Nick Gebhardt is Professor of Jazz and Popular Music Studies and is the Academic Lead for Enterprise and Engagement. He is also the Postgraduate Research and Internships lead for CreaTech Frontiers, the AHRC-funded West Midlands Creative Industries Cluster, and is a core member of the RBC Jazz Studies Research Cluster.
After completing his Bachelor of Arts (Hons) and PhD at the University of Sydney in Australia, he worked for several years as the Music Director at 2SER-FM radio in Sydney before taking up a lecturing post in American Studies at Lancaster University in the UK. At BCU, he has taught on the BA Music Business, the BMus, and the BMus Jazz, and has held several leadership roles, including Director of the Birmingham Centre for Media and Cultural Research and Associate Dean for Research, Innovation and Enterprise in the Faculty of Arts, Design and Media.
His research covers topics in jazz and popular music studies, music industries, cultural theories of music, historiography, musical theatre and film studies. He has published widely in these areas and has presented his work at international conferences in the UK, Europe, the United States and Australia. He was a senior researcher on the HERA-funded Rhythm Changes: Jazz Cultures and European Identities, Co-Investigator the JPI Heritage Plus-funded Cultural Heritage and Improvised Music in European Festivals (CHIME) project, Principal Investigator on the AHRC-funded Jazz and Everyday Aesthetics research network, Co-Investigator on the AHRC-funded Silent Form project and Co-Investigator on the AHRC-funded Musical Theatre and All That Jazz research network. He is a co-editor of the book series Transnational Studies in Jazz (Routledge) and New Directions in Media and Cultural Research (Intellect) and is also a managing co-editor of the popular music journal Riffs.
He contributes to undergraduate and postgraduate modules in a range of subjects areas including jazz studies, musicology, music business, cultural and creative industries, film studies, research methods, and writing skills, as well as supervising PGR students.
- Jazz and popular music studies
- Improvisation
- Cultural theories of music
- Music industries
- Vaudeville and musical theatre
- Music and everyday aesthetics
- Writing about music
- Bachelor of Arts (Hons) (1990, University of Sydney)
- PhD in American History (1998, University of Sydney)
- International Association for the Study of Popular Music (IASPM)
- International Association for Song, Stage and Screen (ISSS)
- Contextual Studies Specialism: Jazz and the American Civil Rights Movement
- Contextual Studies Specialism: The Rock and Roll Revolution
- Postgraduate Certificate in Research Practice
- Jazz cultures and histories
- Festivals
- Cultural and creative Industries
- Creative technologies
- Vaudeville and musical theatre
- Experimental writing about music
Nick is interested in supervising doctoral students researching all aspects of jazz and popular music cultures and practices, particularly those who are focusing on creative practices in jazz and improvised music, cultural and critical theory, music festivals, and the creative industries. His current PhD students are working on topics such as arts festivals, jazz and gender, large improvising ensembles, songwriting careers, and accident and chance in improvisation.
- Gebhardt, N. (2026), “It’s Never Too Late: Miles Davis and Modernism.” In Fagge, R., Pillai, N. and Wall, T. eds. Rethinking Miles Davis. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Gebhardt, N. and Rushton, R. (2024) ‘Music, Miles Davis and Theatricality.’ In Quick, A. and Rushton, R. eds. Theatricality and the Arts: Film, Theatre, Art. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2024.
- Gebhardt, N. (2019), “Living with Music: departures and returns among early New Orleans jazz musicians.” Jazz Research Journal. 13:1-2:
- Gebhardt, N., Rustin-Paschal, N. and Whyton, T. eds. (2018) The Routledge Companion to Jazz Studies. New York: Routledge.
- Gebhardt, N. (2018) “Jazz and Popular Music.” In Lawson, C. and Stowell, R., eds. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Historical Performance in Music. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Gebhardt, N. (2018) “Hollywood Musicals Make History.” In Edwards, S., Sayer, F., and Dolski, M., eds. History on Screen: Documentary, Film and Television for Historians. London: Bloomsbury.
- Gebhardt, N. (2018) “A Time for Jazz: History and Narrative in Alan Lomax’s Mister Jelly Roll.” In Fagge, R., and Pillai, N. eds. New Jazz Conceptions: History, Theory, Practice. London: Routledge.
- Gebhardt, N. (2017) Vaudeville Melodies: Popular Musicians and Mass Entertainment in American Culture, 1870-1929. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
- Gebhardt, N. (2016) “Screening the Event: Watching Miles Davis’s ‘My Funny Valentine.’” In Doctor, J., Elsdon, P., and Heile, B. eds. Watching Jazz: Encountering Jazz on Screen. New York: Oxford University Press.
- Gebhardt, N. (2015) “‘Let There Be Rock!’ Myth and Ideology in the Rock Festivals of the Transatlantic Counterculture.” In McKay, G. ed. The Pop Festival. London: Bloomsbury.
- Gebhardt, N. and Whyton, T. eds. (2015) The Cultural Politics of Jazz Collectives: This Is Our Music. New York: Routledge.
- Gebhardt, N. (2012) “Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans? Mythical Realities and Historical Metaphors in Spike Lee’s When the Levees Broke.” Jazz Research Journal. 6/2.
- Gebhardt, N. (2010) “Crossing Boundaries I: The Historical Context for Ravel’s North American Tour.” In Mawer, D., ed. Ravel Studies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Gebhardt, N. (2001) Going for Jazz: Musical Practices and American Ideology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Nick works closely with the UK-Ireland Jazz Promotion Network, the British Arts Festivals Association, Cheltenham Festivals, Stoney Lane Records, and TDE Promotions.
