Phil Schaap
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Philip van Noorden Schaap (April 8, 1951September 7, 2021) was an American radio host, who specialized in jazz as a broadcaster, historian, archivist, and producer. He began presenting jazz shows on
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
's
WKCR WKCR-FM (89.9 FM) is a radio station licensed to New York, New York, United States. The station is owned by Columbia University and serves the New York metropolitan area. Founded in 1941, the station traces its history back to 1908 with the fir ...
in 1970, and hosted ''Bird Flight'' and ''Traditions In Swing'' on WKCR for 40 years, beginning in 1981. Schaap received six
Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...
s over the course of his career.


Early years

Schaap was born in
Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
on April 8, 1951. He was raised in the
Hollis Hollis may refer to: *Hollis (singer) *Hollis (name) Places * Hollis, Alaska * Hollis, Kansas * Hollis, Maine * Hollis, Missouri * Hollis, New Hampshire * Hollis, Oklahoma * Hollis, Queens, neighborhood in New York **Hollis (LIRR station), its Lon ...
neighborhood, and grew up as a fan of the
Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association (19th century), American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the ...
. An only child, he was raised by jazz-loving parents. His father was Walter Schaap, an early jazz historian and discographer. His mother, Marjorie Wood Schaap, worked as a librarian and was a classically trained pianist. At
Radcliffe Radcliffe or Radcliff may refer to: Places * Radcliffe Line, a border between India and Pakistan United Kingdom * Radcliffe, Greater Manchester ** Radcliffe Tower, the remains of a medieval manor house in the town ** Radcliffe tram stop * ...
, she listened to
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 ...
records and smoked a
corncob pipe A tobacco pipe, often called simply a pipe, is a device specifically made to smoke tobacco. It comprises a chamber (the bowl) for the tobacco from which a thin hollow stem (shank) emerges, ending in a mouthpiece. Pipes can range from very simp ...
. Schaap junior was friendly with many jazz musicians from a young age, particularly the members of the original
Count Basie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...
Orchestra, knocking on the front door of
Buck Clayton Wilbur Dorsey "Buck" Clayton (November 12, 1911 – December 8, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter who was a member of Count Basie's orchestra. His principal influence was Louis Armstrong, first hearing the record "Confessin' That I Love You" ...
, as well as visiting the home of
Milt Hinton Milton John Hinton (June 23, 1910 – December 19, 2000) was an American double bassist and photographer. Regarded as the Dean of American jazz bass players, his nicknames included "Sporty" from his years in Chicago, "Fump" from his time on the ...
unannounced. Backstage with his mother at Randall’s Island Jazz Festival in August 1956, he first met Basie's drummer,
Jo Jones Jonathan David Samuel Jones (October 7, 1911 – September 3, 1985) was an American jazz drummer. A band leader and pioneer in jazz percussion, Jones anchored the Count Basie Orchestra rhythm section from 1934 to 1948. He was sometimes k ...
, who asked if he knew of
Prince Robinson Prince Robinson (June 7, 1902 – July 23, 1960) was an American jazz reed player. He was known for soloing on both tenor saxophone and clarinet in the same recording. Early life Robinson was born in Portsmouth, Virginia. He learned to play clar ...
(a tenor player for
McKinney's Cotton Pickers McKinney's Cotton Pickers were an American jazz band, founded in Detroit, Michigan, United States in 1926, and led by William McKinney, who expanded his Synco Septet to ten players. Cuba Austin took over for McKinney on drums, with the latter bec ...
several decades earlier). As a result of Schaap passing this test, Jones offered to become his babysitter. His father dropped him off at Jones's Manhattan apartment; they played Basie records and watched cartoons together. By the 1950s, many leading African American musicians had moved into residential areas like Hollis in Queens, helpful for an emerging jazz enthusiast. In the first grade, Schaap tried to persuade Carole Eldridge, the daughter of trumpeter
Roy Eldridge David Roy Eldridge (January 30, 1911 – February 26, 1989), nicknamed "Little Jazz", was an American jazz trumpeter. His sophisticated use of harmony, including the use of tritone substitutions, his virtuosic solos exhibiting a departure from t ...
, to introduce him to her father, but only succeeded via her mother. Walter, Schaap's own father, at first disbelieved reports his young son (then 6 years old) was approaching major jazz musicians, explaining in 2001 that he rarely had sufficient courage himself. In his early teens, Schaap managed to gain a lift into Manhattan from Basie himself during the 1966 subway strike and amazed him with his recall of his orchestra's members and their repertory. "There isn’t anyone in the country who knows more about this music than he
oes Oes or owes were metallic "O" shaped rings or eyelets sewn on to clothes and furnishing textiles for decorative effect in England and at the Elizabethan and Jacobean court. They were smaller than modern sequins. Making and metals Robert Sharp obta ...
"
Max Roach Maxwell Lemuel Roach (January 10, 1924 – August 16, 2007) was an American jazz Jazz drumming, drummer and composer. A pioneer of bebop, he worked in many other styles of music, and is generally considered one of the most important drummers in h ...
told ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' in 2001. “He knows more about us than we know about ourselves."


Education and early career

Schaap attended
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
as a history major. On February 2, 1970, his freshman year, he began broadcasting jazz on the Columbia University radio station,
WKCR-FM WKCR-FM (89.9 FM) is a radio station licensed to New York, New York, United States. The station is owned by Columbia University and serves the New York metropolitan area. Founded in 1941, the station traces its history back to 1908 with the fir ...
. Schaap graduated from Columbia in 1973. From around the time he began as a student radio disc jockey, he was running the Jazz program at The West End at 113th street across Broadway from WKCR at 114th St in New York City gaining work for swing era musicians he had known for years who were by then under-employed. The West End had a side bar called the Jazz Room where musicians hung out. He booked on a nightly basis such prominent swing-band alumni as The Countsmen (a Basie alumni band, which he managed, it featuring alto saxophonist
Earle Warren Earle Warren (born Earl Ronald Warren; July 1, 1914 – June 4, 1994) was an American saxophonist. He was part of the Count Basie Orchestra from 1937. Early life Warren was born in Springfield, Ohio, on July 1, 1914. "He played piano, banjo, and ...
and trombonist
Dicky Wells William Wells (June 10, 1907 – November 12, 1985), known professionally as Dicky Wells (sometimes Dickie Wells), was an American jazz trombonist. Career Dickie Wells is believed to have been born on June 10, 1907 in Centerville, Tennessee, Uni ...
),
Russell Procope Russell Keith Procope (August 11, 1908 – January 21, 1981) was an American clarinetist and alto saxophonist who was a member of the Duke Ellington orchestra. Before Ellington Procope was born in New York City, United States, and grew up in S ...
's Ellingtonia, Franc Williams, George Kelly,
Eddie Barefield Edward Emanuel Barefield (December 12, 1909 – January 4, 1991) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist and arranger most noteworthy for his work with Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, Ella Fitzgerald, and Duke Ellington. Barefield's musical ...
,
Sonny Greer William Alexander "Sonny" Greer (December 13, c. 1895 – March 23, 1982) was an American jazz drummer and vocalist, best known for his work with Duke Ellington. Biography Greer was born in Long Branch, New Jersey, United States, and play ...
,
Benny Waters Benjamin Waters (January 23, 1902, Brighton, Baltimore, Maryland – August 11, 1998, Columbia, Maryland) was an American jazz saxophonist and clarinetist. known in part for the longevity of his career. He began on organ, then switched to cl ...
, Jo Jones,
Buddy Tate George Holmes "Buddy" Tate (February 22, 1913 – February 10, 2001) was an American jazz saxophonist and clarinetist. Biography Tate was born in Sherman, Texas, United States, and first played the alto saxophone. According to the website All Ab ...
,
Vic Dickenson Victor Dickenson (August 6, 1906 – November 16, 1984) was an American jazz trombonist. His career began in the 1920s and continued through musical partnerships with Count Basie (1940–41), Sidney Bechet (1941), and Earl Hines. Life and care ...
,
Harold Ashby Harold Ashby (March 27, 1925, in Kansas City, Missouri, United States – June 13, 2003, in New York City) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. He worked with Duke Ellington's band, replacing Jimmy Hamilton in 1968. In 1959, he recorded backing ...
,
Big Nick Nicholas George Walker "Big Nick" Nicholas (August 2, 1922 – October 29, 1997) was an American jazz saxophonist and singer. Strongly influenced by his hero, Coleman Hawkins, Nicholas in turn influenced a young John Coltrane to compose his tribute "B ...
, Ronnie Cole,
Eddie Durham Edward Durham (August 19, 1906 – March 6, 1987) was an American jazz guitarist, trombonist, composer, and arranger. He was one of the pioneers of the electric guitar in jazz. The orchestras of Bennie Moten, Jimmie Lunceford, Count Basie, ...
and "Doc" Cheatham. He also booked modern jazz artists, such as
Lee Konitz Leon Konitz (October 13, 1927 – April 15, 2020) was an American composer and alto saxophonist. He performed successfully in a wide range of jazz styles, including bebop, cool jazz, and avant-garde jazz. Konitz's association with the cool jazz ...
and
Joe Albany Joe Albany (born Joseph Albani; January 24, 1924 – January 12, 1988) was an American modern jazz pianist who played bebop with Charlie Parker as well as being a leader on his own recordings. Life and career Born in Atlantic City, New Jersey, ...
, and blues artists, such as Percy France and
Big Joe Turner Joseph Vernon "Big Joe" Turner Jr. (May 18, 1911 – November 24, 1985) was an American singer from Kansas City, Missouri. According to songwriter Doc Pomus, "Rock and roll would have never happened without him." His greatest fame was due to ...
. Schaap engineered the sound for Jazz events including
George Wein George Wein (October 3, 1925 – September 13, 2021) was an American jazz promoter, pianist, and producer.
's
Newport Jazz Festival The Newport Jazz Festival is an annual American multi-day jazz music festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island. Elaine Lorillard established the festival in 1954, and she and husband Louis Lorillard financed it for many years. They hire ...
.


Broadcaster and archivist

From 1981, Schaap hosted two shows on WKCR: the morning show ''Bird Flight'' was broadcast from 8:20 to 9:30 AM on weekdays, was devoted to the music of
Charlie Parker Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz saxophonist, band leader and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of bebop, a form ...
. ''Traditions In Swing'' was on Saturday evenings from 6 to 9 PM. Schaap, on his ''Bird Flight'' radio program, relayed long and detailed discussions (in his "pontifical baritone") of Charlie Parker minutiae. By 2001, the radio station's archive contained about 5,000 hours of Schaap's oral history and he was reported to have raised about $2 million over many years to help the station continue its broadcasts. He continued as a radio broadcaster for half-century until 2020 when the COVID pandemic intervened. Schaap was commissioned by
Michael Cuscuna Michael Cuscuna (born September 20, 1949 in Stamford, Connecticut, United States) is an American jazz record producer and writer. He is the co-founder of Mosaic Records and a discographer of Blue Note Records. Cuscuna played drums, saxophone and ...
of
Mosaic Records Mosaic Records is an American jazz record company and label established in 1982 by Michael Cuscuna and Charlie Lourie. It produces limited-edition box sets. The sets recordings are leased from the major record companies, usually for a three- or f ...
around 1988 to rescue unissued decaying recording of Charlie Parker made by Dean Benedetti forty years earlier. Schaap's work saw the recovery of 461 recorded fragments (Benedetti recorded only Parker, some fragments last only 20 seconds) from 18 nights of Parker's 1947 and 1948 nightclub appearances in Los Angeles and New York. ''The Complete Dean Benedetti Recordings of Charlie Parker'' (a 10 LP or 7 CD box set) was issued by Mosaic in 1990. From 1984 to 1991, Schaap was the archivist for the
Savoy Jazz Savoy Records is an American record company and label established by Herman Lubinsky in 1942 in Newark, New Jersey. Savoy specialized in jazz, rhythm and blues, and gospel music. In September 2017, Savoy was acquired by Concord Bicycle Music. ...
label. He was involved with the re-issue of other recordings on CD by artists including
Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...
,
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 ...
,
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 ...
, Louis Armstrong, and
Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based ...
. For his efforts in engineering, production, and liner notes, Schaap was nominated for eleven
Grammy awards The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...
and had won seven, including three for producing, three for historical writing, and one for audio engineering.


Educator and writer

As an educator, Schaap taught jazz at the graduate level at Columbia University and
Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...
. Schaap continued his academic teaching career at
Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
and
The Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most elit ...
, while running an adult jazz education program for
Jazz at Lincoln Center Jazz at Lincoln Center is part of Lincoln Center in New York City. The organization was founded in 1987 and opened at Time Warner Center in October 2004. Wynton Marsalis is the artistic director and the leader of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orches ...
. Upon becoming Curator at Jazz at Lincoln Center, he left a successful career producing, remastering, and writing for record companies such as Polygram (later absorbed by Universal) and Sony. In addition to his liner notes, Schaap contributed to the 2005 book by
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 ...
, ''Jazz ABZ: An A to Z Collection of Jazz Portraits''. In 2009, Schaap published the expanded reprint of Terry Waldo's "This is Ragtime" with new foreword by Wynton Marsalis, under the imprint of Jazz at Lincoln Center Library Editions.


Honors and other references

Schaap was a distinguished member of the Board of Directors Advisory committee of The
Jazz Foundation of America The Jazz Foundation of America (JFA) is a non-profit organization based in Manhattan, New York that was founded in 1989. Its programs seek to help jazz and blues musicians in need of emergency funds and connect them with performance opportunitie ...
. In October 2020, the
National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...
(NEA) announced Schaap as one of four recipients of the NEA Jazz Masters Fellowships, celebrated in an online concert and show on April 22, 2021. Awarded in recognition of lifetime achievement, the honor is bestowed on individuals who have made significant contributions to the art form. The other 2021 recipients were
Terri Lyne Carrington Terri Lyne Carrington (born August 4, 1965) is an American jazz drummer, composer, producer, and educator. She has played with Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, Clark Terry, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Joe Sample, Al Jarreau, Yellowjackets, and ma ...
,
Albert "Tootie" Heath Albert "Tootie" Heath (born May 31, 1935) is an American jazz hard bop drummer, the brother of tenor saxophonist Jimmy Heath and the double-bassist Percy Heath. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, he first recorded in 1957 with J ...
, and
Henry Threadgill Henry Threadgill (born February 15, 1944) is an American composer, saxophonist and flautist. He came to prominence in the 1970s leading ensembles rooted in jazz but with unusual instrumentation and often incorporating other genres of music. He h ...
. Schaap played a radio announcer in the 2009
Kurt Vonnegut Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American writer known for his satirical and darkly humorous novels. In a career spanning over 50 years, he published fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and ...
/
Dave Soldier David Sulzer (born November 6, 1956) is an American neuroscientist and musician. He is a professor at Columbia University Medical Center in the departments of psychiatry, neurology, and pharmacology. Sulzer's laboratory investigates the interact ...
"
radio opera Radio opera (German: 'Funkoper' or 'Radiooper') is a genre of opera. It refers to operas which were specifically composed to be performed on the radio and is not to be confused with broadcasts of operas which were originally written for the stage. ...
" ''A Soldier's Story''. He was the inspiration for
Woody Allen Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...
's on-screen character in Allen's film ''
Sweet and Lowdown ''Sweet and Lowdown'' is a 1999 American comedy-drama mockumentary film written and directed by Woody Allen. Loosely based on Federico Fellini's film ''La Strada'', the film tells the fictional story, set in the 1930s, of self-confident jazz guit ...
'' (1999). The feature film '' Miles Ahead'' (2015) contains a scene in which
Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...
, played by
Don Cheadle Donald Frank Cheadle Jr. (; born November 29, 1964) is an American actor. He is the recipient of  multiple accolades, including two Grammy Awards, a Tony Award, two Golden Globe Awards and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. He has also earned ...
, calls up WKCR Radio and talks to Phil Schaap on air about Schaap's selection and commentary on Davis's music.


Personal life

Schaap resided in
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 ...
. He married Ellen LaFurn, a schoolteacher, in 1997. She later returned to her former passion of singing jazz professionally. Their marriage was short-lived. Schaap was survived by his partner, Susan Shaffer; the couple had been together for 17 years. He was a cousin of the sports journalist
Dick Schaap Richard Jay Schaap (September 27, 1934 – December 21, 2001) was an American sportswriter, broadcaster, and author. Early life and education Born to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, and raised in Freeport, New York, on Long Island, Schaap began writ ...
. Schaap died on September 7, 2021, at a hospital in
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 ...
. He was 70, and suffered from
lymphoma Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). In current usage the name usually refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enlar ...
prior to his death.


Awards and honors


Grammy Awards

* Best Album Notes 1989 (album notes writer) for '' Bird: The Complete Charlie Parker on Verve'' * Best Album Notes 1993 (album notes writer) for ''The Complete Billie Holiday on Verve 1945–1959'' * Best Historical Recording 1993 (producer) for ''The Complete Billie Holiday on Verve 1945–1959'' * Best Audio Engineering 1996 (engineer) for ''Miles Davis & Gil Evans: The Complete Columbia Studio Recordings'' * Best Album Notes 1996 (album notes writer) for ''Miles Davis & Gil Evans: The Complete Columbia Studio Recordings'' * Best Historical Recording 1996 (producer & engineer) for '' Miles Davis & Gil Evans: The Complete Columbia Studio Recordings'' * Best Historical Recording 2000 (producer & engineer) for ''Louis Armstrong: The Complete Hot Five and Hot Seven Recordings''


References


Further reading

*


External links


WKCR
on the history of jazz programming on WKCR
Count Basie Centennial
page on Phil Schaap
Phil Schaap Jazz
The new home of Schaap Shop jazz memorabilia and Schaap radio archives

''The New York Times''
"Jazz Historian to Record His Memory’s Fading Notes"
''The New York Times''
Radio interview with Phil Schaap
on Vermont community radio. * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schaap, Phil 1951 births 2021 deaths Columbia College (New York) alumni Grammy Award winners Jazz record producers Radio personalities from New York City Record producers from New York (state) Jazz radio presenters Deaths from lymphoma Deaths from cancer in New York (state)