Q & A With Inaugural Mellon Arts Project International Visiting Professor Salim Washington

Q & A With Inaugural Mellon Arts Project International Visiting Professor Salim Washington 

During the 2021- 2022 academic year, Salim Washington was the inaugural Mellon Arts International Visiting Professor for the African American and African Diaspora Studies Department. Professor Washington taught two vibrant and illuminating courses; “John Coltrane and the Jazz/Blues Aesthetic” and the “South African Jazz Imaginary.” Combining both his experience as a distinguished jazz saxophonist and an academic scholar, Washington’s research interests and teaching style perfectly encapsulated the interconnectedness between the arts and academia, as well as the centrality of artists in shaping our understanding of the world around us—a theme that Professor Farah Jasmine Griffin highlights as vital to the Mellon Arts Project.

Students were inspired by Professor Washington’s courses. On taking Professor Washington’s course titled “John Coltrane and the Jazz/Blues Aesthetic,” in 2021, James Jennings, a final-year graduate student in African American Studies says;

“John Coltrane’s numerous musical reinventions resulted from his relentless dedication for technical agility, harmonic mastery, and spiritual clarity. Professor Washington’s seminar illustrated how Coltrane’s genre-shifting sound augmented the political and aesthetic capabilities of jazz.”

 

Here is a Q & A with Professor Washington about his time as the inaugural International Visiting Professor with the Mellon Arts Project:

 

  1. What was your experience like as the inaugural International Visiting Professor for the Mellon Arts Project?

My experience as the inaugural International Visiting Professor with the Mellon Arts Project was quite wonderful. I was able to engage with wonderful students and colleagues while being free of administrative duties. This allowed me time to pursue my own projects in a concerted way. It was very helpful.
 

  1. How has jazz musician John Coltrane influenced your research and teaching?

Actually John Coltrane has influenced almost everything in my life. In terms of research I remain committed to trying to understand what is special about his music and his persona. I am certainly not the only one to research Coltrane, but I feel that I have certain insights based upon my own musical experiences and the ways in which it engages with Coltrane's legacy. I am also interested in the ways in which Coltrane's music informs black culture even as it is shaped by it. My explorations in this direction will be shaped by musical facts and details.

As far as teaching, Coltrane's careful and studious presentation of his musical ideas is an example of the type of scholar I would like to be. As Amiri Baraka has said, of the people who are truly great, Coltrane has the distinction of being truly humble. I aspire to that as a teacher.
 

  1.  How did your teaching of two courses in 2021- 2022 contribute to your book-length studies titled Beautiful Nightmare: John Coltrane, Jazz, and American Culture and Notes from Mzansi: The South African Jazz Imaginary.

Teaching those courses allowed me to engage with students on some of the literature relevant to both books. It was also revealing to hear the reactions of non-specialists (from a musician's point of view) to the music of Coltrane and the jazz of South Africa. And designing the syllabus and helping to conduct class discussions helped me to hone my ideas about what was most essential about these topics. Finally, some students were able to expand my understanding about certain lacunae in the literature, most especially from  feminist perspectives.
 

  1. What is your advice to students who are interested pursuing arts-centered research through the AAADS department?

My advice is to be sure to center the actual art form in the research. The artistic statement is almost always more profound than the commentary it engenders.
 

  1. What are some of your forthcoming projects that we should keep an eye out for?

I am composing works that combine a jazz ensemble with improvisers with the philharmonic orchestra. Added to this will be a pan-African percussion ensemble and a choir. I would also like to add poets in this mix.