New York Jazz Museum Explained

The New York Jazz Museum was, from June 16, 1972, to 1977, a center for the study of jazz. At its height it held 25,000 items. It was founded by Howard E. Fischer, among others, but closed after five years amid a power struggle between Fischer and other curators.

History

It was situated in a two-story building in midtown Manhattan and had a small staff, an archive that eventually numbered about 25,000 items and extensive programs in New York City and beyond. Some of the programs won awards and most of them were received with widespread acclaim in the media and from jazz fans. There were the free Calvert Extra Sunday Concerts – 40 per year, sponsored by Calvert Distillers, the Jazz Puppet Show, the Jazz Film Festivals, the Jazz Panorama – an audio visual history of jazz (sponsored by the New York State Council on the Arts), The Jazz Store, Information Center, the exhibits – Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Bird & Diz: The Bebop Era, The Sax Section, Count Basie and His Bands, Billie Holiday Remembered, "About John Coltrane," and the Jazz Trumpet. Posters and booklets – including The Jazz Story – were produced in conjunction with the exhibits and there was so much more. An extended power struggle ensued that eventually caused the museum's demise. Entangled in the fatal conflagration was the "Jazz Fraternity", which included the most prominent names in jazz – musicians, producers, writers, artists, et al.

The museum opened on June 16, 1972, in a -story carriage house at 125 West 55th Street, between Sixth and Seventh Avenues, in Midtown Manhattan – two blocks south of Carnegie Hall. After moving to the Empire Hotel and a storage facility in an office building on Broadway and 58th Street, in 1976 the museum purchased a two-story building at 236 West 54th Street in Midtown for $210,000 with help from a Ford Foundation grant. It re-opened in June of that year, but only lasted about a year later after Fischer was dismissed. Most of the archive remains in the Schomburg Center (part of the New York Public Library) and the Rutgers Institute of Jazz Studies in New Jersey.

See also

• 125 West 55th Street
• List of music museums

References

Citations

Secondary sources

• . Music America Magazine . April 1977 . New York Jazz Museum . registration . 1 . 6 . 38 . . 0145-5419 . 2750697.
• . . June 19, 1972 . All That Jazz . 5 . 25 . 63 . Google Books.
• News: . . February 27, 1973 . Help for Museum in Distress . subscription . 122 . 41960 . 52.
• News: . . McDonagh . Don . February 27, 1973 . Jazz Lures Tap Talent to Museum . subscription . 122 . 42038 . 28.
• News: . . Wilson . John Steuart . John S. Wilson (music critic) . April 17, 1973 . Aura of Billie Holiday is Captured at the Jazz Museum . subscription . 122 . 42087 . 32.
• . . Kunstadt . Leonard Richard . Len Kunstadt . August 1972 . New York Jazz Museum Opens, Friday, June 16, 1972 . September 22, 2022 . 117 . 1, 5 . Internet Archive.
• Book: . Millsaps . Daniel Webster . 1974 . Private Foundations & Business Corporations Active in Arts / Humanities / Education . registration . The Arts Patronage Series . Washington, D.C. . Washington International Arts Letter . 2 . 76 . . 77140925 . 978-0-9120-7205-0 . 1602135.

Primary sources

• Book: . Fischer . Howard E. . 2003 . 2004 . Jazz Exposé: The New York Jazz Museum and the Power Struggle That Destroyed It . Nashville . Sundog . . 978-1-9322-0387-5 . 57394563.
• Web site: . Fischer . Howard E. . August 13, 2021 . The New York Jazz Museum: 1972–1977 . . September 22, 2022 .
• Book: . Gelatt . Tim . Hooper . Ray . Quinn . Bill . July 16, 1974 . About John Coletrane . registration . New York Jazz Museum . . 3842071.
• Book: . Giddins . Gary . Gary Giddins . Keepnews . Peter . Morgenstern . Dan . Dan Morgenstern . 1974 . The Sax Section – Biographical Sketches . New York Jazz Museum . 3842152.
• Book: . Kuehl . Linda . Linda Lipnack Kuehl . Schocket . Ellie . 1973 . Billie Holiday Remembered . New York Jazz Museum . 77373175 . 1358163.
• Book: . Morgenstern . Dan . Dan Morgenstern . 1973 . The Jazz Story – An Outline History of Jazz . registration . New York Jazz Museum . . 77365219 . 6580574. .
• Book: . Morgenstern . Dan . Dan Morgenstern . Gitler . Ira . Ira Gitler . Bradley . Jack . 1973 . Bird & Diz – A Bibliography . New York Jazz Museum . 77374454 . 3630048.

Further reading

• Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York Public Library:
• New York Jazz Museum Audio Collection. .
• New York Jazz Museum Records, 1960–1987 (bulk 1961–1977). .
• Web site: New York Jazz Museum Photograph Collection . New York Public Library . 1323126100.
• New York Jazz Museum, Billy Butterfield Quartet and Buddy Tate, 1975 Exhibition Opening (audio cassette tape). .

External links

• New York Jazz Museum-1972-1977 - Video history on YouTube

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