Tamar Barzel is an ethnomusicologist whose research focuses on experimental music, jazz, and improvisation. Drawing on ethnographic and archival sources, her work is positioned at the nexus of cultural studies, creative identity, and musical sound. She has presented papers at scholarly meetings worldwide and has published articles in the Journal of the Society for American Music, Jazz/Not Jazz: The Music and its Boundaries, and "People Get Ready" The Future of Jazz is Now. Her newest project investigates the history of creative improvised music in Mexico City.