RESEARCH

Every year, many large-scale jazz festivals take place around the world. The
majority of these are located in The United States- the universally recognised;
origin of Jazz music but Europe has also become a major centre for annual
festivals. Typically, the larger jazz Festivals provide venues comprising several
stages for music performances, as well as Food and drinks, accommodation and
ticket packages. These festivals accommodate relatively large numbers of
people and usually run for just a few days at a time. As the global jazz festival
culture has grown, so have the festivals themselves. Many have become large-
scale events, with varied programmes, comprising traditional, Indigenous, and
popular music, as well as jazz. In this way, the festivals have become less jazz-
orientated than their titles suggest, and are now more eclectic in their
Programming choices. They have become important players in the tourist trade,
as both domestic and International tourists visit them each year. (Gibson &
Connell 2005, p. 1) In many cases, this has led to festivals becoming lucrative
events, with corporate branding and Sponsorship forming a major part of their
marketed image to the public. The income generated by the festivals can also be
used for more sustainable and Developmental purposes, such as to energise both
the income and profile of the local Communities, as well as to help the
development of the local music infrastructures. These Infrastructures could
include, for example, areas of music education and the marketing in addition,
selling of local music to foreign audiences. In the lesser-developed contexts of
Jazz festivals taking place in regions outside the Established festival circuits of
The United States and Europe, this model of a modern, urban jazz festival,
functioning as both a musical and potentially lucrative event, has also Been
adopted.

The Standard Bank Joy of Jazz Festival

The Standard Bank Joy of Jazz Festival is billed as ‘one of the biggest jazz
festivals on South Africa's musical calendar.’ (www.standardbankjazz.co.za) the
annual festival takes place on the last weekend of August in Newtown,
Johannesburg. It comprises several stages, both inside existing venues in
Newtown and in venues that have been temporarily erected for the festival.
Every year, it presents a line-up of both local and international performers that
is said to incorporate ‘all jazz styles - from Afro jazz and fusion to Latin
rhythms, bebop and straight ahead.’ (ibid) It has also presented other popular
South African music styles in performance, as well as performers from other
African countries.
Aim
It is a commonplace assumption that jazz is synonymous with heritage.
However, this relationship needs to be interrogated, as jazz music embraces a
wide variety of musical influences. The aim of this research is to assess to what
extent jazz is considered as intangible heritage and whether or not conscious
measures are taken to provide subsequent safeguarding mechanisms for the
music. Questions as to how the music is conceived of, and constructed as
heritage will be addressed.
The case study for the research is the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz Festival in
Newtown, Johannesburg. The report will focus particularly on the positioning of
jazz music within the framework of the festival. It will concern the placement of
music and musicians that are presented in the programme, asking questions as
to why certain acts are chosen and why others are not.

By looking at the festival’s programming, the report aims to explore how the
music is
Positioned in relation to the festival’s audience, other music performances in the
Programme and the festival itself as a commercial event. Thus, this research
aims to discover how the festival acts, or does not act, as a venue for jazz
performance in Johannesburg, given the lack of smaller venues in the city, and
consequently whether or not it may be said to safeguard and perpetuate jazz as a
heritage
Resource1.The report will recognise the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz Festival as
primarily commercial venture- with no pretensions to be otherwise- and will
question whether the commercial aspirations of the festival are irreconcilable
with heritage concerns.

Rationale
Firstly, my attraction to the topic comes from personal experience, both as a semi-
professional jazz musician and as a visitor to several jazz festivals throughout the world.
Second, as a student of heritage, my interest in the performance of jazz music has grown to
include questions of heritage and the contexts in which the music is performed and how it is
kept alive in society. Many studies have been made on festivals and festival culture. It has
been stated that the subject ‘has attracted a steady interest from researchers drawn from
anthropology, economics and sociology,’ as well as in the field of tourism. (Ryan & Saleh
1993, p. 289) However, there has not yet been as ‘steady’ an interest in the field of heritage
Design
Source book
PAT

THE BRIEF
THE STATEMENT OF INTENT
THE RATIONALE
MIND-MAP
EVIDENCE OF RESEARCH
EXPERIMENTATION
DETAILED PLANNING
EVIDENCE OF DEVELOPMENT
AND REFLECTION
FINAL DRAWINGS
DESIGN IN A BUSINESS CONTEXT