracuse University"Recommended."--Choice"Recasting Folk provides an ethnographically rich account of a range of performers and the social dynamics of making a living, particularly in a music industry that continues to be plagued by caste politics." --Ethnomusicology Forum

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Against a complicated history of Italian folk music and its recovery, Inserra provides an insightful account of tarantella in its home region of Campania and in its migration throughout and outside Italy, intertwining her fieldwork with existing scholarship." --Italian American Review"Gratifying to read. Makes a significant contribution--finally, in the English language, where few studies have been previously available--to the study of this rich, diverse, and globally relevant music phenomenon."--Luisa Del Giudice, coauthor of Performing Ecstasies: Music, Dance, and Ritual in the Mediterranean​"Enhances our understanding of southern Italian music and dance while also refining our general models of folklore revival. The book shows how musicians graft their performances onto ever-shifting contexts of reception among mobile Italian and international audiences. It richly demonstrates that local perspectives on musical tradition are every bit as tricky as global ones."--Dorothy Noyes, author of Humble Theory: Folklore's Grasp on Social Life"An invitation to appreciate the multiple outcomes of the recontextualized tarantella, Inserra's work explores new aesthetic and authorities related to this folk tradition. Global Tarantella is a rare publication in the English language that addresses this fascinating and complex cultural phenomenon of Southern Italy." --Journal of American Folklore

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Book SynopsisThe story of the banjo''s journey from Africa to the western hemisphere blends music, history, and a union of cultures. In Banjo Roots and Branches, Robert B. Winans presents cutting-edge scholarship that covers the instrument''s West African origins and its adaptations and circulation in the Caribbean and United States. The contributors provide detailed ethnographic and technical research on gourd lutes and ekonting in Africa and the banza in Haiti while also investigating tuning practices and regional playing styles. Other essays place the instrument within the context of slavery, tell the stories of black banjoists, and shed light on the banjo''s introduction into the African- and Anglo-American folk milieus. Wide-ranging and illustrated with twenty color images, Banjo Roots and Branches offers a wealth of new information to scholars of African American and folk musics as well as the worldwide community of banjo aficionados. Contributors: Greg C. Adams, Nick BambTrade ReviewNicholas Bessaraboff Prize, American Musical Instrument Society, 2020 "Anyone with a strong interest in the early history of the banjo or in the broader history of American instrumental music in oral tradition will want a copy of this fine collection. All the work is imaginative, careful, and thoroughly documented. The essays flow smoothly." --Western Folklore"Banjo Roots and Branches is a comprehensively researched and pathbreaking piece of banjo roots scholarship. " --Music in American Life"Inspired by Dena Epstein, this is the first book to use a holistic approach in exploring the history of the banjo; it is an excellent compilation of articles for those interested in the music of Africa and the Americas."--Jacqueline Cogdell DjeDje, author of Fiddling in West Africa: Touching the Spirit in Fulbe, Hausa, and Dagbamba Cultures"Winans makes a rich addition to the literature. Recommended." --Choice"As far as I know this book has no real equivalents. Several of the essays are pioneering contributions to the esoteric but intriguing field of banjo research and folklore and ethnomusicology generally."--Robert S. Cantwell, author of Bluegrass Breakdown: The Making of the Old Southern Sound"An excellent book with plenty of material for both specialist and casual readers." --Galpin Society Journal"Roots and Branches collects an extraordinary amount of research into the ongoing discovery of the banjo's Byzantine history. . . .Each essay speaks directly to all others, lending the book an unusual level of cohesion for an edited volume." --The World of Music"A significant contribution to our understanding of the history and current significance of the banjo." --Ethnomusicology

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Smith makes a convincing case for the many ways in which social participatory dance can bring bodies together in public spaces to assert their right to be present and to critique dominant values and power structures. . . . Certainly ambitious." --World of Music"His research is extraordinarily meticulous and comprehensive. . . . A vital resource for anyone invested in the potency of dance as a platform for social justice." --Journal of Dance Education"A respected musicologist and vernacular musician, Smith offers a sprawling overview of vernacular dance in the US as evidence of people's 'contesting, constructing, and reinventing social orders'. Highly recommended." --Choice"Ambitious study." --Journal of Southern History"A very ambitious and impressive study. The breadth and scope of the book are remarkable. It is highly engaging and readable and expands our understanding of the potential of dance (and music/sound) to serve as a potent force for social engagement."--Julie Malnig, editor of Ballroom, Boogie, Shimmy Sham, Shake: A Social and Popular Dance Reader

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Book SynopsisTuning is the secret lens through which the history of music falls into focus, says Kyle Gann. Yet in Western circles, no other musical issue is so ignored, so taken for granted, so shoved into the corners of musical discourse. A classroom essential and an invaluable reference, The Arithmetic of Listening offers beginners the grounding in music theory necessary to find their own way into microtonality and the places it may take them. Moving from ancient Greece to the present, Kyle Gann delves into the infinite tunings available to any musician who feels straitjacketed by obedience to standardized Western European tuning. He introduces the concept of the harmonic series and demonstrates its relationship to equal-tempered and well-tempered tuning. He also explores recent experimental tuning models that exploit smaller intervals between pitches to create new sounds and harmonies. Systematic and accessible, The Arithmetic of Listening provides a much-needed primer for the wide range of tTrade Review"Not only explains the materials and history of this music in great detail, but also—and probably most importantly—illustrates how these scales and harmonies are used in actual, living, breathing music. What has always been missing from the literature is an overarching guide to the field that is clearly written for both the amateur and professional. This is that book."--John Schneider, Grammy Award-winning producer"There is no other book that comes close to what Kyle Gann has accomplished here. The Arithmetic of Listening combines materials from ancient treatises and complex mathematical discussions of tunings with an artist's eye toward their expressive, musical use. It reads as though you are in a master class with a teacher who is patiently opening your eyes to a hidden history and your ears to hidden musical possibilities."--S. Andrew Granade, author Harry Partch: Hobo Composer"A lot of fun . . . this is indeed a practical book, not just for its instructions, but also in the interludes." --The Wire

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Trade Review"I read this book with great pleasure, interest, and excitement. Downing effectively grounds her main argument and supporting points through analysis of her rich ethnographic data. Not only am I convinced, but I felt like I was in Bali with her, meeting her consultants, hearing them speak, getting a sense of their personalities, and watching them grow and mature."--Christina Sunardi, author of Stunning Males and Powerful Females: Gender and Tradition in East Javanese Dance"Deftly painting a close-grained landscape mixing Balinese voices and perspicuous eyewitness reflection, Downing guides us through inspiring stories of girls and women making music in millennial Bali, where few had made it before. The characters and friendships feel so alive because they are changing their world from the bottom up. Their experience of our lived moment is powerfully resonant and inspires reflection on changing gender roles far beyond Bali."--Michael Tenzer, University of British Columbia

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Book SynopsisAfter the establishment of the Turkish Republic, Turkey's secularized society disdained the ney, the Sufi reed flute long associated with Islam. The instrument's remarkable revival in today's cities has inspired the creation of teaching and learning sites that range from private ney studios to cultural and religious associations and from university clubs to mosque organizations.Banu Şenay documents the years-long training required to become a neyzena player of the ney. The process holds a transformative power that invites students to create a new way of living that involves alternative relationships with the self and others, changing perceptions of the city, and a dedication to craftsmanship. Şenay visits reed harvesters and travels from studios to workshops to explore the practical processes of teaching and learning. She also becomes an apprentice ney-player herself, exploring the desire for spirituality that encourages apprentices and masters alike to pursue ney music aTrade Review”Musical Ethics and Islam is easy on the mind's eye and the ear, full of insight, and a genuine pleasure to read. ªenay well understands her instrument, the crafting of its sounds and the complex demands of her teacher's 'jealous gift'. It charts a new and distinct route through the cultural complexities of Islamic revival in Turkey and beyond; her conclusions will be of real interest to anthropologists of music and of Islam alike.”—Martin Stokes, coeditor of Islam and Popular Culture”Musical Ethics and Islam is a ground-breaking ethnography of the interplay of aesthetic experience and social ideology, art and life. Banu Senay expertly interleaves personal experiences of 'sweet servitude' to a ney master with luminous accounts of the ethical, affective, and political aspects of music in post-Kemalist Turkey and the ney revival of recent years.”—Michael Jackson, author of The Work of Art: Rethinking the Elementary Forms of Religious Life

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"In A Respectable Spell, prominent Brazilian ethnomusicologist Carlos Sandroni contributes important perspectives by detailing the musical transformation of samba from the first recording in 1917 to its codification as a genre, circa 1930." --Journal of Folklore Research Reviews "At long last, we can celebrate the publication of this groundbreaking study in English. Carlos Sandroni's brilliant ‘historical ethnomusicology’ of samba laid the foundations for many subsequent studies, and continues to set a standard in the field. Sandroni is equally adept at fine-grained musical analysis, rich social-historical contextualization, and crisp, clear explanation. Michael Iyanaga's sensitive and graceful translation makes this accessible to a broad international audience for the first time. This book is fundamental for all those interested in samba's emergence and evolution."--Bryan McCann, author of Hard Times in the Marvelous City: From Dictatorship to Democracy in the Favelas of Rio de JaneiroTable of ContentsCoverTitle PageCopyrightContentsTranslator’s Foreword: The Decolonial Spark of a Translated SpellAcknowledgmentsIntroduction to the English TranslationOriginal IntroductionMusical PremisesPart One: From Lundu to SambaChapter 1. “Sweet Lundus, for Massa to Dream”Chapter 2. Maxixe and Its AntecedentsChapter 3. From Bahia to RioChapter 4. From the Dining Room to the Drawing RoomChapter 5. “Pelo telefone”Part Two: From One Samba to the OtherChapter 6. When Did Samba Become Samba?Chapter 7. Birds and CommoditiesChapter 8. From Malandro to ComposerChapter 9. A Respectable SpellChapter 10. On the GramophoneConclusionGlossaryNotesWorks CitedIndexBack cover

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Highly recommended." --Choice"Written with great intimacy and compassion, Dhol: Drummers, Identities, and Modern Punjab is a study of the aspirations and negotiations of those who love the dhol and live the life of a dholi. . . . The book is also a welcome addition to a burgeoning body of work that seeks to reexamine the abundance of drumming traditions in South Asia on its own terms." --Journal of Folklore Research Reviews"A compassionately written and deeply researched ethnography and historiography of dhol playing in Punjab as well as the Punjabi diaspora in North American and the United Kingdom. It paves new ground in assessing the mutual interaction between these distinct populations while demonstrating the challenges that face dhol-playing communities due to neoliberalism, cultural nationalism, and the growth and financial clout of the Punjabi diaspora."--Stefan Fiol, author of Recasting Folk in the Himalayas: Indian Music, Media, and Social MobilityTable of ContentsList of Figures ixList of Audiovisual Examples xiNote on Translation and Transliteration xiiiPreface xvIntroduction: Drumming to the Beat of a Different March 11 The Short End of the Stick: Strategies of Identification 352 Dhol Manifested: Body, Sound, and Structure 593 Asking Rude Questions: Dholi Ethnicity 924 A Portrait of a Dholi and His Community 1285 Becoming and Being a Dholi 1486 Dhol Players in a New World 1727 Return to Punjab, Turning Punjab 193Notes 217Bibliography 229Index 241

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Book SynopsisA Choice Outstanding Academic Title for 2022 China's Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) produced propaganda music that still stirs unease and, at times, evokes nostalgia. Lei X. Ouyang uses selections from revolutionary songbooks to untangle the complex interactions between memory, trauma, and generational imprinting among those who survived the period of extremes. Interviews combine with ethnographic fieldwork and surveys to explore both the Cultural Revolution's effect on those who lived through it as children and contemporary remembrance of the music created to serve the Maoist regime. As Ouyang shows, the weaponization of music served an ideological revolution but also revolutionized the senses. She examines essential questions raised by this phenomenon, including: What did the revolutionization look, sound, and feel like? What does it take for individuals and groups to engage with such music? And what is the impact of such an experience over time? Perceptive and provocative, Music Trade Review"This book opens a new window to events during the Mao era; it undermines our preconceived bias about the events of that phase and is full of musical pieces of the period, providing a distinct picture of the society at that time. . . . Scholars trying to understand Chinese culture and East Asian Studies should go through this book, as the multidisciplinary approach of Lei would lead them to explore something new and fresh in the field." --International Institute for Asian Studies "Music as Mao's Weapon is well-written and comes with detailed background information, photographs, music examples and song lists, which makes it attractive also to the non-China expert. It exposes strategies of revolutionary music composition and investigates its effects on the individual in the highly politicized and violent context of the Cultural Revolution. . . . Ouyang's book offers stimulating insight into why, how, and to whom this musical heritage is still meaningful today." --The China Quarterly "Highly recommended." --ChoiceTable of ContentsList of Illustrations ix Acknowledgments xiii Notes on Pinyin, Surnames, Transliteration, and Translation xvii 1 Researching the Battlefield 1 2 Music and Politics 23 Memories of the Battlefield: “It’s in Your Bones, It’s in Your Blood” 71 3 Music and Childhood 76 Memories of the Battlefield: “Learning Music to Avoid Going ‘Up to the Mountains and Down to the Countryside’” 103 4 Music and Memory 109 Memories of the Battlefield: “You Hear These Songs and You Are Inspired” 131 5 Conclusions 138 Appendix A Brief Historical Context of the Cultural Revolution 155 Appendix B Sixty-Five Children’s Songs in New Songs of the Battlefield 159 Chinese Character Glossary 163 Notes 169 Bibliography 177 Index 191

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Book SynopsisMusic cultures today in rural and urban Mongolia and Inner Mongolia emerge from centuries-old pastoralist practices that were reshaped by political movements in the twentieth century. Mongolian Sound Worlds investigates the unique sonic elements, fluid genres, social and spatial performativity, and sounding objects behind new forms of Mongolian music--forms that reflect the nation's past while looking towards its globalized future. Drawing on fieldwork in locations across the Inner Asian region, the contributors report on Mongolia's genres and musical landscapes; instruments like the morin khuur, tovshuur, and Kazakh dombyra; combined fusion band culture; and urban popular music. Their broad range of concerns include nomadic herders' music and instrument building, ethnic boundaries, heritage-making, ideological influences, nationalism, and global circulation. A merger of expert scholarship and eyewitness experience, Mongolian Sound Worlds illuminates a diverse and ever-changing musicalTrade Review"The authors and editors whose contributions are part of Mongolian Sound Worlds have produced an admirable work that balances depth and breadth, rigor and accessibility, fascinating detail and wider thematic arcs, while also greatly enhancing the representation of Central Asian music and culture within ethnomusicological literature." --Journal of Folklore Research ReviewsTable of ContentsAcknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viiTransliteration, Naming, and Place Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ixCompanion Website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xiiiIntroduction: Mongolian Sound Worlds: Opening SnapshotsSUNMIN YOON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1PART ONE: LANDSCAPES AND SOUNDSCAPESInterlude: Song about the SteppeK. OKTYABR AND JENNIFER C. POST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .171. Sound, Music, Pastoralism, and Nature in Mongolian Sound WorldsJENNIFER C. POST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21PART TWO: ETHNICITY AND DIVERSITYInterlude: Musical Journeys in Inner Mongolia and BeyondTAMIR HARGANA AND CHARLOTTE D’EVELYN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .532. Music and Ethnic Identity in Inner MongoliaCHARLOTTE D’EVELYN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 613. The Politics of Regional and Ethnic Identities in Contemporary Mongolian Urtyn DuuSUNMIN YOON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 854. Gendered Musicality in the Altai MountainsREBEKAH PLUECKHAHN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111PART THREE: MATERIAL AND SOCIAL HISTORYInterlude: Consistency, Patience, and Perseverance: Maintaining the Fiddle-Making TraditionBAYARSAIKHAN BADAMSÜREN AND PETER K. MARSH . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1295. The Horsehead Fiddle: A Biographical HistoryPETER K. MARSH AND CHARLOTTE D’EVELYN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1356. The Tovshuur and Oirad Identity in Mongolia’s Western ProvincesOTGONBAYAR CHULUUNBAATAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1557. Social Lives of the Dombyra and Its Makers in Western MongoliaJENNIFER C. POST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170PART FOUR: HERITAGE AND GLOBALIZATIONInterlude: Everything Has Two Sides: An InterviewANDREW COLWELL AND D. TSERENDAVAA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1978. Chandman’ and Beyond: Heritage-making of Mongolian Khöömii in Past and PresentJOHANNI CURTET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2039. Mongolian Music, Globalization, and NomadismANDREW COLWELL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22710. “We Were Born with Global Ambition”: Continuity, Innovation, and a New Chapter in the Development of Mongolian Popular MusicPETER K. MARSH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .281

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Book SynopsisTells the story of the remarkable life and career of John A. Lomax, pioneering American folklorist, canny businessman, influential educator, and patriarch of an extended family of artists, performers, and scholars.Trade Review"A stunningly fair and objective portrait. Analytical, without being judgmental, Porterfield allows the 'facts' of Lomax's story to unfold themselves with narrative eloquence and perceptive grace." -- Ron Pen, College Music Symposium "One of the most brilliant yet overlooked American culture volumes of recent vintage." -- San Francisco Examiner "Here's something to sing about! ... Nolan Porterfield has written an admirable study of one of America's earliest and greatest cultural heroes. Last Cavalier reveals the real man to whom we owe a lasting debt." -- Dan Rather "More than anyone else, John Lomax was responsible for introducing on a national scale America's folk voices. He collected songs from school children and saloon keepers, buffalo hunters and ranch hands. He introduced 'Home on the Range' in a Louisiana prison to the legendary songster Leadbelly. Historian Nolan Porterfield masterfully explores Lomax's long life: his complexity, industriousness, and temperament. Last Cavalier, a work of great understanding, chronicles America's folksong pioneer." -- Stephen Wade, creator of Banjo Dancing and On the Way Home "As long as we remember songs like 'Home on the Range' and 'Whoopee Ti Yi Yo,' the spirit of the West will live on in our hearts. Porterfield's illuminating and entertaining biography is a three-dimensional, warts-and-all look at the man we have to thank for it." -- Jesse Sublett, Southwestern Historical Quarterly "Portrays a man ... who contributed almost incredibly to American cultural history and lived a life enviable in its zeal for discovery." -- Booklist

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Book SynopsisHip hop music that empowers and engages youth in East AfricaTrade Review"A powerful look into global phenomena that have materialized in many countries, including in its home in the United States."--Journal of Folklore Research"Ntarangwi deploys engaging hip-hop lyrics to convey the dynamism of popular culture, as global swagger is localized through inside jokes, allusion to colonial resistance, and earthly discussion of what it takes to survive and thrive. . . . Recommended."--Choice"A groundbreaking book on popular culture."--Pambazuka News"Pioneering, determined, and a timely contribution to scholarship in the area of African emergent cultures."--African Studies Review"This gracefully written book takes East African hip hop music as a revealing entry point into the experiences of youth as they deal with issues of gender, sexuality, economic inequality, and political power. An excellent contribution to anthropology and African studies."--Angelique Haugerud, author of The Culture of Politics in Modern KenyaTable of ContentsPreface vii Acknowledgments xiii 1. Globalization and Youth Agency in East Africa 1 2. Hip Hop and African Identity in Contemporary Globalization 20 3. Move Over, Boys, the Girls Are Here: Hip Hop and Gendered Identities 44 4. Economic Change and Political Deception 67 5. Morality, Health, and the Politics of Sexuality in an Era of HIV/AIDS 93 6. Staying True to the Cause: Hip Hop's Enduring Social Role 115 Appendix: Hip Hop Artistes 123 Glossary 129 Notes 131 References 137 Index 155

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Book SynopsisA timely exploration of music's role in conflict situations across the globeTrade Review"Recommended."--Choice "Valuable both for the contextual and geographic breadth of its content and for its commitment to engaging ethnomusicological discourse (theoretical and practical) in applied settings."--MUSICultures "Until now, the intersection of music and conflict has been under-documented and under-theorized in ethnomusicology. Music and Conflict bravely addresses the 'darker side' of musical behavior, documenting how music sometimes works to incite violence and how it may also be used to rebuild communities torn apart by misunderstandings, conflict, and even war."--Nancy Guy, author of Peking Opera and Politics in Taiwan "O'Connell and Castelo-Branco make a compelling argument for the need to shed scholarly and applied light onto these darker areas of musical behavior."--NotesTable of ContentsContributors are Samuel Araujo, William Beeman, Stephen Blum, Salwa El-Shawan Castelo-Branco, David Cooper, Keith Howard, Inna Naroditskaya, John Morgan O'Connell, Svanibor Pettan, Anne K. Rasmussen, Adelaida Reyes, Anthony Seeger, Jane C. Sugarman, and Britta Sweers.

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Book SynopsisA highly personal narrative on the evolution of the fieldTrade ReviewA Choice Outstanding Academic Title, 2012.— ChoiceTable of ContentsCoverTitle PageCopyrightContentsForeword: ANTHONY SEEGERIntroduction: Histories, Narratives, SourcesI: Central Issues in a Grand History1. The Seminal Eighties: Historical Musicology and Ethnomusicology2. Look at It Another Way: Alternative Views of the History3. Speaking of World Music: Then and Now4. A Tradition of Self-Critique: For Beverly Diamond5. Revisiting Comparison, Comparative Study, and Comparative MusicologyII: In the Academy6. Ethno among the Ologies7. On the Concept of Evolution in the History of Ethnomusicology8. The Music of AnthropologyIII. Celebrating Our Principal Organizations9. The IFMC/ICTM and the Development of Ethnomusicology in the United States10. Arrows and Circles: Fifty Years of the ICTM and the Study of Traditional Music11. We're on teh Map: Reflections on the Society for Ethnomusicology in 1955 and 2005IV: A Collage of Commentary12. Recalling Some Neglected Classics in Musical Geography: For Tullia Magrini13. Minorities in Ethnomusicology: A Meditation on Experience in Three Cultures14. Riding the Warhorses: On the Ethnomusicology of Canons15. A Stranger Here?: Free Associations around Kurt Weil16. Music—What's That? Commenting on a Book by Carl Dahlhaus and Hans Heinrich EggebrechtReferencesIndex

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Book SynopsisCollects material from mid-1970s through 2010 to trace the evolution of ethnomusicological thinking about women, gender, and music, offering a perspective of how questions emerged and changed in those years, as well as Koskoff's reassessment of the early years and development of the field.Trade Review"One of the clearest overviews of the history of feminist and gender studies--in general and in the specific domains of musicology, ethnomusicology, and anthropology--that I have read. The bibliography alone is worth the price of admission."--Margaret Sarkissian, author of D'Albquerque's Children: Performing Tradition in Malaysia's Portuguese Settlement"A clear summary of key ideas and pioneering books and presents illuminating descriptions and definitions of central concepts and terms. This book is valuable for its depth and fluent writing. Recommended."--Choice"This volume represents 40 years of research and writing by one of the most influential ethnomusicologists in the discipline. . . . One of the characteristic features of this book is the author's voice, captured in a writing style built on a candour that draws the reader into the heart of the narrative. . . . This is a personal (and intellectually rigorous) account-- one filled with hilarious anecdotes, personal misgivings, and candid admissions of doubt. . . . Stylistically accessible while theoretically sophisticated, the book also is suitable for a wider readership interested in feminism, gender studies, and music." --Ethnomusicology Forum"An accessible and engaging reflection on the contribution of feminist scholarship to ethnomusicology from the early 1970s to 2012."--American Anthropologist"A scholarly book rarely satisfies the academic reviewer fully, as one publication scarcely can cover all relevant ground in its field(s) of research. Ellen Koskoff’s A Feminist Ethnomusicology is an inspiring exception: I strongly encourage scholars and students interested in music, anthropology, gender, and feminist scholarship to read it."--Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute"An essential and flagship book to research in ethnomusicology."--MUSICultures

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Book SynopsisIn east Javanese dance traditions like Beskalan and Ngremo, musicians and dancers negotiate gender through performances where males embody femininity and females embody masculinity. Christina Sunardi ventures into the regency of Malang in east Java to study and perform with dancers. Through formal interviews and casual conversation, Sunardi learns about their lives and art. Her work shows how performers continually transform dance traditions to negotiate, and renegotiate, the boundaries of gender and sex--sometimes reinforcing lines of demarcation, sometimes transgressing them, and sometimes doing both simultaneously. But Sunardi's investigation moves beyond performance. It expands notions of the spiritual power associated with female bodies and feminine behavior, and the ways women, men, and waria (males who dress and live as female) access the magnetic power of femaleness. A journey into understudied regions and ideas, Stunning Males and Powerful Females reveals how performances seTrade ReviewCo-winner, Philip Brett Award, LBTQ Study Group of the American Musicological Society (AMS), 2016. Honorable mention, Alan Merriam Prize, 2016. "Makes important contributions to gender studies and queer studies as well as to ethnomusicology and dance ethnology. In clear language and through richly textured ethnographic work, Sunardi develops a nuanced account of an ever-changing landscape of gender ideology as it is negotiated through the study, performance, and discourse of dance in east Java."--Henry Spiller, author of Erotic Triangles: Sundanese Dance and Masculinity in West Java"Christina Sunardi's lively and personal account of the neglected performance culture of East Java, Indonesia, interweaves the words and stories of dancers, musicians, and choreographers with an account of the complex relationship between gender, embodiment, power, tradition, and memory. Her long-term ethnographic encounters as scholar and performer have yielded a close-grained and subtle analysis of culture and tradition founded on the dynamic multiplicity and diversity of music and dance within the region. An important contribution."--Felicia Hughes-Freeland, author of Embodied Communities: Dance Traditions and Change in Java

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"A valuable contribution to our deeper understanding of the rich, intricate, and elaborate culture of the Appalachian mountain region of America."--Civil War Book Review "This book is meticulously researched, a thorough telling of the story of Appalachian dance, beginning with its European, African-American, and Native-American roots, continuing to modern times. Perhaps because he’s a dancer himself, Jamison writes in a very engaging, reader-friendly manner which scholars and hobbyists alike should appreciate. Highly recommended"--Bluegrass Unlimited"Jamison demonstrates how the history of dance is the story of America: immigration, race, trade, culture, identity, fashion, social stratification, and innovation. The closer you look, the more fascinating it all becomes. . . . This book is about dance, true, but it also provides an analogue for so many other things, reminding us, once again, that few forms of art. . . are ever quite what they seem."--Sing Out! "No praise is too high for this book. . . . Essential for anyone interested in American dance history or southern Appalachian culture."--Country Dance and Song Society News"An enjoyable read. Valuable for those interested in dance, music, African American studies, Native American studies, and US history in general. Recommended."--Choice "Phil Jamison has done an admirable job… Hoedowns, Reels, and Frolics is highly informative and entertaining; it would be a worthy addition to the library of any folk dance-- or folk music-- scholar or enthusiast."--Journal of Folklore Research

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Merchant offers a nuanced, intelligent understanding of the relationship between gender and musical culture in contemporary Uzbeck society. In addressing the place of women in the musical life of the country, she throws light not only on the music but also on how the music has negotiated and contributed to the historical dynamic that has existed since the Soviet Union annexed Uzbekistan… A valuable resource for those interested in anthropology, Central Asian studies, gender studies… Highly recommended."--Choice"Readable and useful not only to those interested in the legacies of Soviet rule, but also to ethnomusicologists and scholars interested in gender issues."--Journal of Folklore Research"A beautifully textured account of contemporary Uzbekistan's national project, and the central role of women musicians in this construction. . . . Filled with interesting and timely material, this book is truly a wonderful read."--Ellen Koskoff, author of A Feminist Ethnomusicology"Merchant has listened carefully to the voices of Central Asian women musicians, so this book advances understanding of both a neglected world area and of women's experience in a postcolonial, Islamic-influenced society."--Mark Slobin, author of Folk Music: A Very Short Introduction"This book provides a timely focus on gender in Central Asian music--an area which deserves greater attention. It includes strong ethnographic material and interviews with musicians, draws on relevant theoretical literature, and addresses a range of issues concerning gender and the performance of Uzbek national identity, genre, and gendered economies of performance."--Rachel Harris, author of The Making of a Musical Canon in Chinese Central Asia: The Uyghur Twelve Muqam

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewBruno Nettl Prize, Society for Ethnomusicology, 2017 "Bravo! This critical gloss of Latin American music scholarship and compendium of works by Latin American scholars is much needed, long overdue, well-conceived, and well-informed."--Daniel Sheehy, Director and Curator, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings"I love this book. A major contribution to Latin American research--in both ethnomusicology and musicology--as well as related fields such as anthropology, sociology, political science, and gender studies."--Craig Russell, author of From Serra to Sancho: Music and Pageantry in the California Missions"This book fulfils the aims of the editors and it is an essential reading for those interested in the study of Latin American popular music."--Journal of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Wonderfully engaging and engaged, this ethnography and history moves us between the microcosm of once remote central Himalayan communities, and the macrocosm of cosmopolitan musical transformations. Recasting Folk helps us deeply understand questions of contingency, authenticity, identity, and economy and the ideas of folk music and Indian civilization through the reflexive lens of musical value and the refractive prism of its production." Daniel M. Neuman, coauthor of Bards, Ballads and Boundaries: An Ethnographic Atlas of Musical Cultures in West Rajasthan"A deep, detailed exploration of local musicians engagement with modernity and media and the construction of ˜folk" music in the Indian Himalayan state of Uttarakhand. Rather than take the idea of ˜folk " as an unexamined given or reject it altogether, Fiol seeks to understand it as a discourse within the history of postindependence India and Uttarakhand, offering a framework for thinking about other regional music cultures in modern India. ” Carol Babiracki, Syracuse University"Recommended."--Choice"Recasting Folk provides an ethnographically rich account of a range of performers and the social dynamics of making a living, particularly in a music industry that continues to be plagued by caste politics." --Ethnomusicology Forum

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Against a complicated history of Italian folk music and its recovery, Inserra provides an insightful account of tarantella in its home region of Campania and in its migration throughout and outside Italy, intertwining her fieldwork with existing scholarship." --Italian American Review "Gratifying to read. Makes a significant contribution--finally, in the English language, where few studies have been previously available--to the study of this rich, diverse, and globally relevant music phenomenon."--Luisa Del Giudice, coauthor of Performing Ecstasies: Music, Dance, and Ritual in the Mediterranean "Enhances our understanding of southern Italian music and dance while also refining our general models of folklore revival. The book shows how musicians graft their performances onto ever-shifting contexts of reception among mobile Italian and international audiences. It richly demonstrates that local perspectives on musical tradition are every bit as tricky as global ones."--Dorothy Noyes, author of Humble Theory: Folklore's Grasp on Social LifeTable of ContentsCoverTitleContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. A Brief History of the Tarantella Revival: Exploring Tarantella through the “Southern Question” Debate2. Exporting Southern Italian Festivals from South to North: The Post-1990s Tammurriata Revival3. Images of the Italian South within and beyond World Music: Eugenio Bennato’s Taranta Power Movement4. Tarantella for U.S., Italian American, and Cosmopolitan Markets: Alessandra Belloni’s Performance from New York City to HonoluluFinal ThoughtsNotesWorks CitedIndex

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Book SynopsisEthnomusicologists have journeyed from Bali to Morocco to the depths of Amazonia to chronicle humanity's relationship with music. Margaret Sarkissian and Ted Solis guide us into the field's last great undiscovered country: ethnomusicology itself. Drawing on fieldwork based on person-to-person interaction, the authors provide a first-ever ethnography of the discipline. The unique collaborations produce an ambitious exploration of ethnomusicology's formation, evolution, practice, and unique identity. In particular, the subjects discuss their early lives and influences and trace their varied career trajectories. They also draw on their own experiences to offer reflections on all aspects of the field. Pursuing practitioners not only from diverse backgrounds and specialties but from different eras, Sarkissian and Solis illuminate the many trails ethnomusicologists have blazed in the pursuit of knowledge. A bountiful resource on history and practice, Living Ethnomusicology is an enlighteningTrade Review"Living Ethnomusicology is unlike any book in its field to date. . . . Solis and Sarkissian offer an insightful ethnography of some of ethnomusicology's ethnographers, allowing readers to understand the history and nature of the discipline through a more three-dimensional, biographical lens." --Western Folklore"It is appropriate and logical that Margaret Sarkissian and Ted Solis used interviews to create Living Ethnomusicology, a sweeping and celebratory survey of the discipline." --Oral History Review"Living Ethnomusicology: Paths and Practices is ultimately an interesting and unique contribution to the discipline." --Journal of Folklore Research "I’ve had to admit that probably the world of ethnomusicologists--not a very large world at that--in their backgrounds, their education, and even their activities of research and teaching, are probably more diverse than members of other academic endeavors. It’s to these very questions, 'who are the ethnomusicologists,' and 'what are they like,' that this book, Living Ethnomusicology, provides answers in a unique and comprehensive way. And for this reason it is one of the most important books to have appeared in a long time--it identifies and defines us in a concrete way."--Bruno Nettl, from the foreword "This is a brilliant and original idea for a volume. The book focuses on nearly all aspects of the field, including most of the possible careers. As such, it is extraordinary and makes conclusive statements about what ethnomusicology is and who ethnomusicologists are."--David Harnish, author of Bridges to the Ancestors: Music, Myth, and Cultural Politics at an Indonesian Festival

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Book SynopsisIn recent years, girls'' and mixed-gender ensembles have challenged the tradition of male-dominated gamelan performance. The change heralds a fundamental shift in how Balinese think about gender roles and the gender behavior taught in children''s music education. It also makes visible a national reorganization of the arts taking place within debates over issues like women''s rights and cultural preservation. Sonja Lynn Downing draws on over a decade of immersive ethnographic work to analyze the ways Balinese musical practices have influenced the processes behind these dramatic changes. As Downing shows, girls and young women assert their agency within the gamelan learning process to challenge entrenched notions of performance and gender. One dramatic result is the creation of new combinations of femininity, musicality, and Balinese identity that resist messages about gendered behavior from the Indonesian nation-state and beyond. Such experimentation expands the accepted gender aesTrade Review"I read this book with great pleasure, interest, and excitement. Downing effectively grounds her main argument and supporting points through analysis of her rich ethnographic data. Not only am I convinced, but I felt like I was in Bali with her, meeting her consultants, hearing them speak, getting a sense of their personalities, and watching them grow and mature."--Christina Sunardi, author of Stunning Males and Powerful Females: Gender and Tradition in East Javanese Dance"Deftly painting a close-grained landscape mixing Balinese voices and perspicuous eyewitness reflection, Downing guides us through inspiring stories of girls and women making music in millennial Bali, where few had made it before. The characters and friendships feel so alive because they are changing their world from the bottom up. Their experience of our lived moment is powerfully resonant and inspires reflection on changing gender roles far beyond Bali."--Michael Tenzer, University of British Columbia

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Book SynopsisOlonkho, the epic narrative and song tradition of Siberia’s Sakha people, declined to the brink of extinction during the Soviet era. In 2005, UNESCO’s Masterpiece Proclamation sparked a resurgence of interest in olonkho by recognizing its important role in humanity’s oral and intangible heritage. Drawing on her ten years of living in the Russian North, Robin P. Harris documents how the Sakha have used the Masterpiece program to revive olonkho and strengthen their cultural identity. Harris’s personal relationships with and primary research among Sakha people provide vivid insights into understanding olonkho and the attenuation, revitalization, transformation, and sustainability of the Sakha’s cultural reemergence. Interdisciplinary in scope, Storytelling in Siberia considers the nature of folklore alongside ethnomusicology, anthropology, comparative literature, and cultural studies to shed light on how marginalized peoples areTrade Review"Harris' book is significant, accessible, and intriguing. . . . Wonderfully reflexive, providing a glimpse into dialogue with key people in the revitalization effort, people who are concerned that history of the prized ethnic tradition is recounted rightly." --Western Folklore"A most-welcome contribution to the analysis of the problems facing traditional art forms in the modern world." --Journal of American Folklore"Deeply researched . . . With detailed analysis, Harris describes the changes that olonkho has endured from before the Soviet time, during the Communist regime, through perestroika, up to its present day."--Songlines"Strong ethnography is what makes Storytelling in Siberia an important text, taking readers to a place little studied, to the particularity of olonkho." --Ethnomusicology Forum"Harris has crafted a complex and critical evaluation of a cultural-revival project in practice." --The Russian Review"Of relevance to understanding the challenges of cultural reemergence in other parts of the globe, this compelling book informs anthropologists and ethnomusicologists as well as a much broader audience about one of the true masterpieces of the world's oral literature-- its origins, content, and future. Readers witness the interplay of Christian and pre-Christian interpretations, the sad legacy of cultural loss during the Soviet years, and the aspirations of a modern nation to reclaim its vanishing cultural heritage amid a rapidly changing world. . . . Highly recommended."--Choice"Rich in information about a sonic performance tradition little known in the West, Storytelling in Siberia is an important introduction to both Sakha storytelling and its history. Multidisciplinary in scope." --The World of Music“Robin Harris’s up-close and vividly written account of how an epic tradition from Siberia was proclaimed a UNESCO Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity is a masterpiece of contemporary ethnography in its own right.”--Theodore Levin, Dartmouth College "Ancient artistry comes to us through the trial of centuries. This book gives us hope that the heroic epics of the Yakuts, having survived under Soviet power, will outlive these rapidly changing, turbulent times as well."--Eduard Alekseyev, Academy of Spirituality, Sakha Republic (Yakutia) "Harris accomplished a laudable work. . . . Storytelling in Siberia is an important introduction to both Sakha storytelling and its history." --World of MusicTable of ContentsList of Illustrations ix Notes on Transliteration from Russian and Sakha xi Acknowledgments xiii Introduction: Encountering Olonkho 1 1 Epic Traditions, Performers, and Audiences 11 2 Effects of Change during the Soviet Era 33 3 Esteem for a Masterpiece: The Quest for Recognition 64 4 Examining the Role of UNESCO and Intangible Cultural Heritage 89 5 Elements of Resilience: Stable and Malleable 108 6 Epic Revitalization: Negotiating Identities and Other Challenges 135 7 Ensuring Sustainability through Transmission and Innovation 156 Glossary of Russian and Sakha Words 163 Notes 165 Works Cited 203 Index 225

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Highly recommended." --Choice "Written with great intimacy and compassion, Dhol: Drummers, Identities, and Modern Punjab is a study of the aspirations and negotiations of those who love the dhol and live the life of a dholi. . . . The book is also a welcome addition to a burgeoning body of work that seeks to reexamine the abundance of drumming traditions in South Asia on its own terms." --Journal of Folklore Research Reviews "A compassionately written and deeply researched ethnography and historiography of dhol playing in Punjab as well as the Punjabi diaspora in North American and the United Kingdom. It paves new ground in assessing the mutual interaction between these distinct populations while demonstrating the challenges that face dhol-playing communities due to neoliberalism, cultural nationalism, and the growth and financial clout of the Punjabi diaspora."--Stefan Fiol, author of Recasting Folk in the Himalayas: Indian Music, Media, and Social MobilityTable of ContentsList of Figures ix List of Audiovisual Examples xi Note on Translation and Transliteration xiii Preface xv Introduction: Drumming to the Beat of a Different March 1 1 The Short End of the Stick: Strategies of Identification 35 2 Dhol Manifested: Body, Sound, and Structure 59 3 Asking Rude Questions: Dholi Ethnicity 92 4 A Portrait of a Dholi and His Community 128 5 Becoming and Being a Dholi 148 6 Dhol Players in a New World 172 7 Return to Punjab, Turning Punjab 193 Notes 217 Bibliography 229 Index 241

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Book SynopsisSingers generating cultural identity from K-Pop to Beverly Sills Around the world and across time, singers and their songs stand at the crossroads of differing politics and perspectives. Levi S. Gibbs edits a collection built around the idea of listening as a political act that produces meaning. Contributors explore a wide range of issues by examining artists like Romani icon Esma Redžepova, Indian legend Lata Mangeshkar, and pop superstar Teresa Teng. Topics include gendered performances and the negotiation of race and class identities; the class-related contradictions exposed by the divide between highbrow and pop culture; links between narratives of overcoming struggle and the distinction between privileged and marginalized identities; singers’ ability to adapt to shifting notions of history, borders, gender, and memory in order to connect with listeners; how the meanings we read into a singer’s life and art build on one another; and technology’s ability Trade Review“Social Voices resounds with memorable, personal, and prophetic stories of how singers shape our worlds. An expansive, versatile, and mind-opening volume.”--William Cheng, author of Queering the Field: Sounding Out EthnomusicologyTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction: The Cultural Politics of Singers Levi S. GibbsPart I. The Politics of Authenticity and Iconicity Introduction Jeff Todd Titon 1. Becoming a “Folk” Icon: Pete Seeger and Musical Activism Anthony Seeger 2. An Ordinary Icon: Cassettes, Counternarratives, and Shaykh Imam Andrew Simon 3. Idolatry and Iconoclasm in K-Pop Fandom John LiePart II. Race, Gender, Ethnicity, and Class Introduction Eric Lott 4. All On They Mouth Like Liquor Treva B. Lindsey 5. Compromise and Competition: The Musical Identities of Afro-Cuban Women SingersChristina D. Abreu 6. Challenging the Divide Between Elite and Mass Cultures: Opera Icon Beverly Sills Nancy GuyPart III. Multiplicities of Representations Introduction Ruth Hellier 7. Artful Politics of the Voice: “Queen of Romani Music” Esma Redžepova Carol Silverman 8. Teresa Teng: Embodying Asia’s Cold WarsMichael K. Bourdaghs 9. Women, Political Voice, and the South African Diaspora, 1959-2020 Carol A. MullerPart IV. Singers and Songs as Interweaving Narratives Introduction Kwame Dawes 10. The Vocal Narratives of Lata Mangeshkar: Gender, Politics, and Nation in India Natalie Sarrazin 11. Ya Toyour: One Song in Two Voices Katherine Meizel Afterword: The Power of Song Elijah Wald Contributors Index

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewStaging Ghana is a valuable addition to the slowly growing body of work about dance and dance companies in contemporary Africa. * Ghana Studies *With theory well grounded in (and balanced by) richly textured ethnography and analyses, Staging Ghana is a valuable addition to the literature in the ever-growing fields of African studies and performance studies. Its examination of nationalism, creativity, postcolonialism, culture, music, and dance give it great multidisciplinary relevance. * Anthropos *Schauert's ethnographic overview of state dance ensembles in Ghana is based on fieldwork and collaborative artistic productions. A musician himself, Schauert . . . presents first-person narratives of creative experiments alongside excellent historical overviews of music and dance in intertwined performances of the Ghana Dance Ensemble (based at the Univ. of Ghana, Legon) and the National Dance Company of Ghana. Recommended. * Choice *Table of ContentsPreface Acknowledgments List of PURL Audio and Video FilesIntroduction: Crossing Crocodiles and Staging Ethnography 1. Beyond Ethnicity, Beyond Ghana: Staging and Embodying African Personality 2. Dancing Essences: Sensational Staging and the Cosmopolitan Politics of Authentication3. Soldiers of Culture: Discipline, Artistry, and Alternative Education 4. Speak to the Wind: Staging the State and Performing Indirection5. "We are the Originals!": A Tale of Two Troupes and the Birth of Contemporary Dance in Ghana6. Politics of Personality: Creativity, Competition, and Self-Expression within a Unitary MatrixConclusion: Dancing Between Self, State, and NationNotes References and Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewStaging Ghana is a valuable addition to the slowly growing body of work about dance and dance companies in contemporary Africa. * Ghana Studies *With theory well grounded in (and balanced by) richly textured ethnography and analyses, Staging Ghana is a valuable addition to the literature in the ever-growing fields of African studies and performance studies. Its examination of nationalism, creativity, postcolonialism, culture, music, and dance give it great multidisciplinary relevance. * Anthropos *Schauert's ethnographic overview of state dance ensembles in Ghana is based on fieldwork and collaborative artistic productions. A musician himself, Schauert . . . presents first-person narratives of creative experiments alongside excellent historical overviews of music and dance in intertwined performances of the Ghana Dance Ensemble (based at the Univ. of Ghana, Legon) and the National Dance Company of Ghana. Recommended. * Choice *Table of ContentsPreface Acknowledgments List of PURL Audio and Video FilesIntroduction: Crossing Crocodiles and Staging Ethnography 1. Beyond Ethnicity, Beyond Ghana: Staging and Embodying African Personality 2. Dancing Essences: Sensational Staging and the Cosmopolitan Politics of Authentication3. Soldiers of Culture: Discipline, Artistry, and Alternative Education 4. Speak to the Wind: Staging the State and Performing Indirection5. "We are the Originals!": A Tale of Two Troupes and the Birth of Contemporary Dance in Ghana6. Politics of Personality: Creativity, Competition, and Self-Expression within a Unitary MatrixConclusion: Dancing Between Self, State, and NationNotes References and Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewBy sharing the performance experiences, rather than texts, Donkor accomplishes the challenging task of introducing rare theatre performances in a particularly compelling context for a Western readership in a global age. * Theatre Survey *Overall, as a Ghanaian actor and director as well as a scholar, Donkor's cultural insider analyses of ananse theatre within the space of political economy make important contributions and interventions to the discourses on performance (theory) and neoliberalism and their interaction in Ghana and Africa. * African Studies Review *Table of ContentsIntroduction1. From State to Market: The History of a Social Compact2. Once Upon a Spider: Ananse and the Counterhegemonic Trickster Ethos3. Selling the President: Stand-Up Comedy and the Politricks of Endorsement4. Ma Red's Maneuvers: Popular Theater and "Progressive" Culture5. In the House of Stories: Village Aspirations and Heritage TourismConclusionNotesBibliographyIndex

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