Abstract

Bhumibol Adulyadej (1927-2016), King of Thailand, was prominently known as the longest-reigning monarch in the world at the time of his death in 2016. He was also a gifted reed player with a passion for musical composition and jazz performance. This collection consists largely of his music manuscripts for songs and piano solo works.

Abstract Laurindo Almeida was a Brazilian-American guitarist and composer. Often credited for contributions to the development of jazz samba, Almeida was a prolific composer and arranger of music for both classical Spanish guitar and popular guitar. He was an acclaimed recording artist and became the first person to win Grammy Awards for both classical and jazz performances. The collection contains manuscript and printed music, correspondence, publicity materials, photographs, and other items related...

Abstract Pearl Bailey was an American singer and actress who established herself as a prominent nightclub entertainer on the East Coast during the mid-twentieth century. She also appeared in several Broadway productions, including House of Flowers and Hello, Dolly! Bailey also starred as Maria in the 1959 filmed production of Porgy and Bess. She later hosted her own televised variety series, the ...

Abstract The Barry Sisters (Merna and Claire Barry) was a popular American Jewish vocal group whose careers as Yiddish jazz singers spanned from the late 1930s through the early 1970s. They made their first recordings on Victor Records, and they performed on the radio and television, at New York's Catskill resort hotels, and toured in the United States and abroad. The collection chiefly documents their musical careers through musical scores, parts, and lead sheets, as well as other related...

Abstract Anthony Braxton (b. 1945) is an American composer, multi-instrumentalist, and teacher known for his innovative work in avant-garde music, improvisation, and jazz. His papers contain scores and parts for his musical compositions beginning in 1968, including the completed portions of the Trillium opera complex, as well as extensive writings that detail the philosophical frameworks of his music. The collection also contains materials from courses that Braxton...

Abstract

Eric Dolphy was an American jazz alto saxophonist, flautist, and bass clarinetist. The collection consists of manuscript scores, sketches, parts, and lead sheets for works composed by Dolphy and others.

Abstract

Jerry Valburn was an avid collector of sound recordings and other materials related to Duke Ellington. The Jerry Valburn Collection on Duke Ellington consists of printed music, photographs, programs, promotional material, articles, clippings, and other items. These materials trace Duke Ellington's professional career as a bandleader and his rise as a prominent figure in the development of jazz and its history.

Abstract Ella Fitzgerald (1917-1996) was a popular and highly-respected American jazz and pop vocalist and recording artist. The Ella Fitzgerald Collection chiefly consists of musical arrangements made for her by more than fifty arrangers and orchestrators. Arrangers whose works are found in this collection include Buddy Bregman, Benny Carter, Frank DeVol, Russ Garcia, Billy May, Marty Paich, Nelson Riddle, and Gerald Wilson. The arrangements consist of a combination of full scores and parts, and are...

Abstract

Med Flory was an American saxophonist, bandleader, actor, and screenwriter. He began working on arrangements of Charlie Parker choruses in 1956 and eventually founded Supersax in 1972, an ensemble dedicated to the performance of Parker's repertoire. The collection contains manuscript scores and several parts for Flory's arrangements for Supersax.

Abstract

Dexter Gordon was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, and actor. The collection contains materials documenting his life and work, including biographical materials, correspondence, photographs, programs, clippings, business papers, scripts, awards, and honors. The collection also contains music composed by Gordon and others, including manuscript, holograph manuscript, printed, and photocopied scores, lead sheets, parts, and fragments of pieces. Many of the items are annotated.

Abstract

Ferde Grofé was an American composer, arranger, conductor and pianist. The collection primarily consists of music manuscript compositions and arrangements, including holograph and copyist scores and parts of Grofé's original compositions, holograph scores and parts for arrangements by Grofé and others that were performed by Grofé's band, and works for symphonic orchestra. In addition, the collection includes correspondence, clippings, photographs, programs, scrapbooks and scripts.

Abstract Luther Henderson was an American arranger, orchestrator, conductor, music director, and composer. He worked on over fifty Broadway musicals, including Ain't Misbehavin' and Jelly's Last Jam. He was a frequent arranger and orchestrator for Duke Ellington. The collection contains music manuscripts, correspondence, business and financial papers, photographs, promotional materials, clippings, realia, and other materials related to...

Abstract Shirley Horn (1934-2005) was an American jazz pianist and singer. A lifelong resident of Washington, D.C., she was classically trained before discovering jazz, eventually forming her own trio in 1954. After graduating from Howard University, she recorded an album that caught the attention of Miles Davis, for whom she opened at the Village Vanguard in 1961. After recording two albums produced by Quincy Jones, she performed locally while raising her daughter. She began performing...

Abstract

Carmen Mercedes McRae (1920-1994) was an American jazz vocalist, pianist, composer, and recording artist. The papers chiefly contain musical arrangements and lead sheets for approximately 800 songs. While many of the arrangements include both full scores and parts, the majority are lead sheets or parts used for her small group performances. The papers also include a small amount of correspondence, photographs, song lists, program notes, and promotional materials.

Abstract Charles Mingus was a jazz double bassist, band leader, and composer. A prolific recording artist and pioneer in double bass technique, Mingus composed works that often incorporated elements of hard bop and gospel music and featured collective improvisation. The collection includes manuscript and printed music by Mingus; writings; correspondence; business papers; clippings; programs; publicity materials; photographs of Mingus, his family, and colleagues, such as Eric Dolphy, Dannie Richmond,...

Abstract Gerry Mulligan (1927-1996) was an American jazz saxophonist, composer, arranger, and bandleader. The collection chiefly consists of scores, sketches, lead sheets, and instrumental parts for original compositions by Mulligan as well as for works by other composers. In many instances, there are multiple versions of Mulligan's best-known works. These music materials include manuscripts, holograph manuscripts, printed items, and reproductions. In addition, the collection includes a small amount...

Abstract

Collection of concert and workshop recordings of events at the National Folk Festivals, Lowell Folk Festivals, and other festivals, tours, and concerts sponsored by the National Council for the Traditional Arts (NCTA), formerly the National Folk Festival Association founded in 1934. Features performances and traditions from throughout the United States and from around the world.

Abstract

Sammy Nestico (1924-2021) was an American jazz composer, arranger, and conductor. With a career spanning more than eight decades, he published approximately 600 arrangements and original compositions, released twelve solo albums, and conducted or composed for numerous collaborative efforts. This collection primarily consists of printed and copyist scores and parts for his solo albums, jazz ensembles, concert band, chamber ensembles, string orchestra, and chorus.

Abstract Jessye Norman (1945-2019) was an internationally recognized American soprano. An alumna of Howard University and the University of Michigan, Norman rose to fame after winning the 1968 ARD International Competition in Munich. She specialized in repertoire by late Romantic composers, garnering critical praise for her roles in Wagnerian operas as well as recitals featuring traditional African American spirituals and songs by Francis Poulenc, Gustav Mahler, Hall Johnson, and Richard Strauss. The...

Abstract

Anita O'Day was an American jazz vocalist. The collection primarily consists of manuscript scores, lead sheets, parts, and annotated sheet music for arrangements of popular songs and jazz standards performed by O'Day throughout her career. In addition, it contains a small amount of photographs, correspondence, clippings, scrapbook pages, honors and awards, posters, and publicity materials.

Abstract

John D. Reid was a collector of early jazz sound recordings and memorabilia. The collection highlights jazz recordings and musicians in the 1930s and 1940s, with Sidney Bechet prominently featured.

Abstract Billy Eckstine (1914-2019) was an American popular and jazz singer and bandleader. Nelson Riddle (1921-1986) was a trombonist, composer, and arranger who worked with prominent vocalists during the 1940s through 1960s, including Nat King Cole, Billy Eckstine, Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, and Frank Sinatra. Musician, composer, and recording executive Hugo Winterhalter was also an arranger for several record labels, television, film, and artists such as Perry Como, Frank Sinatra, Mario Lanza,...

Abstract Joe Roccisano (1939-1997) was an American jazz composer, arranger, performer, and bandleader. The collection chiefly contains holograph scores, lead sheets, and parts comprising the performance libraries of his big band, the Joe Roccisano Orchestra, and his nine-piece group, Nonet. Also included are scores and parts for his commissions, larger scale orchestral pieces, and other performance and recording charts, as well as a small amount of photographs, clippings, and other biographical...

Abstract

Gunther Schuller (1925-2015) was a composer, arranger, conductor, educator, author, arts administrator, and publisher, among other roles. The collection contains music composed by Schuller and music he arranged, edited, or transcribed, as well as music by other composers, much of it annotated, that Schuller studied and conducted.

Abstract

Members of the Simons (Simmons) family, an African-American family centered in South Carolina and Washington, D.C., especially William H. Simons (1881-1938), Baptist missionary and Young Men's Christian Association official, and members of the allied Garrett and Nicholson families. Correspondence, diaries and diary notes, and miscellaneous material relating chiefly to William H. Simons and his career with the YMCA in Burma, East Africa, and India and as a Baptist missionary in Nigeria.