The John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie Collection is a rich collection of photographs, scrapbooks, and personal records that document the life and career of Dizzy Gillespie. A major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz, Gillespie was a trumpet player, composer, band leader, composer, and educator. Of particular note are the scrapbooks compiled by Gillespie during his groundbreaking 1956 state department tour of the Middle East.
Citation: [Dizzy phtograph]. n.d. The John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie Collection. https://jstor.org/stable/community.31758527.
StoryMap - On Tour With Dizzy
The Yusef A. Lateef Collcection contains the musical manuscripts, papers, photographs, and selected artworks of noted musician, educator, composer, author, and visual artist Yusef A. Lateef. Lateef was a genre-bending musician and composer whose artistry crossed and combined multiple genres, including Middle Eastern and Asian music, American jazz, and classical.
Photo by Michael Di Donna
The Phil Schaap Jazz Collection consists of an array of physical and electronic resources. This is a very large collection that is still undergoing processing, and materials will be made available over time. Phil Schaap (1951-2021) was a jazz historian, curator, educator, radio host, and prominent voice in jazz advocacy and education for over 50 years. He spent over 50 years as a radio host at Columbia University’s WKCR, where he hosted popular jazz shows such as Bird Flight and Traditions In Swing, and conducted interviews with jazz legends of the past and present. Schaap was also the curator of jazz and head educator of Swing University at Jazz at Lincoln Center. A 6x Grammy award winner and NEA Jazz Master, Schaap is widely regarded as one of the foremost scholars of jazz music, and a leading figure in providing accurate and explanatory jazz information.
Photograph provided by Susan Shaffer
Users can view collections in the Wilson Music Library Special Collections Room or in the reading room at Vanderbilt University Special Collections and University Archives. You can request materials from the collection using the finding aids linked in this LibGuide. If you need additional assistance or have questions, please reach out to a music library staff member or special collections.
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