This talk presents an exploration of Julius Hemphill’s seminal 1972 recording “Dogon AD,” in its relationship to the jazz avant-garde, Afrofuturism, and renegade notions of jazz theory. Professor Veal has been a member of the Yale faculty since 1998. A self-described “musical pan-Africanist,” Veal’s work has typically addressed musical topics within the black Atlantic cultural sphere of Africa and the African diaspora. His 2000 biography of the Nigerian musician Fela Anikulapo-Kuti uses the life and music of this influential African musician to explore themes of African post-coloniality, the political uses of music in Africa, and musical and cultural interchange between cultures of Africa and the African diaspora. His 2007 book Dub: Soundscapes and Shattered Songs in Jamaican Reggae 2007 examines the ways in which the studio-based innovations of Jamaican recording engineers during the 1970s transformed the structure and concept of the post-WWII popular song, and examines sound technology as a medium for the articulation of spiritual, historical and political themes. His latest book Living Space surveys under-documented periods in the careers of John Coltrane and Miles Davis, and draws on the discourses of digital architecture and experimental photography in order to suggest new directions for jazz analysis and interpretation. Professor Veal is also the leader of the musical groups Michael Veal & Aqua Ife and Michael Veal’s Armillary Sphere.

Organized by the Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Music (CISM) and cosponsored by Ethnomusicology Forum.