Since 2019, I've been expanding my research and teaching by exploring the nature and power of symbolic boundaries in the 20th-century development of American music genres and musical instruments. This new research program has three interrelated strands of inquiry.

CARIBBEAN IMMIGRANTS AND AMERICAN MUSIC
One strand of my evolving new research program is a historical exploration into the significance of Afro-Caribbean immigrants to the early development of Jazz and Hip-Hop in New York City. I've collaborated with contemporary jazz and hip-hop artists for this project and presented key findings at invited lectures in the US and Europe.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS

A second strand of this new research program examines the role of symbolic boundaries in the 20th-century production and consumption of the electric guitar in the United States. As a jazz guitarist, this strand of research is especially intriguing and necessary. The first article from this research explores the boundary-making power of advertising in the development of the electric guitar (published in Sociological Forum). A related article examines the production and consumption of DJ equipment during the late 20th century.

WORKING MUSICIANS AND MUSIC-MAKING SPACES

Finally, the third strand of my research program is a multi-year mixed-method study examining the ongoing consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on working musicians and music-making spaces in the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area. The project uses survey data, interviews, and over 100 hours of ethnography at a music-making space. These data will be presented in a forthcoming book manuscript.