Identity, Contemporary Music and Community: Some Illustrations of this area of Personal Research with Special Reference to Confluent Jazz Music in the Nordic Countries

Abstract

This reflective paper considers the congruence in Scandinavia between today's improvised music and jazz, and the older discipline of folklore/folklife in both their purposes and functions. Further, there is here a retrospective preservation of cultural identity through the media of story, song, and dance. And this folklore re-defines the contemporary society, assists the understanding of identity, and much enriches an already expressive culture. Thus it intersects with the contemporary, reasserts the defiance of the outlaw, and deftly creates an interplay between heritage, memory and Identity.