Research summary
Musicologists studying popular music look at musical style, the social meaning of the music and the identities of the musicians who create it. As Canada Research Chair in Popular Music and Society, Dr. David Brackett is interested in better understanding the relationships between categories of music and categories of people.
Brackett and his research team are conducting an historical analysis of the interrelationship between the three major branches of Western music: popular, jazz and classical. They are particularly interested in shedding light on the change in status between these types of music in the mid-1960s. Bracket and his team are is also analyzing creativity in the recording studio from historical and ethnographic perspectives.