The Europe Jazz Network's research project and book “The Shared Roots of European Jazz” was presented on the 25th April 2015 during a conference at the international jazz trade show jazzahead! in Bremen.
The three-year research project aims at producing the first organic linear description of 100 years of jazz history in Europe, from its inception during World War I to its more recent developments. The arrival point will be publication of a book, expected for 2018, for which there is an initial agreement with the leading UK publishing house Equinox. The programme is supported with the funding of the Creative Europe programme of the EU, and it is the first project of this kind, while many important books have been published and translated about local and national jazz scenes.
The book will be a great tool for researchers and young musicians that want to discover more about the topic, as well as for the general public that is passionate about jazz. The publication will include specific country chapters, the majority of the book, as well as transnational chapters that will focus on subjects common to all jazz in Europe such as festivals, the relation with movies and the academia.
The overall objective, in line with EJN’s core mission, is to show how jazz has been and can be an incredible force of integration within and between European societies, a form of art that is always pushing for diversity and openness towards different influences.
The panel of the conference in Bremen was composed of historians and academics of jazz: Francesco Martinelli, from Italy, also coordinator of the project, Alyn Shipton from the UK, Ekkehard Jost from Germany, Philippe Méziat from France and Bert Vuijsje from The Netherlands. All of them have been previously involved in editorial projects about jazz in Europe and they constitute the core group of the project. The aim is to have as much as 30 contributors from different European countries that can represent the plurality of points of view on the subject.
An online version of the book will also be developed in the final phase of the project, which will allow keeping the publication always updated with new works and references to new musicians.
Info on the jazzahead webpage: http://www.jazzahead.de/index.php?id=587&organizer_id=1112&event_id=1280&cat_id=&loc_id=103&ref=495&L=1
