Artistic Research in Jazz and Popular Music: Relevance, Potential and Challenges
🗓️ Wednesday, 24 June — 10:10am
- 11:10am
(60 mins)
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Abstract
In academia, jazz and popular music remain minoritized fields. Yet popular music permeates contemporary society as both a commercial commodity and a rich creative practice with significant epistemological value, particularly in oral traditions, ritual, social bonding, and self-expression. Jazz, once widely popular, continues to offer vital insights into historically informed performance and artistic experimentation.
Since 2019, the International Network for Artistic Research in Jazz (INARJ) has explored the specific nature of artistic research in jazz and popular music. This work has produced five international conferences, the peer-reviewed ARJAZZ Journal, and a growing body of publications. In 2026, INARJ members established a new Special Interest Group (SiG) within the Society for Artistic Research (SAR) dedicated to Artistic Research in Jazz and Popular Music, aiming for closer integration with the wider artistic research community.
This panel critically examines the relevance, potential, and challenges of artistic research in jazz and popular music. After introducing the three SiG management team members and providing context on INARJ and the new SiG, the panelists will present key examples from their own research and the broader INARJ network. Presentations are structured around the central themes of previous INARJ conferences:
Rigor in Improvisatory Practices
Communities of Practice
Places and Spaces
The panel invites SAR members to engage with the new SiG’s upcoming activities. A Q&A session will explore the balance between the specific concerns of jazz and popular music and the wider priorities of the SAR network. Key questions include: What is the transformative potential of artistic research in these fields within SAR? How can challenges of marginalization, economic pressures, and homogenization be addressed? And how can artistic research in popular music bridge academic institutions and non-institutional knowledge spheres?
Since 2019, the International Network for Artistic Research in Jazz (INARJ) has explored the specific nature of artistic research in jazz and popular music. This work has produced five international conferences, the peer-reviewed ARJAZZ Journal, and a growing body of publications. In 2026, INARJ members established a new Special Interest Group (SiG) within the Society for Artistic Research (SAR) dedicated to Artistic Research in Jazz and Popular Music, aiming for closer integration with the wider artistic research community.
This panel critically examines the relevance, potential, and challenges of artistic research in jazz and popular music. After introducing the three SiG management team members and providing context on INARJ and the new SiG, the panelists will present key examples from their own research and the broader INARJ network. Presentations are structured around the central themes of previous INARJ conferences:
Rigor in Improvisatory Practices
Communities of Practice
Places and Spaces
The panel invites SAR members to engage with the new SiG’s upcoming activities. A Q&A session will explore the balance between the specific concerns of jazz and popular music and the wider priorities of the SAR network. Key questions include: What is the transformative potential of artistic research in these fields within SAR? How can challenges of marginalization, economic pressures, and homogenization be addressed? And how can artistic research in popular music bridge academic institutions and non-institutional knowledge spheres?
Biography
This newly established Special Interest Group (SIG) seeks to engage with the diverse positions, theories and methods that characterize artistic research in jazz and popular music. Its activities build upon and extend the foundational work of the International Network for Artistic Research in Jazz (INARJ, 2019-2026). INARJ was initiated in response to the growing significance of artistic research perspectives in jazz studies. The SIG will foster connections between jazz and popular music experts and the broader Society for Artistic Research (SAR) community. It will serve as an international platform for knowledge exchange and collaboration among artistic researchers by supporting joint projects, regular conferences and publications, most notably the peer-reviewed ARJAZZ Journal for Artistic Research in Jazz hosted on the Research Catalogue.
The SIG will be formally launched during a dedicated panel discussion at the 17th SAR Conference (International Forum on Artistic Research) at the University of Galway, 23-26 June 2026.
Interested SAR members are invited to join the SIG by contacting one of the team coordinators via email (details below).
In addition, the SIG currently invites proposals for both, the 2nd edition of ARJAZZ Journal for Artistic Research in Jazz (call here) and the upcoming conference on Artistic Research, Music Technologies and Artificial Intelligence in Vienna, 12-14 November 2026 (call here).
Submission deadline for both calls is June 30, 2026.
SIG coordinators:
Univ.-Prof. Dr. Michael Kahr (JAM MUSIC LAB Private University for Jazz and Popular Music / University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz) kahr@jammusiclab.com
Univ.-Prof. Dr. Monika Herzig (JAM MUSIC LAB Private University for Jazz and Popular Music) monika.herzig@jammusiclab.com
Dr. Mike Fletcher (Birmingham City University) michael.fletcher@bcu.ac.uk
The SIG will be formally launched during a dedicated panel discussion at the 17th SAR Conference (International Forum on Artistic Research) at the University of Galway, 23-26 June 2026.
Interested SAR members are invited to join the SIG by contacting one of the team coordinators via email (details below).
In addition, the SIG currently invites proposals for both, the 2nd edition of ARJAZZ Journal for Artistic Research in Jazz (call here) and the upcoming conference on Artistic Research, Music Technologies and Artificial Intelligence in Vienna, 12-14 November 2026 (call here).
Submission deadline for both calls is June 30, 2026.
SIG coordinators:
Univ.-Prof. Dr. Michael Kahr (JAM MUSIC LAB Private University for Jazz and Popular Music / University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz) kahr@jammusiclab.com
Univ.-Prof. Dr. Monika Herzig (JAM MUSIC LAB Private University for Jazz and Popular Music) monika.herzig@jammusiclab.com
Dr. Mike Fletcher (Birmingham City University) michael.fletcher@bcu.ac.uk