The National Jazz Museum in Harlem is a museum dedicated to preservation and celebration of the

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

history of

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. The idea for the museum was conceived in 1995. The museum was founded in 1997 by

Leonard Garment Leonard Garment (May 11, 1924 – July 13, 2013) was an American attorney, public servant, and arts advocate. He served U.S. presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford in the White House in various positions from 1969 to 1976, including Counselor ...

, counsel to two U.S. presidents, and an accomplished jazz saxophonist,

Abraham David Sofaer Abraham David Sofaer (born May 6, 1938) is an American attorney and jurist who served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and legal adviser to the United States State Departm ...

, a former U.S. district judge who gave the initial gift in honor of his brother-in-law Richard J. Scheuer, Jr., and matching funds from the

Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone Development Corporation The Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone Development Corp., also referred to as UMEZ, is a non-profit organization that seeks to revitalize economically deprived communities by using public funds and tax incentives as catalysts for private investment. ...

. For more than 15 years, the museum was based in

East Harlem East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem or and historically known as Italian Harlem, is a neighborhood of Upper Manhattan, New York City, roughly encompassing the area north of the Upper East Side and bounded by 96th Street to the south, F ...

at 104 East 126th Street. On February 1, 2016, the museum re-opened in a new space on the ground floor of 58 West 129th Street in

Central Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Har ...

with approximately 1900 square feet of exhibition space.

Programs and exhibits

The National Jazz Museum in Harlem's Visitors Center has featured exhibits such as ''The Ghosts of Harlem'' by American music producer, photographer, and author

Hank O'Neal Hank O’Neal (born Harold L. O'Neal Jr.; June 5, 1940) is an American music producer, author and photographer. Background His mother, Sarah Christian O’Neal, was a musically and intellectually inclined housewife from Tyler, Texas. His father w ...

. The show included images of Harlem jazz legends that O'Neal had the chance to interview and photograph for his book of the same name. The Visitors Center also houses books, recordings, and documentaries for guests to enjoy as well as photographs of contemporary jazz musicians. The museum hosts weekly programs such as the ''Harlem Speaks'' lecture series and ''Jazz for Curious Listeners'' sessions in which jazz novices and experts alike listen and learn about rare jazz recordings. The museum hosts events and programs at jazz venues and other museums such as the

Rubin Museum of Art The Rubin Museum of Art, also known as the Rubin Museum is a museum dedicated to the collection, display, and preservation of the art and cultures of the Himalayas, the Indian subcontinent, Central Asia and other regions within Eurasia, with a per ...

for the ''Harlem in the Himalayas'' concert series.

Jonathan Batiste Jonathan Michael Batiste (born November 11, 1986) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, bandleader, and television personality. He has recorded and performed with artists in various genres of music ( Stevie Wonder, Prince, Willie Nelson, ...

has been working with the museum since 2008 when he helped create the program ''Jazz Is: Now!'' in which his Stay Human band plays and "he deconstructs jazz, walking people through the theory and history of the music, often with the help of guests." Batiste was named associate artistic director of the museum in 2012.

The Savory Collection

In August 2010 The National Jazz Museum in Harlem acquired nearly 1,000 discs of recorded radio broadcasts made by audio engineer

William Savory William Alcott Savory (June 11, 1916 – February 11, 2004) was an audio engineer known for his extensive private recordings of important jazz musicians in the 1930s, and for his contributions to recording technology. A musician who developed an i ...

in the midst of the

swing era The swing era (also frequently referred to as the big band era) was the period (1933–1947) when big band swing music was the most popular music in the United States. Though this was its most popular period, the music had actually been aroun ...

in the 1930s. The collection includes performances by best selling jazz artists

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday had an innovative influence on jazz music and pop si ...

, and

Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader known as the "King of Swing". From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing big bands in the United States. His co ...

. Savory had access to bigger, slower-playing

aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It has ...

and

acetate records An acetate is a salt (chemistry), salt formed by the combination of acetic acid with a base (e.g. Alkali metal, alkaline, Alkaline earth metal, earthy, Transition metal, metallic, nonmetallic or radical Radical (chemistry), base). "Acetate" als ...

and he was able to record much longer clips, capturing extended live shows and jam sessions that many thought would be lost forever. The recordings are being digitized by Brooklyn-based recording engineer Doug Pomeroy, a specialist in

audio restoration Audio restoration is the process of removing imperfections (such as hiss, impulse noise, crackle, wow and flutter, background noise, and mains hum) from sound recordings. Audio restoration can be performed directly on the recording medium (f ...

. The transformation involves cleaning, correcting pitch, removing extraneous noise, mixing and mastering. The Savory Collection is being made available for purchase and portions of this collection have been made available for digital download through iTunes, as of May 2017 three volumes are available. Mosaic Records also released a limited-edition 6-CD set with selections from the collection.

Board of Directors

* Jonathan Scheuer, Chairman *

Abraham D. Sofaer Abraham David Sofaer (born May 6, 1938) is an American attorney and jurist who served as a United States federal judge, United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and legal adviser to th ...

, Vice Chairman *

Daryl Libow Darryl is an English name, a variant spelling of Darell. Male variations of this name include: Darlin, Daryl, Darrell, Darryl, Daryll, Darryll, Darrell, Darrel. Female and unisex variations of this name include: Daryl, Darian, Dareen, Darell ...

, Secretary * Mark A. Willis, Treasurer *

Ken Burns Kenneth Lauren Burns (born July 29, 1953) is an American filmmaker known for his documentary film, documentary films and television series, many of which chronicle United States, American History of the United States, history and Culture of the ...

* Neal Dittersdorf * Gregory Floyd * Alan S. Kaplinsky *

Wynton Marsalis Wynton Learson Marsalis (born October 18, 1961) is an American trumpeter, composer, teacher, and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has promoted classical and jazz music, often to young audiences. Marsalis has won nine Grammy Awar ...

* Kenneth McIntyre * Robert R. Nelson, Jr. * Timothy L. Porter *

Lisa Staiano-Coico Lisa Staiano-Coico or Lisa S. Coico (born February 26, 1956) is an American politician and academic. Coico was the twelfth president of City College of New York, from August 2010 until October 2016. A graduate of Brooklyn College 1976, Coico be ...

(aka Lisa S. Coico) * Richard S. Taffett * Lloyd Williams *

, Founding Board Member (In Memoriam) * Dr. Billy Taylor (In Memoriam)

References

* * * * * * *

Programs and exhibits

The Savory Collection

Board of Directors

References

See also