Ken Prouty
Associate Professor of Musicology and Jazz Studies | Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI, UNITED STATES
Expert in jazz history, American music and popular music, and the nature of jazz community
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Biography
Ken Prouty is the area chair of musicology at the Michigan State University College of Music.
He's been with MSU since 2007. At Michigan State, Dr. Prouty teaches courses in jazz history, American music, and popular music. His recent research focuses on the nature of jazz community and the culture of jazz pedagogy. He is a frequent presenter at scholarly conferences in the U.S. and Europe, and he has published articles in academic journals such as Critical Studies in Improvisation, Popular Music and Society, and Journal of Music History Pedagogy, to name a few.
Industry Expertise (3)
Music
Research
Education/Learning
Areas of Expertise (5)
Ethnomusicology
Contemporary Music
American Music
Jazz
Popular Music
Education (2)
University of Pittsburgh: Ph.D., Ethnomusicology
University of North Texas: M.M.
News (1)
A Brief History Of Jazz Education, Pt. 1
NPR Music
2012-11-02
The story of "jazz ed" isn't just one of institutional complexes, but of dedicated improvisers finding their ways to them. "The history of jazz and the history of jazz education are the same thing," says Ken Prouty, author of the recent book Knowing Jazz. "'Jazz Education' has been around as long as one jazz musician taught something to another one." Ake and Prouty, music scholars originally trained as jazz musicians, are dedicating much of their research to historicizing jazz education, yet another sign of the phenomenon's complex past...
Journal Articles (3)
Searching for Charles Johnson: The Outlier and the Ordinary in Jazz
Popular Music and SocietyKen Prouty
2014 In jazz's historical discourses, major figures are often regarded as “geniuses” of exceptional ability or talent. At the same time, such artists have been used to construct jazz's historical canon, often representing entire genres or stylistic movements. In fact, these musicians might be wholly unrepresentative of the performance communities from which they come. Conceptualizing such artists as “outliers” allows us to see their experiences as both exceptional and grounded in the community. It also leads to a fuller understanding of the roles of “ordinary” jazz musicians, who were members of the same communities but did not achieve wider recognition.
Finding Jazz in the Jazz-As-Business Metaphor
Jazz PerspectivesKen Prouty
2013 The question of meaning in jazz is one that has been discussed and debated in print and among various members of jazz communities for years, arguably since the very origins of the music. Jazz has been cast as something quintessentially American, as an expression of racial progress and reconciliation, as a degradation of American culture and values, and in many other ways. In each of these instances, the meaning of jazz extends beyond the sonic practices of the music itself, becoming a metaphor for non-musical ideas that are seen as having resonance with jazz's musical identity. In this essay, I examine a particular application of this metaphor, one that has been applied to the world of business management and organization. In this metaphorical construction, jazz is seen as representing a process in which the standard practices of business and management can be re-conceptualized and restructured to lead to an environment that is more collaborative, engaging, and “improvisational.” My analysis of this type of jazz metaphor focuses on the assumptions that are made about jazz practice, how they are employed within these environments, and how these assumptions represent, in some cases, a circumscribed and incomplete view of the practices and traditions of jazz. I suggest that this jazz metaphor often relies as much on jazz's perceived cultural capital as it does on any specific assumptions about or derivations of music practice.
Plagiarizing your own autobiography, and other strange tales: Miles Davis, jazz discourse, and the aesthetic of silence
Jazz Research JournalKen Prouty
2010 Miles Davis was known for his troubled relationships with writers, often expressing disdain for those who would comment upon his life and music. As a result, critical understanding of Davis has often been obscured, resulting from a self generated silence from Davis himself, as a means to direct his own critical discourse. The allegations of plagiarism surrounding the publication of Miles: The Autobiography illustrate Davis’s imposition of a discursive silence on his critics and admirers alike. By refusing to speak openly and honestly about himself, Davis forced critics and scholars to fill in gaps in his narrative, with speculation and, in the case of the autobiography, other written work. By being ‘difficult’ or ‘uncooperative’, Davis engaged in a process that was similar to his interactions with musicians, leaving spaces for others to fill. Thus, an aesthetic of silence underscores both his approach to music, and his engagement with the broader discourse.
