9th Rhythm Changes Conference Amsterdam 2025

The ninth Rhythm Changes conference, Jazz Futures, will take place at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam (Amsterdam University of the Arts) from 28 to 31 August 2025, in conjunction with the University of Amsterdam and IMPRODECO (Improvised Music and Decolonisation, Utrecht University).

This four-day multidisciplinary conference features keynotes, academic papers and panels and brings together researchers, writers, musicians, critics, and others interested in jazz studies. From the moment it surfaced, jazz held a promise of progress, innovation, and novelty, embraced by modernists around the globe. At the same time, it was declared dead just a few years after it first appeared on record. With each new development and technology (from multi-tracking to AI), the naysayers have lamented that jazz had now taken a wrong turn, while others thought the latest direction would lead the music into a new and bright future. Neo- and retro-genres, next to fusions and
crossovers, have triggered – and continue to trigger – similar debates. Jazz studies have moved with those shifting discourses, too, interrogating some of their premises but ignoring others. Inevitably, ideas about the future of jazz hold ideas about its past. At stake are the relevance and urgency of the music and, by extension, its future.

We welcome papers addressing the conference theme from multiple perspectives, including cultural studies, musicology, cultural theory, music analysis, jazz history, media studies, and practice-based research. We particularly welcome contributors who identify as women or gender diverse and from other under-represented groups and communities within jazz studies and academia more generally.

For information about conference sub-themes and how to submit a proposal go to www.rhythmchanges.net