Music & Musical Instruments

The Museum's music collections contain more than 5,000 instruments of American and European heritage. These include a quartet of 18th-century Stradivari stringed instruments, Tito Puente's autographed timbales, and the Yellow Cloud guitar that belonged to Prince, to name only a few. Music collections also include jukeboxes and synthesizers, square-dancing outfits and sheet music, archival materials, oral histories, and recordings of performances at the museum. The vast Sam DeVincent Collection of Illustrated Sheet Music is a remarkable window into the American past in words, music, and visual imagery. The Duke Ellington and Ruth Ellington Boatwright collections contain handwritten music compositions, sound recordings, business records, and other materials documenting the career of this renowned musician. In various ways, our collections find expression in performances of the Smithsonian Chamber Players, the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, and in other public programs.

This button is made of teal paper with black ink covered with a clear film, on a round two-piece metal button with a safety pin clutch. The button is printed:NAACPIMAGEAWARDSCurrently not on view
Description (Brief)

This button is made of teal paper with black ink covered with a clear film, on a round two-piece metal button with a safety pin clutch. The button is printed:

NAACP
IMAGE
AWARDS

Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1998
ID Number
2011.3087.54
nonaccession number
2011.3087
catalog number
2011.3087.54
This special award was presented by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) to composer Harry Warren on May 16, 1990. It is made of wood with a laminated paper certificate in cream, black and silver with a block border with a silver painted edge.
Description

This special award was presented by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) to composer Harry Warren on May 16, 1990. It is made of wood with a laminated paper certificate in cream, black and silver with a block border with a silver painted edge. The certificate is printed:

1990
ASCAP
POP
Award
HONORS
HARRY WARREN
WRITER OF
I Only Have Eyes for You
AMONG THE MOST PERFORMED
ASCAP STANDARDS
OCTOBER 1, 1979 - SEPTEMBER 30, 1989
[signature of Morton Gould]
PRESIDENT
May 16, 1990 . Los Angeles, California

Location
Currently not on view
presentation date
1990
recipient
Warren, Harry
presenter
American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers
manufacturer
Plakman
ID Number
2002.3101.09
catalog number
2002.3101.09
nonaccession number
2002.3101
This button is from the Palm Springs Jazz Festival in Palm Springs, California, in 1990-1991. It is made of red paper with white ink covered with a clear film, on a two-piece metal button with a pin back.
Description

This button is from the Palm Springs Jazz Festival in Palm Springs, California, in 1990-1991. It is made of red paper with white ink covered with a clear film, on a two-piece metal button with a pin back. The button is printed:

Classic Jazz Management
Palm
Springs
Jazz
90-91
WYNDHAM PALM SPRINGS

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.

Location
Currently not on view
date made
1990
user
Levin, Floyd
ID Number
2011.3086.053
nonaccession number
2011.3086
catalog number
2011.3086.053
This button is from the Sacramento Dixieland Jubilee Jazz Festival, in 1991. The button is a made of white paper with black and red lettering covered with a clear film, on a round two-piece metal button with a pin back. There is a red ribbon attached to the back of the button.
Description

This button is from the Sacramento Dixieland Jubilee Jazz Festival, in 1991. The button is a made of white paper with black and red lettering covered with a clear film, on a round two-piece metal button with a pin back. There is a red ribbon attached to the back of the button. The button is printed:

SACRAMENTO
[image of riverboat]
FLOYD
LEVIN
DIXIELAND JUBILEE
1991

(The ribbon is printed):

EMPEROR
1985

The Sacramento Music Festival (formerly the Old Sacramento Dixieland Jazz Jubilee) was an annual event held every Memorial Day weekend in Sacramento, California. Organized by the Sacramento Traditional Jazz Society, the festival was launched in 1974 and presented its final festival in 2017.

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.

Location
Currently not on view
date made
1991
user
Levin, Floyd
ID Number
2011.3086.117
nonaccession number
2011.3086
catalog number
2011.3086.117
Various artists. Method Man Sampler Tape (Def Jam DEF-191-4/2). Cassette format. This is a Collector's Edition Def Jam sampler tape featuring Method Man [Clifford M. Smith Jr.] on the cover.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Various artists. Method Man Sampler Tape (Def Jam DEF-191-4/2). Cassette format. This is a Collector's Edition Def Jam sampler tape featuring Method Man [Clifford M. Smith Jr.] on the cover.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1997
depicted
Method Man
maker
Def Jam
ID Number
2006.3087.41
nonaccession number
2006.3087
catalog number
2006.3087.41
This badge is made from a press card for Floyd Levin. It is made of green paper with black ink inserted in a plastic sleeve with a spring clip on the back.
Description

This badge is made from a press card for Floyd Levin. It is made of green paper with black ink inserted in a plastic sleeve with a spring clip on the back. The card is printed:

PRESS CARD 1994
FLOYD LEVIN
is a West Coast Rag Staff writer
entitled to full media courtesies
Pat Laughnan Publisher.

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.

Location
Currently not on view
date made
1994
user
Levin, Floyd
ID Number
2011.3086.137
nonaccession number
2011.3086
catalog number
2011.3086.137
Various artists. ONYX Sampler CD (Def Jam (B)-566 467-2). Compact disc. This is a Collector's Edition Def Jam sampler compact disc featuring ONYX on the cover.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Various artists. ONYX Sampler CD (Def Jam (B)-566 467-2). Compact disc. This is a Collector's Edition Def Jam sampler compact disc featuring ONYX on the cover.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1999
depicted
Onyx
maker
Def Jam
ID Number
2006.3087.49
nonaccession number
2006.3087
catalog number
2006.3087.49
With her camera, Lisa Law documented history in the heart of the counterculture revolution of the 1960s as she lived it, as a participant, an agent of change and a member of the broader culture.
Description
With her camera, Lisa Law documented history in the heart of the counterculture revolution of the 1960s as she lived it, as a participant, an agent of change and a member of the broader culture. She recorded this unconventional time of Anti-War demonstrations in California, communes, Love-Ins, peace marches and concerts, as well as her family life as she became a wife and mother. The photographs were collected by William Yeingst and Shannon Perich in a cross-unit collecting collaboration. Together they selected over two hundred photographs relevant to photographic history, cultural history, domestic life and social history.
Law’s portraiture and concert photographs include Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Lovin Spoonful and Peter, Paul and Mary. She also took several of Janis Joplin and her band Big Brother and the Holding Company, including the photograph used to create the poster included in the Smithsonian’s American Art Museum’s exhibition 1001 Days and Nights in American Art. Law and other members of the Hog Farm were involved in the logistics of setting up the well-known musical extravaganza, Woodstock. Her photographs include the teepee poles going into the hold of the plane, a few concert scenes and amenities like the kitchen and medical tent. Other photographs include peace rallies and concerts in Haight-Ashbury, Coretta Scott King speaking at an Anti-War protest and portraits of Allen Ginsburg and Timothy Leary. From her life in New Mexico the photographs include yoga sessions with Yogi Bhajan, bus races, parades and other public events. From life on the New Buffalo Commune, there are many pictures of her family and friends taken during meal preparation and eating, farming, building, playing, giving birth and caring for children.
Ms. Law did not realize how important her photographs were while she was taking them. It was not until after she divorced her husband, left the farm for Santa Fe and began a career as a photographer that she realized the depth of history she recorded. Today, she spends her time writing books, showing her photographs in museums all over the United States and making documentaries. In 1990, her video documentary, “Flashing on the Sixties,” won several awards.
A selection of photographs was featured in the exhibition A Visual Journey: Photographs by Lisa Law, 1964–1971, at the National Museum of American History October 1998-April 1999.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1965
date printed
1998
depicted (sitter)
Lovin' Spoonful
maker
Law, Lisa
ID Number
1998.0139.007
accession number
1998.0139
catalog number
1998.0139.007
various artists. Spring Breaks and Beats: Def Jam Recordings '97 (Def Jam DEF 147-4)Cassette tape.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
various artists. Spring Breaks and Beats: Def Jam Recordings '97 (Def Jam DEF 147-4)
Cassette tape.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1997
maker
Def Jam
ID Number
2006.3087.14
nonaccession number
2006.3087
catalog number
2006.3087.14
With her camera, Lisa Law documented history in the heart of the counterculture revolution of the 1960s as she lived it, as a participant, an agent of change and a member of the broader culture.
Description
With her camera, Lisa Law documented history in the heart of the counterculture revolution of the 1960s as she lived it, as a participant, an agent of change and a member of the broader culture. She recorded this unconventional time of Anti-War demonstrations in California, communes, Love-Ins, peace marches and concerts, as well as her family life as she became a wife and mother. The photographs were collected by William Yeingst and Shannon Perich in a cross-unit collecting collaboration. Together they selected over two hundred photographs relevant to photographic history, cultural history, domestic life and social history.
Law’s portraiture and concert photographs include Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Lovin Spoonful and Peter, Paul and Mary. She also took several of Janis Joplin and her band Big Brother and the Holding Company, including the photograph used to create the poster included in the Smithsonian’s American Art Museum’s exhibition 1001 Days and Nights in American Art. Law and other members of the Hog Farm were involved in the logistics of setting up the well-known musical extravaganza, Woodstock. Her photographs include the teepee poles going into the hold of the plane, a few concert scenes and amenities like the kitchen and medical tent. Other photographs include peace rallies and concerts in Haight-Ashbury, Coretta Scott King speaking at an Anti-War protest and portraits of Allen Ginsburg and Timothy Leary. From her life in New Mexico the photographs include yoga sessions with Yogi Bhajan, bus races, parades and other public events. From life on the New Buffalo Commune, there are many pictures of her family and friends taken during meal preparation and eating, farming, building, playing, giving birth and caring for children.
Ms. Law did not realize how important her photographs were while she was taking them. It was not until after she divorced her husband, left the farm for Santa Fe and began a career as a photographer that she realized the depth of history she recorded. Today, she spends her time writing books, showing her photographs in museums all over the United States and making documentaries. In 1990, her video documentary, “Flashing on the Sixties,” won several awards.
A selection of photographs was featured in the exhibition A Visual Journey: Photographs by Lisa Law, 1964–1971, at the National Museum of American History October 1998-April 1999.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1967-01-14
date printed
1998
referenced
Grateful Dead
depicted (sitter)
Ginsberg, Allen
maker
Law, Lisa
ID Number
1998.0139.046
catalog number
1998.0139.046
accession number
1998.0139
This drum was made by Latin Percussion Inc. in Garfield, New Jersey, in 1999. It is a Batá Drum, Iyá (large) with 6-1/2” and 12-1/2” head sizes, made of oak, with chrome fittings, and with a webbing sling.
Description (Brief)

This drum was made by Latin Percussion Inc. in Garfield, New Jersey, in 1999. It is a Batá Drum, Iyá (large) with 6-1/2” and 12-1/2” head sizes, made of oak, with chrome fittings, and with a webbing sling. This drum is from a matched set of three bata drums, Oconcolo (2000.3030.14.01), Omele / Itolele (2000.3030.14.02), and Iyá

(2000.3030.14.03).

As indicated in an LP brochure from the period, “LP Founder and Chairman, Martin Cohen, first came across bata drums more than thirty years ago at a religious ceremony in the Bronx, New York. Traditionally Batas are ceremonial drums that are played in groups. At least three people sit, each with a different size drum, and act out "call and answer" patterns which are played on the drums.”

Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1999
maker
Latin Percussion
ID Number
2000.3039.14.03
nonaccession number
2000.3039
catalog number
2000.3039.14.03
This electric bass guitar was made by Fender Musical Instrument Corp. in Scottsdale, Arizona in 1995. It is a reissue of the 1967 design with a three-tone sunburst finish.
Description
This electric bass guitar was made by Fender Musical Instrument Corp. in Scottsdale, Arizona in 1995. It is a reissue of the 1967 design with a three-tone sunburst finish. Leo Fender revolutionized the music world with his 1951 electric Precision Bass, and guitarist Monk Montgomery is credited with making the instrument a musical sensation. Although there were earlier stand-up electric basses, the "P Bass" was the first to be played like a standard guitar. It was also the first guitar to have the distinctive double cutaways.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1995
maker
Fender Musical Instruments Corp.
ID Number
1995.0186.02
accession number
1995.0186
catalog number
1995.0186.02
This award was presented to Ella Fitzgerald by the Cole Porter Centennial Committee in 1991. It is a made of a removable etched glass panel on a hollow wood base with three lights.
Description

This award was presented to Ella Fitzgerald by the Cole Porter Centennial Committee in 1991. It is a made of a removable etched glass panel on a hollow wood base with three lights. The glass is etched:

1891-1991
YOU’RE
THE
TOP
Cole Porter
Centennial Committee
recognizes the
outstanding
achievements of
ELLA FITZGERALD
for sustaining the
Cole Porter legend
and for winning new
audiences to an
appreciation of his genius

Location
Currently not on view
presentation date
1991
presenter
Cole Porter Centennial Committee
recipient
Fitzgerald, Ella
ID Number
1996.0342.054
accession number
1996.0342
catalog number
1996.0342.054
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date printed
2020
date made
1994-04
depicted (sitter)
Selena
maker
Rendon, Al
ID Number
2020.0085.0009
accession number
2020.0085
catalog number
2020.0085.0009
With her camera, Lisa Law documented history in the heart of the counterculture revolution of the 1960s as she lived it, as a participant, an agent of change and a member of the broader culture.
Description
With her camera, Lisa Law documented history in the heart of the counterculture revolution of the 1960s as she lived it, as a participant, an agent of change and a member of the broader culture. She recorded this unconventional time of Anti-War demonstrations in California, communes, Love-Ins, peace marches and concerts, as well as her family life as she became a wife and mother. The photographs were collected by William Yeingst and Shannon Perich in a cross-unit collecting collaboration. Together they selected over two hundred photographs relevant to photographic history, cultural history, domestic life and social history.
Law’s portraiture and concert photographs include Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Lovin Spoonful and Peter, Paul and Mary. She also took several of Janis Joplin and her band Big Brother and the Holding Company, including the photograph used to create the poster included in the Smithsonian’s American Art Museum’s exhibition 1001 Days and Nights in American Art. Law and other members of the Hog Farm were involved in the logistics of setting up the well-known musical extravaganza, Woodstock. Her photographs include the teepee poles going into the hold of the plane, a few concert scenes and amenities like the kitchen and medical tent. Other photographs include peace rallies and concerts in Haight-Ashbury, Coretta Scott King speaking at an Anti-War protest and portraits of Allen Ginsburg and Timothy Leary. From her life in New Mexico the photographs include yoga sessions with Yogi Bhajan, bus races, parades and other public events. From life on the New Buffalo Commune, there are many pictures of her family and friends taken during meal preparation and eating, farming, building, playing, giving birth and caring for children.
Ms. Law did not realize how important her photographs were while she was taking them. It was not until after she divorced her husband, left the farm for Santa Fe and began a career as a photographer that she realized the depth of history she recorded. Today, she spends her time writing books, showing her photographs in museums all over the United States and making documentaries. In 1990, her video documentary, “Flashing on the Sixties,” won several awards.
A selection of photographs was featured in the exhibition A Visual Journey: Photographs by Lisa Law, 1964–1971, at the National Museum of American History October 1998-April 1999.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1967
date printed
1998
depicted (sitter)
Collins, Judy
maker
Law, Lisa
ID Number
1998.0139.062
catalog number
1998.0139.062
accession number
1998.0139
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date printed
2020
date made
1993
depicted (sitter)
Selena
maker
Rendon, Al
ID Number
2020.0085.0015
accession number
2020.0085
catalog number
2020.0085.0015
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1992
ID Number
2016.3009.303
nonaccession number
2016.3009
catalog number
2016.3009.303
This badge is from Jersey JazzFest in New jersey, in 1995. It is a button made of paper with a white background and black printing covered with a clear film, on a two-piece metal button with a pin back. A blue ribbon is attached to the bottom of the button.
Description

This badge is from Jersey JazzFest in New jersey, in 1995. It is a button made of paper with a white background and black printing covered with a clear film, on a two-piece metal button with a pin back. A blue ribbon is attached to the bottom of the button. The button is printed:

JERSEY
JAZZFEST
1995

(The ribbon is printed):

AFJS

The New Jersey Jazz Society was founded in 1972 to “promote and preserve the great American musical art form known as Jazz through live jazz performances and educational outreach and scholarships.” Jersey JazzFest is an annual event sponsored by the New Jersey Jazz Society, which is a member of the American Federation of Jazz Societies (AFJS).

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.

Location
Currently not on view
date made
1995
user
Levin, Floyd
ID Number
2011.3086.206
nonaccession number
2011.3086
catalog number
2011.3086.206
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date printed
2020
date made
1994
depicted (sitter)
Selena
maker
Rendon, Al
ID Number
2020.0085.0017
accession number
2020.0085
catalog number
2020.0085.0017
This drum was made by Latin Percussion Inc. in Garfield, New Jersey, in 1999. It is a Patato Model drum, 11” diameter Quinto, made of fiberglass, with chrome fittings.
Description (Brief)

This drum was made by Latin Percussion Inc. in Garfield, New Jersey, in 1999. It is a Patato Model drum, 11” diameter Quinto, made of fiberglass, with chrome fittings. This drum is from a matched set of three congas Quinto (2000.3030.13.01), Conga (2000.3030.13.02), and Tumbadora (2000.3030.13.03).

As indicated in an LP brochure from the period, “Played by professional congueros the world over, these fiberglass drums were developed in 1978 after a recording session with the legendary "Patato" at the studio in Martin Cohen's home. Patato's own design required tall drums with a wide belly and small bottom. Standing 30" tall, these drums project deep basstones and great volume without sacrificing crisp, high sounds.”

Carlos Valdés Galán (1926–2007), better known as “Patato,” was a Cuban conga player. In 1954, he emigrated to New York City where he continued his career as a musician for several jazz and Latin music ensembles, and sometimes as a bandleader.

Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1999
maker
Latin Percussion
ID Number
2000.3039.13.01
nonaccession number
2000.3039
catalog number
2000.3039.13.01
This medallion is from the Flip Phillips 80th birthday party, in 1995. It is made of gold tone plastic with red and black ink. There is a metal loop at the top of the medallion with remnants of a hanging fabric strip.
Description

This medallion is from the Flip Phillips 80th birthday party, in 1995. It is made of gold tone plastic with red and black ink. There is a metal loop at the top of the medallion with remnants of a hanging fabric strip. The medallion is printed:

MARCH 24-26, 1995
FLIP
PHILLIPS'
80th
BIRTHDAY
PARTY
[image of Flip Phillips]

Flip Phillips, born Joseph Edward Filipelli (1915-2001) was an American jazz tenor saxophone and clarinet player.

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.

Location
Currently not on view
date made
1995
user
Levin, Floyd
ID Number
2011.3086.079
nonaccession number
2011.3086
catalog number
2011.3086.079
With her camera, Lisa Law documented history in the heart of the counterculture revolution of the 1960s as she lived it, as a participant, an agent of change and a member of the broader culture.
Description
With her camera, Lisa Law documented history in the heart of the counterculture revolution of the 1960s as she lived it, as a participant, an agent of change and a member of the broader culture. She recorded this unconventional time of Anti-War demonstrations in California, communes, Love-Ins, peace marches and concerts, as well as her family life as she became a wife and mother. The photographs were collected by William Yeingst and Shannon Perich in a cross-unit collecting collaboration. Together they selected over two hundred photographs relevant to photographic history, cultural history, domestic life and social history.
Law’s portraiture and concert photographs include Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Lovin Spoonful and Peter, Paul and Mary. She also took several of Janis Joplin and her band Big Brother and the Holding Company, including the photograph used to create the poster included in the Smithsonian’s American Art Museum’s exhibition 1001 Days and Nights in American Art. Law and other members of the Hog Farm were involved in the logistics of setting up the well-known musical extravaganza, Woodstock. Her photographs include the teepee poles going into the hold of the plane, a few concert scenes and amenities like the kitchen and medical tent. Other photographs include peace rallies and concerts in Haight-Ashbury, Coretta Scott King speaking at an Anti-War protest and portraits of Allen Ginsburg and Timothy Leary. From her life in New Mexico the photographs include yoga sessions with Yogi Bhajan, bus races, parades and other public events. From life on the New Buffalo Commune, there are many pictures of her family and friends taken during meal preparation and eating, farming, building, playing, giving birth and caring for children.
Ms. Law did not realize how important her photographs were while she was taking them. It was not until after she divorced her husband, left the farm for Santa Fe and began a career as a photographer that she realized the depth of history she recorded. Today, she spends her time writing books, showing her photographs in museums all over the United States and making documentaries. In 1990, her video documentary, “Flashing on the Sixties,” won several awards.
A selection of photographs was featured in the exhibition A Visual Journey: Photographs by Lisa Law, 1964–1971, at the National Museum of American History October 1998-April 1999.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1968
date printed
1998
maker
Law, Lisa
ID Number
1998.0139.145
catalog number
1998.0139.145
accession number
1998.0139
This badge is from Bob Haggart’s 80th Birthday Party sponsored by Arbors Records in St. Petersburg, Florida, in 1994. It is made of yellow paper with black ink, encapsulated in plastic. The badge is printed:FLOYD LEVINBOB HAGGART'S80th BIRTHDAY PARTYMarch 11-13, 1994St.
Description

This badge is from Bob Haggart’s 80th Birthday Party sponsored by Arbors Records in St. Petersburg, Florida, in 1994. It is made of yellow paper with black ink, encapsulated in plastic. The badge is printed:

FLOYD LEVIN
BOB HAGGART'S
80th BIRTHDAY PARTY
March 11-13, 1994
St. Petersburg, Florida
ARBORS [logo] RECORDS

Arbors Records is an independent label founded by Mat and Rachel Domber in Clearwater, Florida, in 1989. The label focuses on swing music and Dixieland jazz, ans later added contemporary and classic jazz to its roster.

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.

Location
Currently not on view
date made
1994
user
Levin, Floyd
ID Number
2011.3086.061
nonaccession number
2011.3086
catalog number
2011.3086.061
This Jew’s harp was made by Fred Whitlow in Palmetto, Florida, in 1991. This Jew’s harp, tuned to the key of G, is made of a stainless steel frame with an annealed steel vibrator. It is stamped:WHITLOW GFred Whitlow is an American musical Instrument maker and musician.
Description (Brief)

This Jew’s harp was made by Fred Whitlow in Palmetto, Florida, in 1991. This Jew’s harp, tuned to the key of G, is made of a stainless steel frame with an annealed steel vibrator. It is stamped:

WHITLOW G

Fred Whitlow is an American musical Instrument maker and musician. Whitlow received best prize for his Jew’s harp at the first International Jew’s Harp Congress in Iowa City, in 1984. He is a member of the Poindexter Band of Bradenton, Florida. The five-piece group, including a drummer, features a unique mix of mountain and folk music mixed in with a little country & western dubbed “New Grass.”

Location
Currently not on view
date made
1991
maker
Whitlow, Fred
ID Number
1991.0281.01
catalog number
1991.0281.01
accession number
1991.0281

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