Music & Musical Instruments

This violin bow was made by Glasser Manufacturing Company in New York, New York, late 1970s. This bow was sold with a 1/16 size Suzuki violin (Cat. #2014.0181.04). It is stamped:

GLASSER

This bow features U. S. Patent #3456544, dated July 22, 1969 by Leon Glasser, for a musical instrument bow made of reinforced plastic.

This violin was made by the Kiso Suzuki Violin Company Ltd. in Fukushima, Kiso, Japan in 1973. The earliest makers of violins in Japan were Sadajiro Matunaga and Masakichi Suzuki (b.1859–d.1944). Both were trained as shamisen makers and began making violins based on instruments brought to Japan toward the end of the 19th century from Western sources, using Japanese pine and maple and sometimes sycamore. In 1880, proceeding with a Westernization policy, the Japanese government had instituted teacher training programs for lessons in piano, organ, and violin. There is a printed label inside the instrument:

Kiso Suzuki Violin Co., Ltd
Copy of Antonius Stradivarus 1720
Anno 1973 ¾ No.7 Japan
[Kiso Suzuki Trademark]

Masakichi Suzuki established the Suzuki violin manufacturing firm in Nagoya in 1887, adding guitars and mandolins to the firm's production in 1903. The firm received an award at the Japan-British Exhibition in London in 1910, and Masakichi was further cited in 1917 by the Japanese government with a Medal of Honor for his accomplishments in the violin industry. At this time his company was producing thousands of violins each year.

The “S” logo is employed in the label of this ¾ violin with semi-transparent, dark reddish-brown varnish and ink representation of purfling. The fittings are of dark hardwood, with the fingerboard also stained black to give the appearance of ebony. The spruce and maple are probably local Japanese woods, with interior linings and blocks of a light material similar to basswood.

This trombone was made by Meinl & Lauber in Gartenberg, Germany, around 1969-1970. It is an E-flat alto slide trombone. The trombone is made of brass. It is a reproduction instrument patterned after an instrument by Michael Nagel in 1656, Nurnberg. This trombone is inscribed:

MICHAEL NAGEL NURNBERG
KOPIE
MEINL & LAUBER
GARTENBERG
BAYERN

This special award was presented to Duke Ellington by the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), in 1970. It is two cast bronze hands holding a globe, on a resin and wood block, with an engraved metal plate. The plate is engraved:

NAACP IMAGE AWARD 1970
HE’S THE DUKE TO THOSE
OF US WHO LOVE HIM
BUT HE IS THE KING OF MUSIC

This harmonica was made by Hohner in Germany, 1976. It is a limited edition Bicentennial Hohner model in the key of C, with 10 single holes and 20 reeds. The harmonica has a red plastic comb with gold tone and enameled, curved metal cover plates riveted to the top and bottom. Accessioned with original plastic case. It is embossed:

BICENTENNIAL

Hohner made these harmonicas for the United States Bicentennial in 1976.

This harmonica was made by Nippon Gakki Co., Ltd., in Japan, around 1972. It is a Virtuoso model, with 24 double holes and 48 reeds. This harmonica has a brown plastic comb with metal cover plates attached to the top and bottom with screws. It is engraved:

VIRTUOSO
NIPPON GAKKI CO. LTD.
NO.24

(and):

[logo] YAMAHA
NIPPON GAKKI CO., LTD.
MADE IN JAPAN

This button is from the Spring Jazzfest at Griswold’s Old School House, in Claremont, California, in 1978. It is made of white paper with blue ink covered with a clear film, on a two-piece metal button with a pin back. The button is printed:

GRISWOLD'S OLD SCHOOL HOUSE
1978
[image of trumpet]
SPRING
JAZZFEST
650
SUPPORTED BY THE UNITED JAZZ CLUBS OF SO. CALIF.

Floyd Levin (1922-2007) was a Los Angeles textile manufacturer who turned his passion for jazz into a second career as an influential jazz journalist and historian. His numerous reviews, profiles, and articles were published in magazines such as Down Beat, Jazz Journal International, Metronome, and American Rag. He also authored Classic Jazz: A Personal View of the Music and the Musicians. Items in this collection (2011.3086) were acquired from Levin’s attendance at Jazz Festivals, conferences, and other music events.

This button is from the Queen Mary Jazz Festival in Long Beach, California, in 1977. It is made of red paper with black ink covered with a clear film, on a two-piece metal button with a pin back. The button is printed:

UNITED
JAZZ CLUBS
OF SO. CALIF.
2nd ANNUAL
JAZZ FESTIVAL
ON THE
QUEEN MARY
OCT. 30, 1977

Floyd Levin (1922-2007) was a Los Angeles textile manufacturer who turned his passion for jazz into a second career as an influential jazz journalist and historian. His numerous reviews, profiles, and articles were published in magazines such as Down Beat, Jazz Journal International, Metronome, and American Rag. He also authored Classic Jazz: A Personal View of the Music and the Musicians. Items in this collection (2011.3086) were acquired from Levin’s attendance at Jazz Festivals, conferences, and other music events.

This medallion was presented to Ella Fitzgerald by The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (NARAS), in 1976. It is made of cast bronze. Jazz vocalist Ella Fitzgerald received this medallion in appreciation from NARAS as a co-presenter with Mel Tormé. Although they were not official performers on the awards show, Fitzgerald and Tormé gave a memorable impromptu vocal performance on live television. The medallion is cast:

NATIONAL ACADEMY of RECORDINGS and SCIENCES
[grammophone in center]
IN APPRECIATION
ELLA FITZGERALD
”THE GRAMMY AWARDS SHOW”
TELECAST 1976