Marc T. Gaspard Bolin
tuba | Faculty, The Global Conservatory
Marc T. Gaspard Bolin is a performer-scholar and ethnomusicologist whose work bridges jazz studies, African American musical heritage, and community-engaged performance practice. He is a Lecturer in African American Studies and Ethnomusicology at the University of California, Los Angeles, and an Adjunct Professor of Music at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. His research draws on fieldwork, archival study, historiographical critique, and performance to examine how jazz functions as both musical practice and social knowledge.
Gaspard Bolin is the author of the forthcoming monograph Continuities at the Center of the Jazz Universe: Echoes and Heirs of Congo Square (University Press of Mississippi), which traces how collective musical practices rooted in Congo Square continue to shape brass band traditions, second lines, and contemporary performance cultures. He is also the lead author of the two-volume textbook Jazz Cultures in Motion (with Ray Briggs and Kira Dralle), a digital-first curriculum that integrates close listening, historical context, and community knowledge to rethink how jazz is taught at the undergraduate level.
Alongside his scholarly work, Gaspard Bolin maintains an active career as a professional musician and public educator. His performances, arrangements, and educational talks connect historical scholarship with lived musical practice, including public programs such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Upbeat Live series. His work centers the idea that sound carries memory, labor, and community practice across generations, shaping how jazz continues to move through public life.
