Nostalgia, landscape, and social criticism in Brooklyn Babylon: a contemporary theatrical work by jazz composer Darcy James Argue and media artist Danijel Žeželj

This dissertation explores Brooklyn Babylon, a 2011 theatrical presentation by jazz composer Darcy James Argue and visual artist Danijel Žeželj, for musical elements related to contemporary expressions of nostalgia, landscape, and social criticism. Brooklyn Babylon is a silent animated film with a soundtrack performed by Argue’s Secret Society Big Band. The story is of an old immigrant craftsman caught in a moral dilemma between nostalgia for the ethnic neighborhood he loves and an authoritarian mayor’s ambitions to create “the tallest building in the world.” Inspired by William Kinderman’s genetic criticism model of musical analysis, traditionally built upon an examination of written sketches, correspondence, and other sources that predate a completed work, this study constructs its understanding of the artists’ creative process through post-composition personal interviews and a targeted musical analysis of the final score. The research is complemented by cross-disciplinary theories of nostalgia and landscape by Stephen Davies, Stuart Tannock, Steven Feld, and others, that serve to illuminate and help interpret the social paradigms in the work. The results of the study show that my research method facilitates a greater understanding of what the work means for the artists and an enhanced hearing of Argue’s musical score. More importantly, they demonstrate that this knowledge would not have been obtained through musical analysis alone. Interviews conducted with the work’s authors and performers shed light on Žeželj’s nostalgic outlook and strong views on loss while deconstructing Argue’s statement that Brooklyn Babylon was a “critique of nostalgia.” The discussions also revealed an understanding of Argue’s pre-compositional work and how his acoustical knowledge of Brooklyn’s musical culture enhanced his efforts to “sound” the various landscapes in the work. Finally, the research uncovered how Argue’s views on gentrification in Brooklyn, and Žeželj’s experience in the former Yugoslavia and the Bosnian War, served to motivate the artists to create Brooklyn Babylon as a statement on the social injustice of displaced people throughout the world. In the conclusion, I offer insight on conducting the music from the work, point to further research needed, and assert the benefits of this research method for the Jazz education community.

Name thesis:degree_name

A.Mus.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Music

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2022

Author dc:creator

• Blackall, Karen F.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Buchanan, Donna A
• Pugh, James
• McNeill, Charles
• Meyers, John P

• Nostalgia
• Landscape
• Soundscape
• Acoustemology
• Hipster
• Carousel
• Graphic Novel
• Big Band
• Contemporary Jazz
• Multimedia Performance

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2021 Karen Blackall

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/112989

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/112989