UCLA

This dissertation explores the social history of jazz through its various constituencies of fandom and listenership in the United States. Utilizing archival materials produced by jazz enthusiasts—such as fan mail, diaries, scrapbooks, fan club bulletins, photographs, legal and financial records, and oral history interviews—I offer three historical case studies of jazz fandom’s sociality. These include the Hot Music Society of San Francisco, the brainchild of etymologist-turned-record collector Peter C. Tamony; the production of The Cry of Jazz, a 1959 short film by a group of African American filmmakers in post-World War II Chicago; and the reciprocal relationships pianist Mary Lou Williams built with her adoring fans. Together, these critical inquiries into the cultural and political dynamics of jazz listening demonstrate how enthusiasts from diverse backgrounds used music to generate meanings, define values, construct identities, and make sense of a changing world in the mid-twentieth century. I argue that from the Great Depression to the Second Reconstruction, ordinary people with extraordinary enthusiasm for jazz transformed the social space of music listening into not only a democratic discursive arena but also a vehicle for confronting structural racism across different times and places. By foregrounding the everyday experiences of ordinary people, my study of jazz fandom’s history significantly departs from the dominant, musician-centered narrative. The institutionalization of jazz, while fostering interest in the music, has also formalized an official narrative that focuses on the lineage of isolated geniuses, thereby marginalizing the role of audiences. This dissertation on the history of jazz fandom suggests an alternative, bottom-up narrative of jazz history. Thus, my research contributes to a deeper understanding of the role of culture in everyday life and its political potential for social change, both in the past and the present.