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Willie Smith Collection

Composer:
Smith, Willie, 1910-1967 (musician)  Search this
Names:
Harry James Orchestra  Search this
Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra  Search this
Ellington, Duke, 1899-1974  Search this
James, Harry, 1916-  Search this
Lunceford, Jimmie  Search this
Extent:
0.25 Cubic feet (2 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Sheet music
Programs
Photographs
Correspondence
Date:
1945-1987
Summary:
Collection documents Willie Smith's career as a musician and arranger between 1945 and 1958.
Scope and Contents:
The Willia Smith Collection consits of correspondence, event programs, a periodical entitled Musikkunde in beispielen, thirty-siz black and white photograph, and nine music arrangements documenting Smith's career as a musician and arranger between 1945 and 1958.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into three series.

Series 1: Music Manuscripts, 1945-1947

Series 2: Photographs, 1938-1958

Series 3: Ephemera, 1945-1987
Biographical / Historical:
Willie Smith, aleading alto saxophonist and arranger of the swing period, was born in Charkeston, South Carolina on November 25, 1910 and died in Los Angeles on March 7, 1967. He attended Nashville Tennessee's Fisk University during the 1920s and played with the Jimmy Lunceford Orchestra between 1929 and 1942. After a brief period performing with Charlie Spivak's band between 1942 and 1943, Smith began his tenure with the Harry James Orchestra in 1944. Hew remained with the Harry James Orchestra until 1964 with brief interruptions between 1951 and 1953 performing with the Duke Ellington Orchestra, Jazz at the Philharmonic, and leading several of his own small ensembles in Los Angeles. In addition to Smith's reputation as a section leader and soloist, he is best known for his arrangmenets of Sophisticated Lady and Rose Rooom for the Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra.
Provenance:
Collection donated by Fischella Smith, August 14, 1990.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Topic:
Music -- 20th century  Search this
Jazz musicians -- United States  Search this
Jazz  Search this
Genre/Form:
Sheet music -- Manuscripts -- 20th century
Programs -- 1940-1990
Photographs -- 20th century
Correspondence -- 1940-2000
Citation:
Willie Smith Collection, 1945-1987, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Identifier:
NMAH.AC.0382
See more items in:
Willie Smith Collection
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8a894e9c9-2624-4696-a48b-26cafe9da0c0
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0382

Trumpet blues : the life of Harry James / Peter Levinson

Author:
Levinson, Peter J  Search this
Subject:
James, Harry 1916-1983  Search this
Physical description:
xvii, 334 p. : ill. 25 cm
Type:
Biography
Place:
United States
Date:
1999
Topic:
Trumpet players  Search this
Jazz musicians  Search this
Call number:
CT275.J266 L48 1999
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_591611

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