Jazz at The Schomburg Center: Archival Collections

The internationally known cabaret personality Bricktop was born Ada Beatrice Queen Victoria Louise Virginia Smith on August 14, 1894 in Alderson, West Virginia. She acquired the nickname "Bricktop" from Barron Wilkins (owner of the Barron's Exclusive Club in Harlem), establishing her red hair as her trademark. Bricktop began her career as an entertainer at the age of 16, performing on the vaudeville circuit and in salons. She went on to own her own nightclubs in Paris (1920s and 1930s), Mexico City (1940s), and Rome (1950s).

Don Redman, jazz composer, arranger and bandleader, was a leading contributor to the development of big band sound of the 1920's and 1930's along with Fletcher Henderson. The Don Redman Papers consist principally of holograph and printed music of this jazz composer and arranger, as well as some personal and professional papers. Redman's music contains orchestral and vocal scores and parts for various instruments.

Nationally and internationally renowned jazz pianist and composer Thomas "Fats" Wright Waller was regarded as a musical genius. The Fats Waller collection is comprised of materials generated and kept by Philip L. Ponce, Inc., Waller's management company during the last ten years of his life and career. The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence, 1932-1942, and other documentation that provide details of Ponce's business relationship with Waller, such as bookings, tours, contracts, and other financial matters

James Reese Europe was an accomplished musician, composer, conductor, organizer, and recording artist. In 1902, at the age of twenty-one, he relocated to New York City and shortly thereafter organized the Clef Club, a union of black musicians and booking agency, as well as a fraternal-like group. In 1912, the Clef Club Orchestra, under the direction of Europe, held a concert in Carnegie Hall that gained the recognition and respect of a primarily white elite audience. From 1914 to 1916, Europe's Society Orchestra toured throughout the United States and overseas with Vernon and Irene Castle, a husband and wife dance team.

Lawrence "Larry" Lucie (1907-2009) was a jazz guitarist and music educator. His papers, dating from 1927 to 2004 (bulk 1948-2004), primarily document his pedagogy, his recording and publishing companies, and the career of his wife, guitarist, bassist and vocalist Nora Lee King (1909-1995). The collection holds teaching material, business records, biographies, interviews, letters, photographs, and scores.

The collection contains materials used to create the Mary Lou Williams documentary, Music on My Mind, directed by Joanne Burke. Music on My Mind focuses on Williams's enduring contribution to American culture as a jazz pianist, composer, and vocalist. This collection includes a short autobiography (incomplete), transcripts of interviews, information on the financial support of the documentary, film technical edits, reel catalog, and an information kit about the documentary.

The Maxine Sullivan Papers document her career as a jazz performer. The papers contain correspondence from both professional and personal contacts, legal contracts, newspaper clippings, performance flyers, posters, and programs, sheet music, and some financial and organizational membership records. Some materials pertain to her third husband, Cliff Jackson.

Nat King Cole was a popular singer and jazz musician whose 30-year career included recordings, concerts throughout the world, club appearances, television, and film. This collection consists of personal and professional material of Nat King Cole, such as correspondence, programs, and advertisements. Additionally, there is printed matter, such as clippings and articles; scrapbooks; and scores, which is the largest series. Finally, there is material related to Cole's wife, Maria Cole, such as scrapbooks, biographical material, and drafts for a book.

The New York Jazz Museum was founded in 1972 to preserve jazz as an art form and to educate the public about jazz. The New York Jazz Museum records consist of materials related to the administration of the museum.

Patti Bown was an American jazz pianist, singer, and composer. The Patti Bown papers (1940-2006) document her career and, to a lesser extent, her personal life. The bulk of the material concerns her work as a performer and composer from the 1960s through the 1990s, represented primarily by printed material such as fliers, clippings, and programs. The collection contains scores for songs that Bown performed, recorded, and composed, including manuscript scores in Bown's hand. Other material in the collection includes contracts, resumes, personal and professional letters to Bown, and photographs. There are also scripts from television and theater productions that Bown worked on as a musical director, musician, or actor.

Ron Carter is a leading jazz bassist. This collection consists mostly of scrapbooks, which contain correspondence, transcripts, music programs, and articles about him.

Samuel "Sammy" Blythe Price (Oct. 6, 1908, Honey Grove, Texas - Apr. 14, 1992, New York City), a self-taught pianist, debuted onstage dancing the Charleston with the Alphonso Trent Orchestra in 1925.The Sammy Price Papers, 1929-1992, consist of materials pertaining to his musical and political career. Included in the collection are interviews with Price and various versions of his autobiography, What Do They Want; interviews; published and unpublished sheet music; flyers; and programs.

Sam Wooding was a jazz pianist, arranger, composer, and the accompanist-manager for his third wife, singer Rae Harrison. The Sam Wooding papers primarily document certain aspects of his career, with some files pertaining to his partnership with Rae Harrison and her early career.

Theodore Walter "Sonny" Rollins (born September 7th, 1930) is an American jazz tenor saxophonist. His papers, dating from the 1910s to 2015 (the bulk dates from the 1950s onward), document the musical, personal, and career development of one of the most important musicians and artists of the 20th and early 21st centuries. This development can be most clearly observed in his music manuscripts and practice material; personal writings; letters; and professional business records. Rollins's career is also illustrated by an extensive set of photographs and a large collection of unique sound and video recordings.

Composer; cornetist; bandleader and publisher, W.C. Handy's fame rests upon his work as a composer. Handy wrote and published more than 150 songs and arrangements of folksongs, mainly spirituals and blues. The popularity of Handy's songs helped to make black folk blues a permanent part of America's popular music. Collection of documents relating to W. C. Handy and the Handy Brothers Music Company. Included is correspondence from Handy and his friends, programs, broadsides and invitations related to affairs honoring Handy. Also, printed material advertising publications by Handy's music and publishing companies, and a 28 page bio-bibliography, "Negro Authors and Composers of the United States" by Handy.

Willis "Gator Tail" Jackson was a composer, arranger, and saxophonist. The Willis Jackson papers consist principally of holograph musical compositions, mainly instrumental parts, composed and arranged by Jackson and others.

Le Sony'r Ra, popularly known as Sun Ra, was an American jazz pianist, organist, and synthesizer player, composer, bandleader, and poet best known for his avant garde and experimental musical style, cosmic philosophies, and theatrical performances with his band, the Arkestra.The Wisdom of Sun Ra collection consists of jazz musician Sun Ra's typed writings in the form of streetcorner leaflets printed on goldenrod paper. These writings provide insight into his philosophical vision and cosmic worldview. In 2006, a selection of these writings was published in a book titled, The Wisdom of Sun Ra: Sun Ra's Polemical Broadsheets and Streetcorner Leaflets, by John Corbett. The Wisdom of Sun Ra collection contains some of these published works, as well as unpublished writings.