Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Guide to the Jeffrey Kliman Photographs

Summary

Collection ID:
NMAH.AC.0628
Creators:
Kliman, Jeffrey, 1942-
Dates:
1993 - 2001
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
0.25 Cubic feet
11 boxes
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
This collection documents the District Curators Jazz Arts Festivals held in Washington, D.C. between 1993 and 1998 and the Kennedy Center's Mary Lou Williams' Women in Jazz Series, 1996-2000. The subjects of the District Curators Festivals include the Steve and Iqua Colson Sextet, Sonny Sharrock Band, Don Bryon Quartet, David Sanchez, David Murray, Danilo Perez Trio, Reggie Workman, Andrew White, Wayne Shorter, Roy Hargrove, Sonny Sumter, and the Roy Haynes Quartet. Subjects of the Kennedy Center's Series include Jerri Allen, Dorothy Donogan, Dottie Dodgion, the Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra, Shirley Scott, Ann Patterson and the all-women band "Maiden Voyage," Roberta Piket, Vanessa Reuben, Jamie Baum, Chris Connor, Claire Dale, Sherrie Maricle and "Diva," and Marian McPartland.
The collection is organized into four series: Series One, District Curators Jazz Arts Festival Contact Sheets (1993-1998); Series Two, District Curators Jazz Arts Festival Prints (1993-1998), and Series Three, Kennedy Center's Women in Jazz Series (1996-2000).
Series 1, Contact Sheets (1993-1998), is comprised of seventy-one 11x14-inch black-and-white contact sheets of 10 photo shoots of the District Curators Jazz Arts Festivals, 1993-1998. The contact sheets provide an overall context for the shoots. Each contact sheet has been numbered by the photographer, indicating its place among the contact sheets for the shoot, e.g., 1/7, 2/7, etc. The contact sheets are arranged chronologically by event date. N.B.: The photographer has numbered the contact sheets for the "Jazz Arts, July 1997" shoot 1/17 through 16/17. The contact sheets for the "Trane was Spiritual, September 1997" shoot are numbered 1/8 through 7/8.
Series 2, Prints (1993-1998, undated), is comprised of fifty-one 5x7-inch black-and-white images printed on 8x10-inch paper. The prints in Series Two are largely of frames from the contact sheets in Series One. A small number of prints in this series are not taken from the contact sheets and are undated. Each print in the series has been numbered by the photographer. For each print, the container list gives the photographer's number in brackets as well as the contact sheet from which the image is taken. The series is arranged chronologically.
Series 3, Kennedy Center's Mary Lou Williams' Women in Jazz Series Contact Sheets (1996-2000), contain fifty-six 8x10-inch black-and-white contact sheets of photo shoots of the Women in Jazz series. The photographs focus on female performers both on and off stage. All contact sheets are arranged chronologically by year.

Arrangement

Arrangement
Collection arranged into four series.
Series 1:District Curators Jazz Arts Festivals Contact Sheets, 1993-1998
Series 2: District Curators Jazz Arts Festivals Prints, 1993-1998, undated
Series 3: Kennedy Center's Mary Lou Williams "Women in Jazz" Contact Sheets, 1996-2000
Series 4: Kennedy Center's Mary Lou Williams "Women in Jazz" Exhibition Prints, 1994-2001
Series 5: Kennedy Center Jazz Programming, 1996-2000

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Jeffrey Kliman was born in Everett, Massachusetts, March 5, 1942, son of Harry Kliman, one half of the Herschel & Lewis tap-dancing, roller skating team that worked on Broadway and the "Metro Circuit" between 1930 and 1937. Jeffrey Kliman's mother was Janette "Netty" Harris. Reared in middle-class Massachusetts, Jeffrey encountered an eclectic range of music that included opera -- his grandfather sang in the chorus of the Metropolitan Opera in the 1920s—the "race music" of Wolfman Jack, and the Symphony Syd Turin gospel radio show where he first heard the music of Dizzy Gillespie. In 1956 he took a job in the record department of Boston's Lechmere Department Store and listened to the music of Count Basie, Gerry Mulligan, Duke Ellington, and Stan Kenton.
Between 1959 and 1963 Kliman attended the University of Massachusetts as a pre-veterinary major. In 1960 he hosted a two-hour jazz radio show for WMUA, the university's radio station. Failing grades forced him to withdraw from the veterinary program. Eventually Kliman completed a degree as a film and TV major. He left for New York City in February, 1964, to begin a career in television advertising. In 1965 he borrowed a 35mm camera and began taking photographs of various musicians who played at the Fillmore. Kliman did free-lance work by night as a photographer for Rolling Stone, Family Circus, and Zigot while he continued to work by day as a producer for Dolphin Productions.
Kliman worked predominantly in advertising until 1986, when he relocated to Baltimore, Maryland, to start a new career as photographer of jazz musicians. "Anytime I saw jazz I would go and shoot -- Left Bank, DC Jazz Curators, street events." Currently he works as a free-lance photographer for Jazz Times and Down Beat. His primary interest is photographing up-and-coming jazz musicians performing in the Baltimore/Washington region.

Administration

Author
Evelyn Kramer and Scott Schwartz.
Existence and Location of Copies
Negatives held by photographer.
Accruals
Jeffrey Kliman donated an additional contact sheet on July 21, 1998; fifteen additional contact sheets and 51 individual prints on December 23, 1998; fifty-six 8x10-inch black-and-white contact sheets on December 15, 2000; and fourteen prints from his "Women in Jazz" coverage on March 31, 2003.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The first portion of this collection was donated to the Archives Center by Jeffrey Kliman on December 22, 1997.
Processing Information
Collection processed by Evelyn Kramer and Scott Schwartz, 1998.
Accruals
Additional materials donated by Jeffrey Kliman include: contact sheet donated on July 21, 1998; 15 additional contact sheets and 51 individual prints donated on December 23, 1998; contact sheets on December 15, 2000; and 14 photoprints of Musicians from "Women in Jazz" May 3, 2003.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
Unrestricted research use on site by appointment. Unprotected photographs must be handled with cotton gloves.
Preferred Citation
Jeffrey Kliman Photographs, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Conditions Governing Use
Jeffrey Kliman retains copyright. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Contact prints -- 1990-2000 Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Jazz musicians -- American -- 1990-2000 Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
African American musicians Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Music -- 20th century Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Musicians Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Jazz -- 1990-2000 Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Music festivals -- 1990-2000 Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Washington (D.C.) -- 1990-2000 Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Black-and-white photographic prints -- Silver gelatin -- 1950-2000 Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographs -- Black-and-white photoprints -- Silver gelatin -- 1980-2000 Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
District Curators. Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
District Curators Jazz Arts Festival. Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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