Audiotapes, CDs and digital files: an ongoing project to interview and preserve the memories of people important in the jazz world, including jazz musicians, singers, dancers, producers, arrangers, and others. A list of interviewees and interviewers follows.
The following is a list of the individuals who conducted the interviews.
1. Brown, Anthony
2. Baker, Lida
3. Burstein, Julie
Interviewer
2. Bluiett, Hamiet
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged into six series.
Series 1, DAT and CD Original Interview Recordings, 1992-2012
Series 2, Cassette Reference and Master Interview Tapes, 1992-2012
Series 3, Audio CD Reference Copies, 2000-2012
Series 4, Video/CD, 1994-2012
Series 5, Transcripts and Abstracts, 1992-2014
Series 6, Supplemental Documentation, 1992-2012
Biographical / Historical:
The Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program, a project of "America's Jazz Heritage, A Partnership of the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund and the Smithsonian Institution" initiative was created in 1992. More than 150 in-depth oral history interviews were conducted from 1992 through 2002. The collection was transferred to the Archives Center of the National Museum of American History in 2000. Now part of the National Museum of American History's American Music History Initiatives, the Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program continues to conduct interviews as funding is available.
The Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program was established to document significant jazz musicians, performers, producers, and business associates in their own words and voices. Program staff contacted and worked with potential interviewees to arrange for interviews. Each interview was conducted by a jazz authority and was recorded on digital audiotape by a professional audio engineer. The interviews averaged 6 hours in length and covered 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. The original DAT interview tapes were then dubbed to audiocassettes and CD to create protection and access copies. More recent interviews have been recorded using fully digital technology and the interviews are preserved and made availbel as digital files.
A number of the interviews were conducted as part of the Ella Fitzgerald Oral History Project of the Jazz Oral History Program. Funded by the Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation, these interviews focus on the life and work of Ella Fitzgerald. The National Endowments for the Arts Jazz Masters Oral Histories Program continues to support new interviews with NEA Jazz Masters.
For more information about jazz concerts, education, collections, Jazz Appreciation Month, and the Jazz Master orchestra, visit Smithsonian Jazz.
Provenance:
The interviews were made for the Smithsonian Institution under the auspices of the Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program supported by America's Jazz Heritage, funded by the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund, the Smithsonian Institution, and the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Oral Histories Program. Additional interviews were conducted with support from the Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Researchers must use reference copies.
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. Release forms exist for most interviews.
[Interviewee name] Interview, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program Collection, 1992-2014, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Sponsor:
The interviews were made for the Smithsonian Institution under the auspices of the Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program and supported by America's Jazz Heritage, funded by the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund, the Smithsonian Institution, and the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Oral Histories Program. Additional interviews were conducted with support from the Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation.
Arturo Griffiths spoke about the creation of the Community Coalition, Multicultural Leadership Summit, and Multicultural Leadership Council after disturbances in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood in Washington, DC to address the needs of the Latino community and the Black community, and to bring communities together. And later, the creation and evolution of the Afro-Latino institute because the Latino community was not addressing their lack of inclusivity in regards to the Black community.
Griffiths explained United States foreign policy, including why Central Americans flee to the US; Latinos' goals living in the United States; Latinos' lack of understanding regarding United States history, current events, racism, and inclusivity; the isolation of the Black community in the US which led to a lack of knowledge regarding Black people from other parts of the world; the lack of relationship and connection between the Black community and Latino community as well as between the Black people in the US and Black people from the rest of the world; and the attempts by the Black community in the US to reach out to other communities in the US and their efforts were not reciprocated. Griffiths spoke about Latinos' struggle for empowerment and lack of voting power; Frank Shaffer-Corona, the first elected Latino in DC area and first Latino on school board; racism within the Latino community; the Latino community leadership's lack of Black representation; and how people from various ethnic groups identify themselves and which groups feel isolated.
Griffiths also spoke about his extended family history and ethnic background, which included West Indian and English ancestry; the racial segregation system, imposed by the United States, in the Canal Zone of Panama; the tension between Blacks of English descent and Blacks of Spanish descent; his politically active Afro-Panamanian father, who was forced out of Panama City and arrived in the United States in the middle of the Civil Rights movement; and his father's work in the US, including the organization of the Washington Ghetto Industrial Development and Investment Corporation to empower the ghettoes and Black communities economically through controlling the distribution of goods.
Griffiths spoke about his childhood in Panama City as a Black West Indian kid who spoke Spanish and was raised by his mother; his school experience; racism within his family; and his family's economic instability. He described what he knew about the United States prior to arriving in the United States; his family's migration to the United States, including their migration preparations in Panama; his first impressions arriving in the center of the Black community in northwest Washington, DC during the Civil Rights Movement; and the segregation and discrimination he witnessed in the US. Griffiths talked about playing basketball when he was young; clashing with the Black kids in the US because he was a foreigner and spoke Spanish; being a part of one of the gangs to survive; learning English; and living in both and between the Latino community and the Black community.
Arturo Griffiths was interviewed by Hector Corporan on December 23, 1992. Interview is in English and minimal Spanish. Digital audio files include white noise and static, and minimal background noise. Interviewee's voice is intelligible for the most part.
General:
Associated documentation for this interview is available in the Anacostia Community Museum Archives.
Title created by ACMA staff using text written on sound cassette, contents of audio recording, textual transcript, and/or associated archival documentation.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment: ACMarchives@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Black Mosaic: Community, Race, and Ethnicity among Black Immigrants in Washington, D. C. exhibition records, Anacostia Community Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).
Eduardo Flores, also known as Eduardo Jesus Flores Hernandez, spoke about his extended family history and ethnic background, which included Canarian, Dominican, and African ancestry; his childhood in Pinar del Rio, and later Havana with his aunt and cousins, including his school experience, Sunday movie matinees, weekly Catholic church, and chores; and what his parents did for work. Note, Flores identified himself as Black Afro-Cuban and Black Hispanic.
Flores explained in detail what happens in Cuba when the government knows you are leaving the country, and why he almost did not leave Cuba. He spoke about his migration and arrival in Miami in 1969, including staying at Cuban Refugee, living in New Orleans from 1969 to 1971, and then migrating to Washington, DC. Flores detailed his school experience, learning English, his first time experiencing discrimination, and the racial and ethnic divisions and tension in New Orleans as well as his high school experience in Washington, DC. He also explained how discrimination and racial identity differed in the United States and Cuba as well as a brief history of slavery in both countries.
Flores explained he joined sports to be accepted; he felt hostility toward Black people because he was not accepted as a Black person in the US; learning about Black history and culture in the United States; and how and when he started to see commonalities between Black people in the US and himself.
Flores explained in detail Santeria, a religion with Yoruba roots; when and why he started to study Santeria; how he became a Santero and his work; and his goal to write a book about the roots of slavery and the roots of Santeria. He also spoke extensively about his mother's death, with a connection to Santeria.
Eduardo Flores was interviewed by Hector Corporan. Interview is in English. Digital audio files include white noise and static. Interviewee's voice is intelligible for the most part.
General:
Associated documentation, including partial transcripts, for this interview is available in the Anacostia Community Museum Archives. The textual transcripts are not verbatim of the audio recordings.
Title created by ACMA staff using text written on sound cassette, contents of audio recording, textual transcript, and/or associated archival documentation.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment: ACMarchives@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Black Mosaic: Community, Race, and Ethnicity among Black Immigrants in Washington, D. C. exhibition records, Anacostia Community Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).
Ibrahim Kanja Bah stated he was part of the Fulbe community in Sierra Leone, and the official language of his community is Pulaar. He explained the meaning of Kanja, how a child is named in his African community, and where the Fulbe community is located in West Africa.
Bah explained what he knew about the United States, how he visualized the United States, and his understanding of African Americans prior to living in the United States; why he migrated to the United States in 1973; his arrival and first experiences in Brooklyn, New York and Washington, DC; his first impression of the United States; and how he was received in the United States. He spoke about the social functions, and African culture and traditions that bring Africans together in Washington, DC.
Bah spoke about his past and current work in the music industry, including managing an African music store, producing music and concerts, bringing African bands to the United States, organizing music tours, DJing, hosting an African radio program, and teaching the history of African music at the Foreign Service Institute.
Bah explained the increase in the popularity of African music; how African music and culture influenced popular American music, including go-go music, rap, and break dance; how night clubs, specifically the Kilimanjaro, exposed a lot of people to African music; who helped make African music acceptable to Africans and introduce African music to non-Africans in the United States; the influence of Africans on the English language in the United States; and the disconnection between the Africans in the United States and the Africans in Africa.
Bah explained the ethnic and cultural diversity throughout Africa; how African diversity is "a unifying force"; Ghanaian music's role in the development of African music, including bass band music and highlife music; how the system cultivated Africans to be something other than who they really are; Africans are not capitalizing and marketing their music to the world themselves; and the popularity of Latin music in Africa. Bah also spoke about how a native Ghanaian rhythm became a part of Paul Simon's album.
Ibrahim Kanja Bah was interviewed by Hector Corporan. Interview is in English. Digital audio files include white noise and static. Volume of interviewee's voice fluctuates a little; interviewee's voice is intelligible for the most part.
General:
Associated documentation for this interview is available in the Anacostia Community Museum Archives.
Title created by ACMA staff using text written on sound cassette, contents of audio recording, textual transcript, and/or associated archival documentation.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment: ACMarchives@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Black Mosaic: Community, Race, and Ethnicity among Black Immigrants in Washington, D. C. exhibition records, Anacostia Community Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).
John Blake spoke about his migration from Trinidad to the United States, including his first experiences and first impression, and cultural differences, in 1970; living in a group house with his brother in Washington, DC; and Howard University.
Blake explained his interest in radio broadcasting; changing careers from quantity surveying / building estimating to broadcasting; the origin, history, and evolution of his radio program, "Caribbean Experience"; the importance of his radio program to the community; and the importance of a network of information for the Caribbean community, which led to Caribbean communities understanding each other better.
Blake spoke about teaching radio production; reggae and calypso music; reggae musicians, including Eddy Grant and the musical group, Third World; the relationship between music genres in and across the Caribbean, Africa, and the United States; and why was reggae music embraced by the African American community. He also spoke about the African diaspora; civil rights movement and uprisings in Washington, DC; Black consciousness movement; Operation Caribbean Cruise, a Washington, DC police drug investigation and raid which targeted the Jamaican and Caribbean community; and how Jamaicans and Caribbeans are generalized and stereotyped.
John Blake was interviewed by Hector Corporan. Interview is in English. Digital audio files include minimal white noise and static. Interviewee's voice is intelligible.
General:
Associated documentation for this interview is available in the Anacostia Community Museum Archives.
Title created by ACMA staff using text written on sound cassette, contents of audio recording, textual transcript, and/or associated archival documentation.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment: ACMarchives@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Black Mosaic: Community, Race, and Ethnicity among Black Immigrants in Washington, D. C. exhibition records, Anacostia Community Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).
Saint Thomas (United States Virgin Islands : Island)
New York (N.Y.)
Washington (D.C.)
United States
Date:
1993 March 9
Scope and Contents:
Julia Lara spoke about her parents, brother, and extended family; her elementary school experience and living in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; immigrating from Santo Domingo to St. Thomas to New York City; learning English in St. Thomas; attending Catholic elementary school and high school in New York City, community college in NYC, Middlebury College in Vermont, and Columbia University; race in Dominican Republic and the United States; how she identified herself; the impact of the civil rights movement on her; her decision to change her educational focus from political science to education; moving to Adams Morgan community in Washington, DC; her work with the Council of Chief State School Officers; bilingual education; and the merging of Bell Multicultural High School and Cardozo High School.
Lara explained why skin pigmentation is an issue within the family unit in Dominican Republic; however, she was not treated differently even though she was the darkest skinned child in the family. She also explained the woman's role in the household, the difficulty getting visas out of Dominican Republic, how life adjustments in New York City differed from adjusting to life in St. Thomas, Latinos of African descent have been placed in a situation where they have to become African American denying where they come from and who they are, racism within the Latino community in Washington, DC, and the relationship between race, culture, and nationality.
Julia Lara was interviewed by Hector Corporan. Interview is in English. Digital audio files include white noise and static; interviewee can be heard clearly for the most part. There are several minutes of sound distortion where voices are difficult to understand and some original audio might be missing.
General:
Associated documentation for this interview is available in the Anacostia Community Museum Archives.
Title created by ACMA staff using text written on sound cassette, contents of audio recording, textual transcript, and/or associated archival documentation.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment: ACMarchives@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Black Mosaic: Community, Race, and Ethnicity among Black Immigrants in Washington, D. C. exhibition records, Anacostia Community Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).
Maricela Medina spoke in detail about growing up, including games and entrepreneurial activities, and her school experience, including boarding school, in the Dominican Republic during the Trujillo dictatorship; Monte Plata, the town where she lived; her family origin and history, including when and why they migrated to the Dominican Republic; her mother and her father; the two years she lived in Dominican Republic after her mother immigrated, on a diplomatic visa, to the United States; the circumstances her mother immigrated to the United States; and domestic worker experiences.
Medina described preparing to immigrate to the United States; her first impressions of the United States when she arrived in Washington, DC at the age of 12, including her realization that Black people lived in the United States; her life and educational experience, including overcoming the language barrier, through Catholic high school and Howard University in Washington, DC, and University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan; the Latino community in Washington, DC, social gatherings, and how the community evolved; the tensions, including biases and prejudices, between the Hispanic and African American communities; customs, traditions, and values she learned in the Dominican Republic and maintained when she moved to the United States; and specific plights of immigrants and how immigrants' plights have changed over time.
Medina also spoke about identity and described herself as a Black Hispanic woman, Black Latin American woman, or Black Dominican woman; her Dominican and Catholic upbringing; her role as a godmother; race and racism in the United States, Dominican Republic, Latin America, and at the schools she attended; prejudice versus racism; and the Mount Pleasant disturbance. She also stated she is an American citizen, and explained why uses Hispanic and Latino interchangeably.
Maricela Medina was interviewed by Hector Corporan. Interview is in English and minimal Spanish. Digital audio files include loud white noise and static; and some background noise. Interviewee can be heard clearly. Interviewer often spoke at same time as interviewee.
General:
Associated documentation for this interview is available in the Anacostia Community Museum Archives.
Title created by ACMA staff using text written on sound cassette, contents of audio recording, textual transcript, and/or associated archival documentation.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment: ACMarchives@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Black Mosaic: Community, Race, and Ethnicity among Black Immigrants in Washington, D. C. exhibition records, Anacostia Community Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).
Smithsonian Institution. Anacostia Community Museum Search this
Extent:
2 Digital files
1 Sound cassette
Type:
Archival materials
Digital files
Sound cassettes
Place:
Puerto Rico
Washington (D.C.)
United States
Date:
circa 1992-1993
Scope and Contents:
Sonia Gutierrez, director of the Carlos Rosario Adult Education Center, spoke in detail about the origin, students, services, successes, challenges, and evolution of PEILA (Program of English Instruction for Latin Americans) and the Carlos Rosario Adult Education Center in Washington, DC. She also spoke about struggles faced by Latinos, including the anti-immigrant climate; the political activism and demonstrations to keep Latino education programs funded; and how the Black community and Latino community worked together to fight for home rule in Washington, DC.
Gutierrez described the evolution of the Latino community in the Washington, DC, including the shift of leadership and how current leadership differed from early leadership. She detailed the long path to establish the Office of Latino Affairs in Washington, DC, which started with a sit-in outside of Mayor Washington's office; and the founding of the Council of Latino Agencies. She also discussed the roles of Marion Barry throughout this activism work.
Gutierrez spoke about Latinos' immigration statuses and the decision making processes around becoming a United States citizen. She also briefly spoke about coming to Washington, DC in 1971, growing up in Puerto Rico in a middle class family and attending private school, her marriages, and being inducted into DC's Women's Hall of Fame.
Sonia Gutierrez was interviewed by Hector Corporan. Interview is in English. Digital audio files include white noise and static; interviewee's voice is intelligible.
General:
Associated documentation, including partial transcripts, for this interview is available in the Anacostia Community Museum Archives. The textual transcripts are not verbatim of the audio recordings.
Title created by ACMA staff using text written on sound cassette, contents of audio recording, textual transcript, and/or associated archival documentation.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment: ACMarchives@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Black Mosaic: Community, Race, and Ethnicity among Black Immigrants in Washington, D. C. exhibition records, Anacostia Community Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).
Recorded in: Washington (D.C.), United States, October 12, 1980.
Restrictions:
Restrictions on access. Some duplication is allowed. Use of materials needs permission of the Smithsonian Institution.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. Please visit our website to learn more about submitting a request. The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections make no guarantees concerning copyright or other intellectual property restrictions. Other usage conditions may apply; please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for more information.
Recorded in: Washington (D.C.), United States, October 12, 1980.
Restrictions:
Restrictions on access. Some duplication is allowed. Use of materials needs permission of the Smithsonian Institution.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. Please visit our website to learn more about submitting a request. The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections make no guarantees concerning copyright or other intellectual property restrictions. Other usage conditions may apply; please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for more information.
