WORLD JAZZ 

David has a number of musical projects that while dear to his heart, do not necessarily match his local market for live music. These projects are largely based around creating fusions of jazz with various styles of world-music.

World-Jazz

What is ‘world-jazz’ and what are some under-explored opportunities for creativity in this broad hybrid genre? These two questions were the primary focus of David's Music Honours study, which delved into ‘world-jazz’ by examining crossover styles that relate to twelve original ‘world-jazz’ compositions.   

This work addresses two primary questions:  

1) What is ‘world-jazz’?  
2) What are some under-explored opportunities for further development and creativity within this broad genre?    

A third, more theoretical question is addressed secondarily:  

3) Can jazz successfully translate into contexts within all regions of the globe, in such a way that that the music presents an authentic expression of ethnic and regional culture, whilst retaining the essential qualities of jazz, thus contributing towards a global jazz language?   

David undertook practice-led research to create a set of compositions and arrangements representing world-jazz, with styles explored including Bossa-Nova, Samba, Afro-Cuban, Afro-Beat, Ethio-Jazz, Egyptian Jazz, Jazz Reggae, Persian Jazz, Indian influenced Jazz and Oceania/Polynesian influenced jazz.  

David was awarded First Class Honours for this research undertaken as part of the Bachelor of Creative Arts (Music) program, with the University of Southern Queensland in 2018.

Oceanic Jazz

Despite the growing prevalence  of world-jazz, there are minimal examples of fusions of Oceanic music with jazz. David's current Oceanic Jazz PhD project seeks to redress this, investigating the following questions:  

1) What are some practical creative potentials for fusion of traditional and regional musical influences from throughout Oceania, with jazz music?     

2) How can this new music contribute to a post-colonial, multicultural regional identity? 

David uses a practice led research methodology to fuse characteristics of jazz with traditional and regional music of Oceania.