'A tale of five festivals' : exploring the cultural intermediary function of Australian jazz festivals

IntroductionMusic festivals have been broadly defined as 'a series of performances, of a generally celebratory nature, given by large numbers of individuals and groups over a limited period of time' (Kernfield 1988: 360). Music festivals have become a significant subject of analysis in the study of popular music, particularly since the 1990s (Gibson 2007: 65). The attraction of studying festivals most probably arises from the increased number of festivals from this period, but also from the ways in which festivals transform spaces, contribute to local economies and have become focal points in the musical and cultural fabric of communities across the globe (Curtis 2010: 102; Gibson and Connell 2012: 4). Music festivals have also proven to be interesting case studies of 'neo-tribalism', which employ Maffesoli's (1995) theoretical framework to describe and study festivals as informal networks that provide spaces for solidarity and belonging, proximity, hedonism and a politics of survival (Riley et al. 2010: 348; see also Bennett 1999). Festivals also provide new forms (albeit rather fleeting) of sociality through shared consumption patterns, commodities and branding (Cummings 2007: 2).Reflecting global trends, music festivals in Australia have become increasingly important sites of cultural expression, characterized by the complex interrelation of sounds, space, economies, power structures, producers, consumers and cultural intermediaries. The significance of music festivals in Australia is evidenced by Graeme Smith's (2005: 67) argument that music festivals have become 'the most important public activity' in Australian folk music from the 1990s onwards. More specifically in regards to jazz festivals, Australia is historically significant as it is possibly one of the first places to hold jazz festivals in the world (Johnson 2003: 276). Jazz festivals are particularly significant to studies of music festivals in Australia, not only because of the significance of jazz generally in the shaping of national identity (Johnson 2010: 54), but also because jazz festivals represent the second largest number of music festivals in the country (17.4% of all music festivals in 2006-2007) behind country music (Gibson 2007: 70).Jazz festivals became widespread throughout Australia from the 1960s, and a boom in jazz festivals in the 1990s corresponds to broader trends in Australian festivals (Gibson 2007: 65; Johnson 2003: 276). A number of reasons have been given to explain the rise in these festivals. Gibson (2007: 71) argues that one of the reasons for the rise in the popularity of jazz festivals in Australia is the creation of a network of 'inland heritage tourism', and the ways in which festivals particularly contribute to the local economies of rural towns in Australia. Curtis (2010: 106) has made a similar argument in her study of Wangaratta Festival of Jazz and Blues (hereafter Wangaratta), where the residents of Wangaratta were pleased about the cultural and economic benefits to the town through 'musical tourism' rather than the actual merits of the music per se.In this article I will be considering the role of jazz festivals in Australia as cultural intermediaries and providers of patronage for musicians. I use the term 'cultural intermediaries' in similar fashion to Bourdieu's original use, referring to the 'occupations involving presentation and representation', and those 'institutions providing symbolic goods and services' (Bourdieu 1984: 359). In this passage he particularly highlights sales, marketing, advertising, public relations, fashion and decoration as examples of the work and occupations of cultural intermediaries. Some of these roles are directly relevant to the function played by festival organizational staff, particularly those of marketing, advertising and promotion, and the importance of these roles in bridging the distance (or perhaps reproducing that distance) between the processes of production and consumption (Negus 2002: 504, 511). …