Lecture + master class Jason King, 2 Dec. 2016 in Parnassos

On Dec. 2 2016 Jason King will be visiting Utrecht University.

Location: Theatre Room, Parnassos, Kruisstraat 201 Utrecht.

The program consists of two elements:

1) Arts and Society Speaker Series (13:00-15:00)

TRANSFORMING 21st CENTURY POP

In this discussion and lecture, Jason King shares some of his thoughts about the state and future of global pop music into the second decade of the 21st century, and he shares some of his current work, including his international orchestral disco collective Company Freak (recorded in NY, Toronto, Addis Ababa, Lagos, and Istanbul), and his forthcoming revisionist biography of rock icon Freddie Mercury, which takes a closer look at the superstar’s roots/routes in Zanzibar and Bombay.

2) Master Class (15:00-17:00) 
SHOCK VALUE: FLOW, FENG SHUI AND SPACE IN THE TIMBALAND SOUND
Jason King will present part of a chapter of his forthcoming book project for Duke University Press on the mechanics of energy – elusive properties like “vibe” and “soul” and “funk” – in contemporary popular music.  In this presentation, King looks at the presence of what hip-hop fans call “flow” as it pertains to the innovative work of Grammy-winning producer/hit machine Timbaland, especially the work he has done in collaboration with rap superstar Jay Z and late R&B singer Aaliyah. One of the central arguments in the chapter is that the hip-hop producer’s architectural siting and placement design of the beat – the way that the rhythm is designed to make you dance, to move, and to shake your body to inspire good feeling on the dancefloor or on the street – is analogous to the process of siting and placement in Feng Shui, the geoscience that involves manipulation of the energy of a room or a space to inspire good feeling and prosperity.

Who is Jason King? In his own words on jasonkingonline.com:

I am a writer.
I produce music & I’m a DJ.
I am a professor.
I run a music company.
I have a band.
I am the host of a 24/7 radio channel.
I produce concerts & events.

From his institutional page on tisch.nyu.edu/about/directory/clive-davis-institute/1159922230:

Jason King is a Canadian musician, DJ, performer, producer, arranger and songwriter, scholar, curator and journalist. Jason holds a Ph.D from New York University, where he is Associate Professor and the founding faculty member of The Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music. He worked alongside legendary music impresario Clive Davis to help build and develop the program and he served as the program’s first Interim Chair, first Associate Chair and for six years as its first (and only) Artistic Director. He has been teaching classes on popular music history, the music business (marketing/branding) and the social aspects of music technology for more than sixteen years at New York University.

The event is organized by Edward Akintola Hubbard, and Toine Minnaert.