The Context and Culture of Improvised Music & the Transculturalisation of African American Gospel Music into an Australian Context: iCon and Beat Night

African American gospel/jazz vocal and instrumental techniques and practices have significantly influenced the development of contemporary popular music. In 2010 my research set out a detailed analytical notational system for gospel music and at the same time proposed a contextual framework for the implementation of its essential techniques and performance practices outside of the originating African American gospel music culture.

Part of my ongoing published research (Cambridge Popular Music and This Is My City, Routledge Press) focusses on the “Tansculturalisation of African American Gospel Music” into Australian and other, non-African American cultures and contexts. Both iCon and Beat Night apply this research to composition/original music and the creation and recontextualisation of African American-inspired improvisational music.