In 1988 I was appointed professor of popular music and musical praxis in jazz at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz and have since delivered a range of lectures in the fields of jazz history, jazz analysis and popular music. Since 1992 I have also served as director of the Department of Jazz Research. My primary fields of research and the subjects of my major publications are the history of jazz and popular music, jazz analysis and the confluence of Western art music and jazz. My main research interests are the music of Miles Davis and European influences on early jazz.
I have been editor-in-chief of the international publication series Jazzforschung / Jazz Research and Beiträge zur Jazzforschung / Studies in Jazz Research since 1976 and the primary organizer for the biennial “Internationaler Jazzwissenschaftlicher Kongress” since 1977; our most recent event (May 2009) celebrated the diversity of jazz research cultures in various European contexts (published in volume 42 of Jazzforschung / Jazz Research).