Smithsonian Jazz


Jazz Oral Histories


Welcome! These transcriptions of oral histories of NEA Jazz Masters are part of the Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program. Established by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in 1992, the Program seized the opportunity to document more than one hundred senior jazz musicians, performers, relatives, and business associates. Each interview was conducted by a jazz authority and was recorded on digital audiotape by a professional audio engineer. The interviews average six hours in length and cover a wide range of topics including early years, initial involvement in music, generally, and jazz specifically, as well as experiences in the jazz music world, including relationships to musicians.

NEA logoThe National Endowment for the Arts supported transcribing these interviews and posting them to this website. For more information on NEA Jazz Masters, click here.

For more information on the Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program collection, click here. For information on the museum’s Archives Center, where the collection is housed, visit http://americanhistory.si.edu/archives/home.htm.

Oral histories on this page include: Toshiko Akiyoshi, David Baker, Danny Barker, Louie Bellson, Dave Brubeck, Buddy DeFranco, Frank Foster, Benny Golson, Chico Hamilton, Slide Hampton, Roy Haynes, Jimmy Heath, Jon Hendricks, Nat Hentoff, Bill Holman, Quincy Jones, J.J. Johnson, John Levy, Melba Liston, James Moody, Dan Morgenstern, Marian McPartland, Gunther Schuller, Jimmy Scott, Artie Shaw, Dr. Billy Taylor, Clark Terry, Frank Wess, Randy Weston, Joe Wilder, Gerald Wilson, Phil Woods, Snooky Young

Toshiko Akiyoshi

audio Transcript coming soon

Toshiko Akiyoshi

click to enlarge

Photo by Tom Pich, courtesy of the National Endowment for the Arts

audio Listen:

Clip 1:
Toshiko talking about her early development on piano
MP3

Clip 2:
Moving to Boston to study at Berkeley School of Music

MP3

Clip 3:
Talking about her time performing at Storyville

MP3

Clip 4:
The birth of her big band

MP3

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David Baker Recorded June 19-21, 2000

audio Complete Transcript (152 pages) View PDF

David Baker

click to enlarge

Photo by Tom Pich, courtesy of the National Endowment for the Arts

audio Listen:

Clip 1:
David Baker on Lincoln University
MP3 | Windows Media

Clip 2:
David Baker on Freddie Freeloader

MP3 | Windows Media

Clip 3:
David Baker on playing at the Five Spot and looking like Thelonious Monk (Part I)

MP3 | Windows Media

Clip 4:
David Baker on playing at the Five Spot and looking like Thelonious Monk
(Part II)
MP3 | Windows Media

Clip 5:
David Baker on coming to Indiana University

MP3 | Windows Media

Clip 6:
David Baker on imitation-assimilation-innovation

MP3 | Windows Media

Clip 7:
David Baker on street musicians recognizing Jamey Aebersold

MP3 | Windows Media

Clip 8:
"It's why I worked very hard...to get us in a situation where we're not perceived of as special"

MP3 | Windows Media

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Danny Barker Recorded July 21-23, 1992

audio Complete Transcript (106 pages) View PDF

Danny Barker

audio Listen:

Clip 1:
Danny Barker on encountering Sidney Bechet.
MP3 | Windows Media

Clip 2:
Danny Barker tells how he bought his first Ukulele.

MP3 | Windows Media

Clip 3:
Danny Barker discusses the circumstances of moving to New York City for the first time.

MP3 | Windows Media

Clip 4:
Danny Barker talks about his first experiences in New York City.

MP3 | Windows Media

Clip 5:
Danny Barker on his relationship with Jelly Roll Morton.

MP3 | Windows Media

Clip 6:
Danny Barker on working with Jelly Roll Morton for the first time.

MP3 | Windows Media

Clip 7:
Danny Barker on David Jones influencing Coleman Hawkins.

MP3 | Windows Media

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Louie Bellson October 20-21, 2005

audio Complete Transcript (108 pages) View PDF

Louie Bellson

audio Listen:

Clip 1:
Louie Bellson on joining Benny Goodman’s band.
MP3 | Windows Media

Clip 2:
Louie Bellson on joining Duke Ellington’s band.
MP3 | Windows Media

Clip 3:
Louie Bellson on learning Ellington music with no drum charts.
MP3 | Windows Media

Clip 4:
Louie Bellson on giving his first arrangement to Duke Ellington..
MP3 | Windows Media

Clip 5:
Louie Bellson on meeting his wife Pearl Bailey.
MP3 | Windows Media

Clip 6:
Louie Bellson on playing Benny Carter’s difficult arrangement of Errol Gardner’s performance of For Once In My Life.
MP3 | Windows Media

Clip 7:
Louie Bellson on performing with Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops.
MP3 | Windows Media

Clip 8:
Louie Bellson tells how Louis Armstrong joked with him and Pearl Bailey.
MP3 | Windows Media

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Dave Brubeck August 6-7, 2007

audio Complete Transcript (84 pages) View PDF

Dave Brubeck

click to enlarge

Photo by Tom Pich, courtesy of the National Endowment for the Arts

audio Listen:

Clip 1:
Dave Brubeck discusses meeting Stan Kenton for the first time.
MP3

Clip 2:
Dave Brubeck talks about playing at the Band Box club.
MP3 

Clip 3:
Dave Brubeck describes the difficulty of getting a phone after WWII.
MP3 

Clip 4:
Dave Brubeck discusses his move from Fantasy to Columbia Records.
MP3

Clip 5:
Dave Brubeck describes how Joe Morello joined his quartet.
MP3

Clip 6:
Dave Brubeck talks about the inspiration for Blue Rondo a la Turk.
MP3

Clip 7:
Dave Brubeck talks about when he told his parents of his ambitions to be a musician.
MP3 

Clip 8:
Dave Brubeck describes when he performed for Mikhail Gorbachev.
MP3

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Buddy DeFranco

audio Transcript coming soon

Buddy DeFranco

click to enlarge

Photo by Tom Pich, courtesy of the National Endowment for the Arts

audio Listen:

Clip 1:

Development of clarinet chops and taking lessons
MP3

Clip 2:
Auditioning for Tommy Dorsey contest

MP3

Clip 3:
Tommy Dorsey as a leader and playing in his band

MP3

Clip 4:
Learning classical music repertoire and its value to jazz

MP3

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Paquito D'Rivera

audio Transcript coming soon

Paquito D'Rivera

click to enlarge

Photo by Tom Pich, courtesy of the National Endowment for the Arts

audio Listen:

Clip 1:
Paquito D'Rivera describes a peculiar method he used to keep in contact with family in Cuba.
MP3

Clip 2:
Paquito D'Rivera describes his introduction to Bebop.

MP3

Clip 3:
Paquito D'Rivera describes how he came about touring Europe with trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie.

MP3

Clip 4:
Paquito D'Rivera describes how he went about leaving Cuba for good.

MP3

Clip 5:
Paquito D'Rivera discusses a jam session in Havana, Cuba with trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie and saxophonist Stan Getz.

MP3

Clip 6:
Paquito D'Rivera discusses dropping out of high school to pursue a career in music.

MP3

Clip 7:
Paquito D'Rivera discusses playing jazz in Cuba after Fidel Castro's rise to power.

MP3

Clip 8:
Paquito D'Rivera discusses some his early studio work in New York City, playing jingles.

MP3

Clip 9:
Paquito D'Rivera on the importance of understanding cultural traditions.

MP3

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Frank Foster Recorded September 24-25, and November 22, 1998

audio Complete Transcript (166 pages) View PDF

Frank Foster

audio Listen:

Clip 1:
Frank Foster on his musical inspiration.
MP3 | Windows Media

Clip 2:
Frank Foster on the names of his songs for the album Manhattan Fever.
MP3 | Windows Media

Clip 3:
Frank Foster describes playing at Indianapolis’s Sunset Terrace with the Wilberforce Collegians and Sarah Vaughan sitting in.
MP3 | Windows Media

Clip 4:
Frank Foster gives his definition of Hard-Bop.
MP3 | Windows Media

Clip 5:
Frank Foster on joining Count Basie’s band.
MP3 | Windows Media

Clip 6:
Frank Foster on being awe-struck by Count Basie.
MP3 | Windows Media

Clip 7:
Frank Foster discusses playing for segregated audiences.
MP3 | Windows Media

Clip 8:
Frank Foster on how Basie would fine members of the bands.
MP3 | Windows Media

Clip 9:
Frank Foster talks through his composition Four, Five, Six.
MP3 | Windows Media

Clip 10:
Frank Foster describes the different kinds of ‘shakes’.
MP3 | Windows Media

Clip 11:
Frank Fosters talks about pranks from members of the Basie band.
MP3 | Windows Media

Clip 12:
Frank Foster tells a funny story about Joe Williams.
MP3 | Windows Media

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Benny Golson January 8-9, 2009

audio Complete Transcript (111 pages) View PDF

Benny Golson

audio Listen:

Clip 1:
When Benny Golson saw Lionel Hampton play at the Earle Theater in Philadelphia PA, it became the inspiration he needed to master the saxophone.
MP3

Clip 2:
Benny Golson broke all the rules when it came to music theory
MP3 

Clip 3:
Benny Golson talks about the night Dizzy Gillespie asked him to record "I Remember Clifford"
MP3 

Clip 4:
Benny Golson helps out John Coltrane and Miles Davis
MP3

Clip 5:
Benny Golson is his own man and his own style
MP3

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Urbie Green

audio Complete Transcript Coming Soon

Urbie Green

audio Listen:

Clip 1:
Urbie Green describes how he acquired his first trombone.
MP3

Clip 2:
Urbie Green describes practicing on the road.
MP3 

Clip 3:
Urbie Green discusses his 21 Trombones ensemble.
MP3 

Clip 4:
Urbie Green discusses his radio exposure in New York.
MP3

Clip 5:
Urbie Green on his discussions with trombonist J.J. Johnson regarding trombone technique.
MP3

Clip 6:
Urbie Green on improvisation.
MP3

Clip 6:
Urbie Green on trombonist Frank Rosolino.
MP3

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Chico Hamilton January 9-10, 2006

audio Complete Transcript (153 pages) View PDF

Dave Brubeck

click to enlarge

Photo by Tom Pich, courtesy of the National Endowment for the Arts

audio Listen:

Clip 1:
Chico Hamilton describes the challenge of time keeping.
MP3

Clip 2:
Chico Hamilton discusses meeting Dexter Gordon.
MP3 

Clip 3:
Chico Hamilton discusses drummer Jo Jones and the Count Basie Orchestra.
MP3 

Clip 4:
Chico Hamilton talks about drummer Art Blakely with the Billy Eckstein Orchestra.
MP3

Clip 5:
Chico Hamilton discusses his encounter with Illinois Jacquet.
MP3

Clip 6:
Chico Hamilton discusses meeting Larry Coryell.
MP3

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Slide Hampton April 20-21, 2006

audio Complete Transcript (109 pages) View PDF

Dave Brubeck

audio Listen:

Clip 1:
Hampton family band
MP3

Clip 2:
Talking about Art Blakey band's sound

MP3

Clip 3:
Difference between the Montgomery family band and the Hampton band

MP3

Clip 4:
Difference between composition, orchestration and arranging music

MP3

 

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Roy Haynes May 15, 1994

audio Complete Transcript (72 pages) View PDF

Dave Brubeck

audio Listen:

Clip 1:
Roy Haynes describes how he avoided being drafted to the Army.
MP3

Clip 2:
Roy Haynes discusses the culture of Harlem and New York City.
MP3 

Clip 3:
Roy Haynes talks about playing at the Apollo Theater.
MP3 

Clip 4:
Roy Haynes tells what Lester Young calls a job.
MP3

Clip 5:
Roy Haynes wants Sonny Rollins to call him back.
MP3

Clip 6:
Roy Haynes describes being misunderstood as a drummer.
MP3

Clip 7:
Roy Haynes talks about John Coltrane.
MP3

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Jimmy Heath

audio Complete Transcript Coming Soon

Jimmy Heath

click to enlarge

Photo by Tom Pich, courtesy of the National Endowment for the Arts

audio Listen:

Clip 1:
Jimmy Heath describes playing with his brothers, bassist Percy Heath and drummer Albert Tootie Heath.
MP3

Clip 2:
Jimmy Heath discusses composing music.
MP3 

Clip 3:
Jimmy Heath discusses jazz education.
MP3 

Clip 4:
Jimmy Heath discusses making connections in the music industry.
MP3

Clip 5:
Jimmy Heath discusses the composition of his piece "Fashion or Passion."
MP3

Clip 6:
Jimmy Heath on his connection with Washington, D.C.
MP3

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Jon Hendricks August 17-18, 1995

audio Complete Transcript (88 pages) View PDF

Jon Hendricks

audio Listen:

Clip 1:
Jon Hendricks on composing with a pianist.
MP3

Clip 2:
Jon Hendricks on Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross.
MP3 

Clip 3:
Jon Hendricks on memorizing music.
MP3 

Clip 4:
Jon Hendricks on pianists Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell.
MP3

Clip 5:
Jon Hendricks on racism in the 1960's.
MP3

Clip 6:
Jon Hendricks on studio recording.
MP3

Clip 6:
Jon Hendricks on the Depression.
MP3

Clip 6:
Jon Hendricks on trumpeter Miles Davis and perfection..
MP3

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Nat Hentoff February 17-18, 2007

audio Complete Transcript (73 pages) View PDF

Nat Hentoff

click to enlarge

Photo by Tom Pich, courtesy of the National Endowment for the Arts

audio Listen.

Clip 1:
Nat Hentoff discusses George Frazier.
MP3

Clip 2:
Nat Hentoff discusses interviewing Malcolm X.
MP3

Clip 3:
Nat Hentoff talks about interviewing Bob Dylan.
MP3

Clip 4:
Nat Hentoff on expressing individuality.
MP3

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Bill Holman

audio Complete Transcript Coming Soon

J.J. Johnson

click to enlarge

Photo by Tom Pich, courtesy of the National Endowment for the Arts

audio Listen:

Clip 1:
Bill Holman describes a trip to Europe with the Stan Kenton band.

MP3

Clip 2:
Bill Holman describes being influenced by Gerry Mulligans writing for the Stan Kenton band.

MP3

Clip 3:
Bill Holman describes writing for singer Tony Bennett and the Count Basie band..

MP3

Clip 4:
Bill Holman describes a trip to Europe with the Stan Kenton band.

MP3

Clip 5:
Bill Holman discusses his worst chart for Stan Kenton.

MP3

Clip 6:
Bill Holman explains how Stand Kenton's brass section grew from 8 to 10 players.

MP3

Clip 7:
Bill Holman on asking questions while arranging a piece of music.

MP3

Clip 8:
Bill Holman on writing for drummer and bandleader Buddy Rich.

MP3

Clip 9:
Bill Holman talks about the west coast jazz scene in the early 1950's.

MP3

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J.J. Johnson Recorded February 26-27, 1994

audio Complete Transcript (116 pages) View PDF

J.J. Johnson

audio Listen:

Clip 1:
J.J. Johnson on being articulate

MP3 | Windows Media

Clip 2:
"I am not at all preoccupied with speed"

MP3 | Windows Media

Clip 3:
J.J. Johnson on opening for Coleman Hawkins at the Three Deuces

MP3 | Windows Media

Clip 4:
J.J. Johnson on Dizzy Gillespie

MP3 | Windows Media

Clip 5:

J.J. Johnson on Miles Davis' caring nature

MP3 | Windows Media

Clip 6:

J.J. Johnson on why he bought his first car and the reason behind it, a great JJ and Kai Winding story

MP3 | Windows Media

Clip 7:
J.J. Johnson on the red Ferrari and Miles Davis

MP3 | Windows Media

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Quincy Jones Recorded September 7, 2008

audio Complete Transcript (41 pages) View PDF

Artie Shaw

audio Listen:

Clip 1:
Michael Caine teaches Quincy Jones Cockney Slang

MP3

Clip 2:
Michael Caine teaches Quincy Jones Cockney Slang

MP3

Clip 3:
Quincy Jones talks about the birth of African rhythm and Blues

MP3

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John Levy Recorded December 10-11, 2006

audio Complete Transcript (77 pages) View PDF

John Levy

click to enlarge

Photograph by Leroy Hamilton, courtesy of John & Devra Levy

audio Listen:

Clip 1:
John Levy on friendships and segregation
MP3 | Windows Media

Clip 2:
John Levy on how he learned bass

MP3 | Windows Media

Clip 3:
John Levy on entering the world of music

MP3 | Windows Media

Clip 4:
"The president of the black musician's union called..."

MP3 | Windows Media

Clip 5:
John Levy on Duke Ellington

MP3 | Windows Media

Clip 6:
John Levy on the publishing business

MP3 | Windows Media

Clip 7:
John Levy on Wilson Pickett

MP3 | Windows Media



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Melba Liston Recorded December 4-5, 1996

audio Complete Transcript (64 pages) View PDF

John Levy

 

audio Audio coming soon

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James Moody August 19-20, 1993

audio Complete Transcript (123 pages) View PDF

James Moody

click to enlarge

Photo by Tom Pich, courtesy of the National Endowment for the Arts

audio Listen

Clip 1:
James Moody talks about when he became interested in music.
MP3

Clip 2:
James Moody discusses being drafted into the Air Force and learning that white German prisoners of war had more rights than Negro American soldiers.
MP3 

Clip 3:
Moody pretends to be Milt Shaw's valet in order to get a bath.
MP3 

Clip 4:
The circumstances under which Moody recorded Moody's Mood for
Love and found out he had a hit
MP3

Clip 5:
Jazz at the Philharmonic with Moody, Clark Terry, and T-Bone
Walker: "Woman, you must be crazy."
MP3

Clip 6:
James Moody tells a few stories about his relationship with Dizzy Gillespie.
MP3

Clip 7:
James Moody talks about his favorite musicians.
MP3 

Clip 8:
James Moody describes how he would like to be remembered.
MP3

Clip 9:
James Moody talks about his first recorded solo.
MP3 

Clip 10:
James Moody discusses what he could do if he could do anything.
MP3 

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Dan Morgenstern March 28-29, 2007

audio Complete Transcript (73 pages) View PDF

Dan Morgenstern

click to enlarge

Photo by Tom Pich, courtesy of the National Endowment for the Arts

audio Audio Clips Coming Soon.

Clip 1:
Dan Morgenstern describes how his family newspaper was taken away by the Nazis.
MP3

Clip 2:
Dan Morgenstern describes escaping from Austria to Denmark.
MP3 

Clip 3:
Dan Morgenstern remembers his first encounter with jazz.
MP3 

Clip 4:
Dan Morgenstern describes jazz in Denmark.
MP3

Clip 5:
Dan Morgenstern describes escaping to Sweden Part I.
MP3

Clip 6:
Escaping to Sweden Part II.
MP3

Clip 7:
Dan Morgenstern talks about becoming interested in jazz after the war.
MP3 

Clip 8:
Dan Morgenstern discusses how he began collecting jazz books.
MP3

Clip 9:
Dan Morgenstern talks about meeting and becoming friends with Tad Dameron.
MP3 

Clip 10:
Dan Morgenstern describes booking Art Tatum for his first solo piano concert.
MP3 

Clip 11:
Dan Morgenstern describes discovering a record of Coleman Hawkins singing.
MP3 

Clip 12:
Dan Morgenstern describes his interview with Ornette Coleman.
MP3 

Clip 13:
Dan Morgenstern discusses his role as the editor of Downbeat.
MP3 

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Marian McPartland Recorded January 3-4, 1997
and May 26, 1998

audio Complete Transcript (159 pages) View PDF

Marian McPartland

audio Listen:

Clip 1:
Marian McPartland on audiences talking while she plays

Real Audio | Windows Media

Clip 2:
Marian McPartland on perforaming with Coleman Hawkins and Roy Eldridge

Real Audio | Windows Media

Clip 3:
Marian McPartland on talking to an audience

Real Audio | Windows Media

Clip 4:
Marian McPartland on Thelonious Monk

Real Audio | Windows Media

Clip 5:

Marian McPartland on original vs. familiar tunes

Real Audio | Windows Media

Clip 6:

Marian McPartland on Ray Charles

Real Audio | Windows Media

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Gunther Schuller

audio Transcript coming soon

Gunther Schuller

click to enlarge

Photo by Tom Pich, courtesy of the National Endowment for the Arts

audio Listen:

Clip 1:

Early introduction of Duke Ellington on the radio
MP3

Clip 2:
The expansion of writing for strings, French horn in jazz

MP3

Clip 3:
Talking about Ornette Coleman

MP3

Clip 4:
Gunther's development in conducting for orchestra's

MP3

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Jimmy Scott Recorded September 23-24, 2008

audio Complete Transcript (62 pages) View PDF

Artie Shaw

click to enlarge

Photo by Tom Pich, courtesy of the National Endowment for the Arts

audio Listen:

Clip 1:
Jimmy Scott talks about how Lester Young launched him into performing
.
MP3

Clip 2:
Jimmy Scott is truly his own man.

MP3

Clip 3:
Jimmy Scott plays with Charlie Parker at the famous Birdland club

MP3

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Artie Shaw Recorded October 7-8, 1992

audio Complete Transcript (91 pages) View PDF

Artie Shaw

audio Listen:

Clip 1:
Artie Shaw on Begin the Beguine

Real Audio | Windows Media

Clip 2:
Artie Shaw on a recording trick

Real Audio | Windows Media

Clip 3:
Artie Shaw on hiring Billie Holiday

Real Audio | Windows Media

Clip 4:
Artie Shaw on hiring Billy Butterfield

Real Audio | Windows Media

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Dr. Billy Taylor November 19, 1993

audio Complete Transcript (111 pages) View PDF

James Moody

audio Listen

Clip 1:
Dr. Billy Taylor describes his first paying gig as a jazz musician.
MP3

Clip 2:
Dr. Billy Taylor discusses his motivation to play the piano as a kid.
MP3 

Clip 3:
Dr. Billy Taylor discusses Jelly Roll Morton in Washington, DC.
MP3 

Clip 4:
Dr. Billy Taylor talks about first learning of Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker.
MP3

Clip 5:
Dr. Billy Taylor remembers picking his major in college.
MP3

Clip 6:
Dr. Billy Taylors recalls how his father secretly supported his college education.
MP3

Clip 7:
Dr. Billy Taylor remembers moving to New York for the first time.
MP3 

Clip 8:
Dr. Billy Taylor talks about moving to New York and going straight to Minton’s and playing with Ben Webster.
MP3

Clip 9:
Dr. Billy Taylor describes auditioning for Ben Webster and meeting Art Tatum at the same time.
MP3 

Clip 10:
Dr. Billy Taylor describes his relationship with Charlie Parker Part I.
MP3 

Clip 11:
Dr. Billy Taylor discusses his relationship with Charlie Parker Part II.
MP3 

Clip 12:
Dr. Billy Taylor describes how he came to name one of Dizzy Gillespie’s tunes.
MP3 

Clip 13:
Dr. Billy Taylor discusses the impact of Charlie Parker’s death on the jazz community.
MP3 

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Clark Terry Recorded June 15 and 22, 1999

audio Complete Transcript (140 pages) View PDF

Clark Terry

audio Listen:

Clip 1:
Clark Terry on being late to Ellington engagement.
MP3 | Windows Media

Clip 2:
Clark Terry talking about opening with the George Hudson band for Illinois Jacquet.
MP3 | Windows Media

Clip 3:
Clark Terry tells how he accidentally insulted Duke Ellington.
MP3 | Windows Media

Clip 4:
Clark Terry talks about playing high notes.
MP3 | Windows Media

Clip 5:

Clark Terry describes how Jimmie and Ernie Wilkins joined Count Basie’s band.
MP3 | Windows Media

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Frank Wess

audio Transcript coming soon

Frank Wess

click to enlarge

Photo by Tom Pich, courtesy of the National Endowment for the Arts

audio Listen:

Clip 1:
Frank Wess on connecting with the audience
MP3

Clip 2:
Frank Wess on improvisation and folk music

MP3

Clip 3:
Frank Wess on learning when to stop

MP3

 

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Randy Weston

audio Transcript coming soon

Frank Wess

click to enlarge

Photo by Tom Pich, courtesy of the National Endowment for the Arts

audio Listen:

Clip 1:
Randy Weston describes his experiences in Japan after his sister's funeral in New York, NY on September 11, 2001.
MP3

Clip 2:
Randy Weston describes playing in Alexandria, Egypt in 2002.

MP3

Clip 3:
Randy Weston Describes the influence of African music on Western musicians.

MP3

Clip 4:
Randy Weston describes the Jazz festival he organized in Tangier in 1972.

MP3

Clip 5:
Randy Weston discusses hardship and spirituality in relation to music.

MP3

Clip 6:
Randy Weston discusses his inspiration for recording solo piano albums.

MP3

 

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Joe Wilder

audio Transcript coming soon

Joe Wilder

click to enlarge

Photo by Tom Pich, courtesy of the National Endowment for the Arts

audio Listen:

Clip 1:
Joe Wilder discusses bandleader Jimmie Lunceford.
MP3

Clip 2:
Joe Wilder discusses his teaching philosophy.

MP3

Clip 3:
Joe Wilder on going to school with clarinetist Buddy DeFranco in Philadelphia, PA.

MP3

Clip 4:
Joe Wilder on musical communication and bassist Keter Betts.

MP3

 

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Gerald Wilson

audio Transcript coming soon

Joe Wilder

click to enlarge

Photo by Tom Pich, courtesy of the National Endowment for the Arts

audio Listen:

Clip 1:
Gerald Wilson describes an experience with Duke Ellington.
MP3

Clip 2:
Gerald Wilson describes writing the second jazz waltz in history.

MP3

Clip 3:
Gerald Wilson discusses his Grammy award nominations.

MP3

Clip 4:
Gerald Wilson discusses his Mexican influences and his tune "Viva Tirado."

MP3

Clip 5:
Gerald Wilson discusses his relationship with trumpeter Miles Davis.

MP3

Clip 6:
Gerald Wilson discusses how he became leader of his first band in Los Angeles, California.

MP3

Clip 7:
Gerald Wilson discusses the origins of his tune "Yard-dog Mazurka."

MP3

Clip 8:
Gerald Wilson discusses trumpeter Eugene Snooky Young.

MP3

Clip 9:
Gerald Wilson discusses writing for the Los Angeles Philharmonic and meeting composer William Grant Still.

MP3

Clip 10:
Gerald Wilson talks about his relationship with multi-instrumentalist Eric Dolphy.

MP3

 

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Phil Woods

audio Transcript coming soon

Phil Woods

click to enlarge

Photo by Tom Pich, courtesy of the National Endowment for the Arts

audio Listen:

Clip 1:
Phil Woods describes meeting saxophonist Charlie Parker for the first time.
MP3

Clip 2:
Phil Woods discusses his first saxophone lesson.

MP3

Clip 3:
Phil Woods discusses horn troubles and motivation.

MP3

Clip 4:
Phil Woods on being a well-rounded musician.

MP3

Clip 5:
Phil Woods on composing music.

MP3

Clip 6:
Phil Woods on doing what you love to do.

MP3

Clip 7:
Phil Woods on how to keep a band together.

MP3

Clip 8:
Phil Woods recalls playing in Russia with clarinetist and bandleader Benny Goodman.

MP3

 

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Snooky Young

audio Transcript coming soon

Dave Brubeck

Photo by Tom Pich, courtesy of the National Endowment for the Arts

audio Listen:

Clip 1:
Snooky talking about Roy Eldridge
MP3

Clip 2:
Snooky joining Jimmie Lunceford band

MP3

Clip 3:
Talking about his band and its members

MP3

Clip 4:
Tonight Show band and Dizzy Gillespie

MP3

 

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