Jazz Area : Jazz Special Collections at Vanderbilt

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.

• View the collection finding aid provided by Vanderbilt University Libraries Special Collections and University Archives department. Access the print copy of the finding aid by downloading the PDF content or browse the collection using the "collection organization" search feature on the right-hand side of the screen.
• Access to audiovisual recordings for this collection is provided via Aviary. The metadata for items in this collection is available to the public, but access to media files is restricted to Vanderbilt University faculty, staff, and students. Researchers can request access to individual files directly from Aviary.
• Access to digitized content including photographs and scrapbooks for this collection is provided via JSTOR. 

Citation: [Dizzy Reading Milt Shaw Letter in Beirut]. n.d. Dizzy Gillespie Collection. https://jstor.org/stable/community.31758527.

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. 

• View the collection finding aid provided by Vanderbilt University Libraries Special Collections and University Archives department. Access the print copy of the finding aid by downloading the PDF content or browse the collection using the "collection organization" search feature on the right-hand side of the screen. 
• Access to audiovisual recordings for this collection is provided via Aviary. The metadata for items in this collection is available to the public, but access to media files is restricted to Vanderbilt University faculty, staff, and students. Researchers can request access to individual files directly from Aviary.
• Access to digitized content of the repository of scales and other compositions can be find via JSTOR. 

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.

• The Phil Schaap Jazz Collection library guide should be accessed to view the latest information regarding the collection and how to access the collection. This guide will continue to be updated as the collection is being processed. 
• Physical resources are stored within Vanderbilt Special Collections & University Archives. Items such as papers, drafts, ephemera, archival reels, realia, etc., will be browseable and requestable through the collection's finding aid in ArchivesSpace once they are processed. Physical items that have been published (e.g., 78rpm discs, LPs, 45rpm discs, books, etc.) are generally requestable through Primo, the Vanderbilt Libraries' online catalog.
• Electronic media (born-digital, or digitized copies of analog materials) are made available through the Aviary media platform.
• As this collection is still being processed, any questions can be directed to the Vanderbilt University Anne Potter Wilson Music Library staff or Vanderbilt University Special Collections and University Archives.