Jazz as a Metaphor for Democracy: Considering Dialecticism and Agonism in Jazz Pedagogy

Abstract: The intersection of jazz and democracy has been considered widely by scholars and performers alike, however there is scant consideration of democratic pedagogy within the jazz medium. I unpack Wynton Marsalis’s jazz as democracy metaphor, drawing from John Dewey’s philosophy of democracy in education. Concepts of plurality, agonism, and dialecticism are applied to the performance and pedagogy of jazz in an attempt to explicate the metaphor in a pedagogical context. I reconceptualize jazz as a metaphor for democracy with greater fidelity to both the aesthetics and praxis of the medium, considering discursive histories and contemporary educational realities in an effort to promote democracy through difference and via tolerance. Finally, practical applications to scholastic jazz education are offered, employing democratic and learner-centered theories to a cyclical and iterative rehearsal process in which students co-construct their learning, building democratic habits of mind.