Shannon Dudley

Shannon Dudley, associate professor of Ethnomusicology, holds a PhD from the University of California at Berkeley. He teaches courses that include music of Latin America and the Caribbean, American popular music, Music in American Cultures, World Music, and graduate seminars in Ethnomusicology. He also directs the UW steeelband.

Dudley has conducted extensive research in Trinidad and Tobago, focusing on the history and music of steelbands. More recent research projects include the music of El Gran Combo, and salsa music in Puerto Rico generally, as well as Latino contributions to American popular music. His theoretical interests include nationalism, festival, transculturation, race and ethnicity, and the way these forces shape musical performance.

He is the author of Carnival Music in Trinidad (Oxford University Press, 2004), as well as Music From Behind the Bridge, a history of Trinidad steelband music in preparation for Oxford. Dudley’s articles include “The Steelband Own Tune: Nationalism, Festivity, and Musical Strategies in Trinidad’s Panorama Competition," Black Music Research Journal (2003); “Creativity and Constraint in Trinidad Carnival Competitions,” World of Music (2003); “Dropping the Bomb: Steelband Performance and Meaning in 1960s Trinidad,” Ethnomusicology (2002); “Ray Holman and the Changing Role of the Steelband, 1957-1972,” Latin American Music Review (2001); and “Judging by the Beat: Calypso vs. Soca,” Ethnomusicology (1996).

Dudley also coordinates the activities of the Seattle Partnership for American Music (SPAPM), a collaboration between the UW School of Music, the Experience Music Project museum, and KEXP-FM, funded by the Allen Foundation. SPAPM has funded lectures, residencies, and concerts by scholars and artists, including guitarist Larry Coryell, Gospel scholar and director Horace Clarence Boyer, “American Routes” radio show host Nick Spitzer, Latin jazz pianist Eddie Palmieri, ethnomusicologist Charles Keil, jazz saxophonist Kenny Garrett, bassist Marcus Miller, Anthony Brown and the Asian American Orchestra, bassist Joe Santiago, and conga virtuoso Giovanni Hidalgo. SPAPM also supports the Experience Music Project’s annual pop music conference and special American music radio programming at KEXP, and finances the “Music in American Cultures” television series for UWTV.

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