Frank Driggs
Encyclopedia
Frank Driggs was an American record producer for Columbia records
and author best known for his collection of over 100,000 pieces of Jazz
memorabilia including photograph
s, 314 oral history
recordings and other items.
graduate with a degree in political science, Driggs moved to Manhattan where he worked first as an NBC
page
. Later he joined with Marshall Stearns
, founder of the Institute of Jazz Studies
, and others in documenting jazz history. In the late 1950s, the record producer John Hammond
hired Driggs to assist him at Columbia Records. Soon Driggs was producing records, organizing recording sessions and putting out important re-issues of 78 rpm recordings by Fletcher Henderson
, Billie Holiday
, Duke Ellington
and Gene Krupa
. His work at Columbia included Robert Johnson
: The Complete Recordings
(for which he received a Grammy in 1991). Driggs later produced recordings for Epic
, Okeh
, MCA
, Stash, and Time-Life Records, before reviving the Bluebird
label for RCA
in the early 1970s.
Soon after Driggs moved to Manhattan in 1952, he began gathering and saving posters flies, ticket stubs recordings and amateur photographs. Much of his collection are publicity stills of Jazz artists. By 2005 his collection had included over 100,000 images. Many of the photographed are not labeled or indexed. Driggs relied on his own system of sorting and personal memory the musicians in the pictures. In 1977 Driggs retired from the music industry and afterwards made most of his income from reproduction fees from his collection. Many of his images in the 2001 documentary
miniseries
Jazz produced by Ken Burns
for PBS
. While much of his collection is of Jazz artists, Drigg's holdings contain a sizable collection of blues, rock, dance
and movie artists. In 2005 Driggs offered up his collection of photographs for $1.5 million. However, it is unclear if any or all of the collection was sold. For many years Driggs kept his collection of images in his basement of his home in Flatbush
until 2005 when he moved in with the late musicologist and writer Joan Peyser
in the Manhattan
borough of New York City
. Driggs was found dead in his Manhattan home on Tuesday, September 20, 2011. He died of natural causes.
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
and author best known for his collection of over 100,000 pieces of Jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
memorabilia including photograph
Photograph
A photograph is an image created by light falling on a light-sensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic imager such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are created using a camera, which uses a lens to focus the scene's visible wavelengths of light into a reproduction of...
s, 314 oral history
Oral history
Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews...
recordings and other items.
Biography
Frank Driggs first became enamored with jazz and swing listening to late-night broadcasts from hotels and ballrooms in the 1930s. A 1952 Princeton UniversityPrinceton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
graduate with a degree in political science, Driggs moved to Manhattan where he worked first as an NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
page
Page (servant)
A page or page boy is a traditionally young male servant, a messenger at the service of a nobleman or royal.-The medieval page:In medieval times, a page was an attendant to a knight; an apprentice squire...
. Later he joined with Marshall Stearns
Marshall Stearns
Marshall Winslow Stearns was an American jazz critic and musicologist. He was the founder of the Institute of Jazz Studies....
, founder of the Institute of Jazz Studies
Institute of Jazz Studies
The Institute of Jazz Studies is the largest and most comprehensive library and archive of jazz and jazz-related materials in the world, located at the Newark campus of Rutgers University.-History:...
, and others in documenting jazz history. In the late 1950s, the record producer John Hammond
John H. Hammond
John Henry Hammond II was an American record producer, musician and music critic from the 1930s to the early 1980s...
hired Driggs to assist him at Columbia Records. Soon Driggs was producing records, organizing recording sessions and putting out important re-issues of 78 rpm recordings by Fletcher Henderson
Fletcher Henderson
James Fletcher Hamilton Henderson, Jr. was an American pianist, bandleader, arranger and composer, important in the development of big band jazz and swing music. His was one of the most prolific black orchestras and his influence was vast...
, Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing...
, Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
and Gene Krupa
Gene Krupa
Gene Krupa was an American jazz and big band drummer and composer, known for his highly energetic and flamboyant style.-Biography:...
. His work at Columbia included Robert Johnson
Robert Johnson
Robert Leroy Johnson was an American blues singer and musician. His landmark recordings from 1936–37 display a combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that have influenced later generations of musicians. Johnson's shadowy, poorly documented life and death at age 27 have given...
: The Complete Recordings
The Complete Recordings (Robert Johnson album)
The Complete Recordings is a compilation album by American blues musician Robert Johnson, released August 28, 1990 on Columbia Records. The album's recordings were recorded in two sessions in Dallas and San Antonio, Texas for the American Record Company during 1936 and 1937. Most of the songs were...
(for which he received a Grammy in 1991). Driggs later produced recordings for Epic
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
, Okeh
Okeh Records
Okeh Records began as an independent record label based in the United States of America in 1918. From 1926 on, it was a subsidiary of Columbia Records.-History:...
, MCA
MCA Records
MCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003...
, Stash, and Time-Life Records, before reviving the Bluebird
Bluebird Records
Bluebird Records is a sub-label of RCA Victor Records originally created in 1932 to counter the American Record Company in the "3 records for a dollar" market. Along with ARC's Perfect Records, Melotone Records and Romeo Records, and the independent US Decca label, Bluebird became one of the best...
label for RCA
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
in the early 1970s.
Soon after Driggs moved to Manhattan in 1952, he began gathering and saving posters flies, ticket stubs recordings and amateur photographs. Much of his collection are publicity stills of Jazz artists. By 2005 his collection had included over 100,000 images. Many of the photographed are not labeled or indexed. Driggs relied on his own system of sorting and personal memory the musicians in the pictures. In 1977 Driggs retired from the music industry and afterwards made most of his income from reproduction fees from his collection. Many of his images in the 2001 documentary
Documentary
A documentary is a creative work of non-fiction, including:* Documentary film, including television* Radio documentary* Documentary photographyRelated terms include:...
miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
Jazz produced by Ken Burns
Ken Burns
Kenneth Lauren "Ken" Burns is an American director and producer of documentary films, known for his style of using archival footage and photographs...
for PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
. While much of his collection is of Jazz artists, Drigg's holdings contain a sizable collection of blues, rock, dance
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
and movie artists. In 2005 Driggs offered up his collection of photographs for $1.5 million. However, it is unclear if any or all of the collection was sold. For many years Driggs kept his collection of images in his basement of his home in Flatbush
Flatbush
Flatbush or Flat Bush can refer to a number of places:*Flatbush, Brooklyn, a community of Brooklyn, New York City, United States*Flatbush, New Zealand, a suburb of Manukau City, New Zealand...
until 2005 when he moved in with the late musicologist and writer Joan Peyser
Joan Peyser
Joan Peyser was an American musicologist and writer, particularly known for her writing on 20th century music and for her biographies of George Gershwin, Pierre Boulez, and Leonard Bernstein...
in the Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
borough of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Driggs was found dead in his Manhattan home on Tuesday, September 20, 2011. He died of natural causes.
Books
- Frank Driggs & Harris Lewine Black Beauty, White Heat: A Pictorial History of Classic Jazz 1920-1950, Da Capo Press, 1996 ISBN 030680672X
- Frank Driggs & Chuck Haddix Kansas City Jazz: From Ragtime to Bebop: A History, 2005, Oxford University Press ISBN 0195047672
External links
- 2005 NPR piece "Photos of Jazz's Memory Lane, for Sale" http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4534453
- University of Missouri-Kansas City Marr Sound Archives | of Frank Driggs Jazz Oral History Collection
- 2005 New York Times article . . . And All That Jazz Memorabilia!
- 2005 Smithsonian.comSmithsonian (magazine)Smithsonian is the official journal published by the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. The first issue was published in 1970.-History:...
article Jazz Man - Obituary, Washington Post