Deracinated Flower

In this essay, I explore composer and pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi's articulation of a transcultural “rootlessness” which she developed by rendering non‐jazz influences, drawn most notably from Japanese musical aesthetics, within a jazz context. Her active infusion of traditional Japanese musical elements into large ensemble jazz music compositions and arrangements throughout the 1970s reflected her changing attitude regarding the aesthetic or musical affiliations enabled by nationality, ethnicity, and gender, on the one hand, and musical practices, repertoire, and instrumentation, on the other. By hearing the music Akiyoshi created through this “rootless” approach, we gain invaluable insight into the production and representation of jazz during the 1970s, a time when transcultural expression was changing the sounds as well as the meanings of the genre

Aesthetics · Art · Jazz · Linguistics · Literature · Musical · Musical expression · Repertoire · Visual arts · Asian Culture and Media Studies · Computer Science · Music History and Culture · Musicology and Musical Analysis · Philosophy