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Credit: Photo Courtesy of Rutgers Institute of
Jazz Studies
The late Ruby Braff, well-known
composer, arranger and saxophonist,
donated three cornets to the Institute
of Jazz Studies.
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The Rutgers Institute of Jazz Studies – the world’s largest jazz archive – has received an unprecedented number of important collections, including two of the largest donations of recordings in its history.
The institute’s staff recently finished processing the donation of the late Nathan Solomon, a Los Angeles jazz record collector who left his collection of 5,000 discs to the institute in 2004. Solomon had a broad appreciation of all types of jazz spanning from the 1920s to the 1990s. He also had wide contacts among collectors and dealers and obtained many obscure issues from Europe and Japan. While primarily consisting of LPs, the Solomon collection also included a small component of rare 78 rpm discs in pristine condition.
In October, Donald Lass, former editor and publisher of the Asbury Park Press, donated his collection to the institute. The 10,000 LPs represent the single largest collection of recordings ever received by the institute. The collection includes almost all the major swing and mainstream jazz artists and is especially strong in its holdings of the great pianist, bandleader and New Jersey native Count Basie. Other notable acquisitions include a unique collection of jazz 78s from a veteran New Zealand collector, Barry W. Owen.
In addition to recordings, the institute has acquired some valuable archival collections. In September 2005, it acquired the entire collection of scores by the well-known arranger and composer Manny Albam. Albam was a saxophonist in several bands in the 1930s and 1940s before turning to composing and arranging. He was one of the most prolific and respected arrangers, not only in jazz but also for television and symphonic productions.
In December 2005, the institute received the first two installments of the Rudi Blesh archive. Blesh was a pioneer jazz historian and author of several widely read works, including “Shining Trumpets” and “They All Played Ragtime.” He also was co-founder of Circle Records.
In addition, the institute has become the repository for the archives of two major New York festivals: the Vision Festival and the Charlie Parker Festival. For the past decade, the Vision Festival has been New York’s premier yearly showcase for avant-garde jazz and improvised music.
Every August for 13 years, the Charlie Parker Festival has presented many jazz luminaries in free concerts in Tompkins Square and Marcus Garvey parks. Both collections include business records, photographs, recordings and memorabilia. The Parker Festival materials include a specially mounted and framed 4-foot-by-5-foot photo of Charlie Parker in performance, which will be mounted near the the institute’s entrance.
Finally, the extensive collection of musical instruments at the institute was augmented by the addition of three cornets belonging to Ruby Braff, one of the most lyrical players in the music’s history. Braff, who died in 2003, willed them to the institute.
The institute, at the John Cotton Dana Library on the Newark campus, is a research branch of the Dana Library and part of the Rutgers University Library system.
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