Red Norvo Papers
Correspondence, transcripts of interviews, photographs, a biography, a discography, an award, printed material and other miscellany documenting the life and career of Red Norvo.
Milt Gabler Papers
Bechet, Sidney, 1897-1959
Armstrong, Louis, 1901-1971
Condon, Eddie, 1905-1973
More …
The collection documents Gabler's involvement in the recording industry and the evolution of Commodore Records. The documentation begins with the Commodore Radio Shop through its evolution to Commodore Music Shop. The collection also includes the beginnings of the Commodore record label and information detailing Gabler's 30 years as staff producer and later Vice-President in Charge of Artists and Repertoire at Decca Records (1941-1974). There is a small collection of black and white photographs chronicling the early years at the Commodore Music Shop, as well as jam sessions, often held at Jimmy Ryan's on 52nd Street. The collection also includes a vast array of audio recordings (mainly audiodiscs).
Jazz and Big Band Collection
Morrow, Buddy
Stacy, Jess, 1904-1995
Timbrell, Tiny, 1917-1992
More …
The collection consists of 235 pieces of music ephemera assembled by an anonymous California musicologist over several decades. The contents include such things as concert ticket stubs; show programs; handbills; publicity stills; record store posters; nightclub souvenirs; autographs; contracts, lobby cards; movie stills; postcards; fan and record industry magazines; sheet music …
Productions
This accession consists of audio and video elements that document jazz performances at the Smithsonian Institution. Represented among the records are performances by the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra; performances by Art Farmer, Bob Wilber, Alberta Hunter, Joe Williams, and Red Norvo; and interviews with Jimmy Bruno and other artists. Materials …
Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program Collection
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Department of Public Programs
Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation
America's Jazz Heritage
More …
Audiotapes, CDs and digital files: an ongoing project to interview and preserve the memories of people important in the jazz world, including jazz musicians, singers, dancers, producers, arrangers, and others. A list of interviewees and interviewers follows. The following is a list of the individuals who conducted the interviews. 1. Brown …
Duncan P. Schiedt Photograph Collection
Duncan Schiedt (1921-2014) was a jazz scholar, writer, photographer, film maker, researcher and pianist. He authored four books relating to jazz history. Many of his photographs and articles were featured in magazines, periodicals and documentaries. Schiedt also collected the work of other photographers on the subject of jazz. The collection primarily consists of photographs created by or collected by Mr. Schiedt.
Floyd Levin Jazz Reference Collection
Armstrong, Louis, 1901-1971
Morton, Jelly Roll, 1890-1941
Levin, Floyd, 1922-2007
More …
Floyd Levin was a Los Angeles textile manufacturer who turned his passion for jazz into a second career as an influential jazz journalist and historian. The collection consists of research materials including biographical files. In addition, there are numerous photographs that were taken and collected by Levin.
Benny Carter Collection
The majority of the material in the Benny Carter Collection is dated from the late 1920s through the later half of the 1990s. Donated to the Smithsonian Institution in December, 2000, the bulk of the collection is comprised of original music manuscripts (full scores and parts), band books, and published sheet music from …
Jack Siefert Woody Herman Collection
Siefert, Jack William, 1918-
Sound recordings, business records, photographs, correspondence, and concert posters documenting the career of Woodrow Charles "Woody" Herman.
Ernie Smith Jazz Film Collection
Smith, Ernie
Webster, Ben
Armstrong, Louis, 1901-1971
More …
More than 300 reels of 16mm black and white and color film, silent and sound, fiction and documentary motion picture film documenting jazz and related musical performances, social and popular dance styles and performances, jazz musicians, performance locales, and documentation of African-American popular culture. A list of featured performers in the collection is shown below. The films are frequently compilations produced by Smith for lectures.