Institute of Jazz Studies
Encyclopedia
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
.
. His original idea dates back to at least 1949. The IJS was incorporated in 1952. Its original location was at his apartment at 108 Waverly Place in New York City
, USA. Stearns negotiated transfer of IJS to Rutgers University
in New Jersey
in 1966. Several months after this, Stearns died suddenly. In 1967 the Institute materials were moved to the Newark campus of Rutgers University
in New Jersey. It was first located in Dana Library (1972), then moved to Bradley Hall (1975). The current expanded facilities in Dana Library opened in 1994. In 1986 IJS acquired a legendary collection of periodicals as well as books, records, and various other items from Harold Flakser. Other major collections include the archives of Mary Lou Williams
and James P. Johnson
.
Rutgers-Newark
Rutgers University in Newark is one of three campuses of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, the eighth oldest college in the United States and a member of the Association of American Universities...
of Rutgers University
Rutgers University
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American...
.
History
The Institute of Jazz Studies was founded by Marshall StearnsMarshall Stearns
Marshall Winslow Stearns was an American jazz critic and musicologist. He was the founder of the Institute of Jazz Studies....
. His original idea dates back to at least 1949. The IJS was incorporated in 1952. Its original location was at his apartment at 108 Waverly Place in 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...
, USA. Stearns negotiated transfer of IJS to Rutgers University
Rutgers University
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American...
in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
in 1966. Several months after this, Stearns died suddenly. In 1967 the Institute materials were moved to the Newark campus of Rutgers University
Rutgers-Newark
Rutgers University in Newark is one of three campuses of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, the eighth oldest college in the United States and a member of the Association of American Universities...
in New Jersey. It was first located in Dana Library (1972), then moved to Bradley Hall (1975). The current expanded facilities in Dana Library opened in 1994. In 1986 IJS acquired a legendary collection of periodicals as well as books, records, and various other items from Harold Flakser. Other major collections include the archives of Mary Lou Williams
Mary Lou Williams
Mary Lou Williams was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. Williams wrote hundreds of compositions and arrangements, and recorded more than one hundred records...
and James P. Johnson
James P. Johnson
James P. Johnson was an American pianist and composer...
.
Mission
As stated by Marshall Stearns in 1953, "The general aim of the Institute of Jazz Studies is to foster an understanding and appreciation of the nature and significance of jazz in our society. More specifically, the Institute proposes to work toward this goal by pooling the knowledge and skills of authors and musicians, who have pioneered in the field of jazz, with those of social scientists and other experts whose techniques and studies may be brought to bear on the subject. In this manner, jazz and related subjects will be given the range and depth of scholarly study which they so richly deserve, and a vital but neglected area in American civilization will be illuminated."Publications
- The Record Changer (a special column in this publication was the temporary voice of the IJS)
- Journal of Jazz Studies
- Annual Review of Jazz Studies
- Studies in Jazz (monograph series with Scarecrow Press)
Original Board of Advisors
- Louis ArmstrongLouis ArmstrongLouis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
- Philip W. Barber
- Benjamin A. BotkinBenjamin A. BotkinBenjamin A. Botkin was a pioneering American folklorist and scholar.-Early life:Born in East Boston, Massachusetts, to Lithuanian Jewish immigrants in 1901, his family moved frequently. He attended Harvard University as a commuter between 1916 and 1920 and earned his master's degree in English at...
- Dave BrubeckDave BrubeckDavid Warren "Dave" Brubeck is an American jazz pianist. He has written a number of jazz standards, including "In Your Own Sweet Way" and "The Duke". Brubeck's style ranges from refined to bombastic, reflecting his mother's attempts at classical training and his improvisational skills...
- Dan BurleyDan BurleyDan Burley was an American pianist and journalist. He appeared on numerous network television and radio shows in the US and had two radio shows of his own on WWRL Radio in New York....
- Al "Jazzbo" Collins
- Harold CourlanderHarold CourlanderHarold Courlander was an American novelist, folklorist, and anthropologist, an expert in the study of Haitian life. The author of 35 books and plays and numerous scholarly articles, Courlander specialized in the study of African, Caribbean, Afro-American , and American Indian cultures...
- Stuart DavisStuart Davis (painter)Stuart Davis , was an early American modernist painter. He was well known for his jazz influenced, proto pop art paintings of the 1940s and 1950s, bold, brash, and colorful as well as his ashcan pictures in the early years of the 20th century.-Biography:He was born in Philadelphia to Edward Wyatt...
- Roger Pryor Dodge
- Duke EllingtonDuke EllingtonEdward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
- Ralph EllisonRalph EllisonRalph Waldo Ellison was an American novelist, literary critic, scholar and writer. He was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Ellison is best known for his novel Invisible Man, which won the National Book Award in 1953...
- Nesuhi ErtegünNesuhi ErtegunNesuhi Ertegun was a Turkish record producer and executive of Atlantic Records and WEA International.-Background:Born in Istanbul, Turkey, Nesuhi and his family, including younger brother Ahmet, moved to Washington, D.C...
- Leonard FeatherLeonard FeatherLeonard Geoffrey Feather was a British-born jazz pianist, composer, and producer who was best known for his music journalism and other writing.-Biography:...
- Norman GranzNorman GranzNorman Granz was an American jazz music impresario and producer.Granz was a fundamental figure in American jazz, especially from about 1947 to 1960...
- Bill GrauerRiverside RecordsRiverside Records was a United States record label specializing in jazz. Founded by Orrin Keepnews and Bill Grauer under his firm Bill Grauer Productions, Inc. in 1953, the label was a major presence in the jazz record industry for a decade...
- Maurice R. Green, M.D.
- W. C. HandyW. C. HandyWilliam Christopher Handy was a blues composer and musician. He was widely known as the "Father of the Blues"....
- Melville J. HerskovitsMelville J. HerskovitsMelville Jean Herskovits was an American anthropologist who firmly established African and African American studies in American academia. The son of Jewish immigrants, he obtained a Bachelor of Philosophy at the University of Chicago in 1923 and obtained his Master's and Ph.D...
- George Herzog
- Langston HughesLangston HughesJames Mercer Langston Hughes was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist. He was one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form jazz poetry. Hughes is best known for his work during the Harlem Renaissance...
- Willis James
- Stan KentonStan KentonStanley Newcomb "Stan" Kenton was a pianist, composer, and arranger who led a highly innovative, influential, and often controversial American jazz orchestra. In later years he was widely active as an educator....
- Lester KoenigContemporary RecordsContemporary Records was a jazz record label founded by Lester Koenig in 1951 in Los Angeles. Contemporary was known for seminal recordings embodying the West Coast sound, but also released recordings based in New York...
- M. Kolinski
- Jacob LawrenceJacob LawrenceJacob Lawrence was an American painter; he was married to fellow artist Gwendolyn Knight. Lawrence referred to his style as "dynamic cubism", though by his own account the primary influence was not so much French art as the shapes and colors of Harlem.Lawrence is among the best-known twentieth...
- Paul A. McGhee
- Alan Morrison
- Edward Abbe Niles
- Pearl PrimusPearl PrimusPearl Primus was a dancer, choreographer and anthropologist. Primus played an important role in the presentation of African dance to American audiences. Early in her career she saw the needs to promote African dance as an art form worthy of study and performance...
- David RiesmanDavid RiesmanDavid Riesman , was a sociologist, attorney, and educator....
- Curt SachsCurt SachsCurt Sachs was a German-born but American-domiciled musicologist. He was one of the founders of modern organology , and is probably best remembered today for co-authoring the Sachs-Hornbostel scheme of musical instrument classification with his fellow scholar Erich von Hornbostel.Born in Berlin,...
- Edward Seeger
- Artie ShawArtie ShawArthur Jacob Arshawsky , better known as Artie Shaw, was an American jazz clarinetist, composer, and bandleader. He was also the author of both fiction and non-fiction writings....
- Edmond Souchon, M.D.
- Lorenzo Dow TurnerLorenzo Dow TurnerLorenzo Dow Turner was an African-American academic and linguist who did seminal research on the Gullah language of the Low Country of coastal South Carolina and Georgia. His studies included recordings of Gullah speakers in the 1930s...
- Clarence Williams
- Bernard WolfeBernard WolfeBernard Wolfe was an American writer. He was educated at Yale University, and worked in the United States Merchant Marine during the 1930s. Wolfe worked briefly as secretary and bodyguard to Leon Trotsky during the latter's exile in Mexico...
- John Wesley Work IIIJohn Wesley Work IIIJohn Wesley Work III was a composer, educator, choral director, musicologist and scholar of African American folklore and music.-Biography:...
Officers and Staff
- Marshall StearnsMarshall StearnsMarshall Winslow Stearns was an American jazz critic and musicologist. He was the founder of the Institute of Jazz Studies....
, Founder, President and Executive Director, and member of board of directors (1949-1966)
- John HammondJohn H. HammondJohn Henry Hammond II was an American record producer, musician and music critic from the 1930s to the early 1980s...
, Vice-President and member of board of directors (1952-?)
- Rudi BleshRudi BleshRudi Blesh was an American jazz critic and enthusiast....
, Secretary and member of board of directors (1952-?)
- Eugene M. Kline, Treasurer (1952-?)
- Sterling Allen BrownSterling Allen BrownSterling Allen Brown was an African-American professor, author of works on folklore, poet and literary critic. He was interested chiefly in black culture of the Southern United States.-Early life:...
, member of board of directors (1952-?)
- Henry CowellHenry CowellHenry Cowell was an American composer, music theorist, pianist, teacher, publisher, and impresario. His contribution to the world of music was summed up by Virgil Thomson, writing in the early 1950s:...
, member of board of directors (1952-?)
- Thomas Shaw Hale, member of board of directors (1952-?)
- S. I. HayakawaS. I. HayakawaSamuel Ichiye Hayakawa was a Canadian-born American academic and political figure of Japanese ancestry. He was an English professor, and served as president of San Francisco State University and then as United States Senator from California from 1977 to 1983...
, member of board of directors (1952-?)
- Tremaine McDowell, member of board of directors (1952-?)
- Richard A. Waterman, member of board of directors (1952-?)
- George AvakianGeorge AvakianGeorge Avakian is an American record producer and executive known particularly for his work with Columbia Records, and his production of albums by Miles Davis and other notable jazz musicians....
, Planning Committee member (1952-?)
- Wilder HobsonWilder HobsonWilder Hobson was an American writer and editor for TIME , FORTUNE , Harper's Bazaar , and Newsweek magazines. He was also a competent musician , author of an history of American jazz, and long-time contributor to Saturday Review magazine...
, Planning Committee member (1952-?)
- Frederick Ramsey, Jr., Planning Committee member (1952-)
- Ross RussellDial Records (1946)Dial Records was a United States based record label specializing in bebop jazz. Dial was founded by Ross Russell in 1946, who operated the label for about a decade. Notable artists who recorded for Dial included Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Max Roach, and Milt Jackson...
, Planning Committee member (1952-)
- Charles Edward Smith, Planning Committee member (1952-)
- Robert Reisner, Curator (1952-?)
- Sheldon Harris, Curator
- Charles Nanry, Administrator (1966-1972)
- Vladimir Simosko, Curator (1968-1971)
- Chris White, Executive Director (1972-1976)
- Richard Seidel, Curator (197?)
- Thomas Spence, Discographer
- J.R. Taylor, Assistant Curator (-1976?)
- Allen Grundy, work study (197?)
- Ron Welburn, Coordinator of Jazz Oral History Project
- Bob Kenselaar, Assistant Curator (1978-1981)
- Walter Parker, cataloger (197?)
- Vincent Pelote, work study (1975-1978), Cataloger (1978-1987), Librarian (1987-present)
- Edward Berger, Curator (1976-1977), Assistant Director (1977-1987), Associate Director (1987-present)
- Dan MorgensternDan MorgensternDan Morgenstern is a jazz critic and librarian.Morgenstern moved to the United States in 1947, and attended Brandeis University from 1953-1956. He wrote for jazz publication Jazz Journal from 1958–1961, and following this edited several jazz magazines: Metronome in 1961, Jazz from 1962–1963, and...
, Director (1976-present)
- Marie Griffin, Librarian (1978-?)
- Esther Vasquez Smith, Secretary (1986-present)
- Don Luck, Librarian (1987-?)
- John Clement, Collection Specialist (1987-2010)
- Tad Hershorn, Archivist (1999-present)
- Annie Kuebler, Archivist (2000-present)
- Robert E. Nahory, Digital Library Applications Developer (2000-present)