Discursos de paz y justicia social en las músicas populares

Israel V. Márquez, Josep Pedro, David Álvarez, Joaquín Cardoso y Adam Havas

Guest lecture at the Department of Communicaon, Faculty of Humanies, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid – “Research Methodologies for Journalism” BA course, 14th March 2023

The talk will outline the preliminary findings of my MSCA postdoctoral research which focuses on issues of musical socialisation, cultural assimilation, financial strategies and gender inequalities within the jazz scenes of three major European cities: Barcelona, Budapest and Manchester. These three cities are illustrative of fundamental changes in the way that contemporary music scenes in Europe are responding to challenges of globalisation. This is most apparent in the many hybrid musical forms being developed by Europe’s traditional (Jewish/Romani) and current (immigrant diasporas) ‘quintessential Others’ to express cultural identities.

Based on the recently published monograph, The Genesis and Structure of the Hungarian Jazz Diaspora, the talk will explore various aspects of the tensions between ‘diversity’ and (cultural) ‘difference’ through a semi-peripheral, East European perspective. Based on sociologically informed case studies of Hungarian Jewish and Gypsy/Romani musicians who play(ed) a crucial role in the diasporic reinventions of canonical jazz aesthetics, the talk advocates for a nuanced view on jazz historiography beyond shallow oppositions between US-centric canons and (West)European notions of ‘emancipation.’