Music & Musical Instruments

This button is from the San Diego Jazz Party, in 1995. The button is a made of white paper with black and red ink covered with a clear film, on a round two-piece metal button with a pin back. The button serves as an attendee identifier to the SDJP. The button is printed and handwritten:

SAN DIEGO
JAZZ PARTY
Myllie
Crabb
511
1995

The San Diego Jazz Party (SDJP) is an annual weekend-long event featuring public live performances of traditional jazz music. It is a non-profit organization that also provides scholarships for young jazz musicians at the high school or college level. The SDJP was originally presented in Downtown San Diego by Bill and Beverly Muchnic, in 1988.

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 Los Angeles Classic Jazz Festival, in 1985. The button is a made of yellow paper with black and red lettering covered with a clear film, on a round two-piece metal button with a pin back. The button is printed:

LOS ANGELES
CLASSIC
JAZZ
FESTIVAL
1985

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 Patron badge is from the San Diego Swinging Jazz Festival in San Diego, in 1999. It is made of white paper with blue and black ink, encapsulated in plastic. The badge is printed:

San
Diego
Swinging
Jazz
Patron
1999

The non-profit organization, America’s Finest City Dixieland Jazz Society (AFCDJS) in San Diego, California, held its first Great American Dixieland Jazz Festival, in 1979. The festival now known as The San Diego Jazz Fest & Swing Extravaganza is held every Thanksgiving weekend. The organization supports the San Diego traditional jazz community with monthly concerts, education programs, publication of a newsletter, an adult traditional Jazz camp, and a lending library of small band music.

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 resonator guitar was made by Dobro in Los Angeles, California around 1933-1937. The name originated in 1928 when the Dopyera brothers formed the Dobro Manufacturing Company. "Dobro" is both a contraction of "Dopyera brothers" and a word meaning "goodness" in their native Slovak. This six course (6x1) guitar has a squared-off neck with raised strings for Hawaiian-style playing.

This guitar features U. S. Patent #1,896,484 dated February 7, 1933 by John Dopyera for a musical instrument with a conical metal resonator.

Frederick John Wright (1926-1985) was a classic amateur country music performer. He was born in Detroit, Michigan and a year later, his family moved to Toronto, Canada. In 1938, a door to door salesman offered a Dobro guitar with lessons for $5.00 per week, for thirteen weeks. Fred played this guitar and with his father entertained veterans in hospitals in the Toronto area. In 1947, Fred returned to the United States with his treasured guitar.

This Patron badge is from the Los Angeles Classic Sweet & Hot Music Festival, in 1999. It made of green paper with black and yellow ink, encapsulated in plastic. The badge is printed:

[foundation logo]
THE LOS ANGELES
SWEET & HOT
MUSIC FESTIVAL
Patron
1999.

Founded in 1996, The Sweet & Hot Music Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the music of the 1920s through 50s. The foundation produces an annual event in Los Angeles which support jazz education programs for Los Angeles area high school students.

The foundation also honors legends in classic jazz by placing permanent bronze plaques with their names, in the ground surrounding the pool and garden area at the Los Angeles Airport Marriott Hotel. Known as the “Sweet & Hot Music Walk of Fame,” it features jazz greats Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, George Gershwin and Benny Goodman, Cole Porter, Lionel Hampton and Billie Holiday.

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 Palm Springs Jazz Festival in Palm Springs, California, in 1990-1991. It is made of pink paper with black lettering 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.

This harmonica was made by G.P. Regan & Sons in Burlingame, California, in the 1940s. It is a Chromatic harmonica with 10 holes and 40 reeds. This harmonica has a metal and wooden comb with metal cover plates attached to the top and bottom with screws, and a metal slide (no button). The harmonica is engraved:

FULL
Chromatic
G.P. Regan & Sons
BURLINGAME CALIFORNIA
[in shield]
QUALITY
G.P.R JR.
W.F.R.
G.P. REGAN
AND SONS
[below shield]
MADE IN U.S.A.

This harmonica was previously owned and played by Johnny Puleo (1907-1983), an American harmonica player and actor. Puleo got his big break after performing at a contest held by harmonica player and actor, Borrah Minevitch (born Boruch Meinewitz, 1902-1955), and leader of the group The Harmonica Rascals. After Minevitch’s death in 1955, Puleo formed his own group, The Harmonica Gang. The group performed throughout the world and made several recordings during their association. Puleo appeared in several television programs and films.

This button is from the Peninsula Jazz Party in Palo Alto, California, in 1986. It has a pink background with black printing covered with a clear film, on a round two-piece metal button with a pin back. These buttons were used for all Jazz Party goers as admission tickets. The button is printed:

PENINSULA JAZZ
1986
FRIDAY
PARTY

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 Patron badge is from the San Diego Swinging Jazz Festival in San Diego, in 1999. It is made of white paper with red and black ink, encapsulated in plastic. The badge is printed:

San
Diego
Swinging
Jazz
Patron
2000

The non-profit organization, America’s Finest City Dixieland Jazz Society (AFCDJS) in San Diego, California, held its first Great American Dixieland Jazz Festival, in 1979. The festival now known as The San Diego Jazz Fest & Swing Extravaganza is held every Thanksgiving weekend. The organization supports the San Diego traditional jazz community with monthly concerts, education programs, publication of a newsletter, an adult traditional Jazz camp, and a lending library of small band music.

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 Great American Dixieland Jazz Festival in San Diego, in 1985. It is a made of light blue paper with blue and red ink covered with a clear film, on a round two-piece metal button with a pin back. There is an image of clarinet and trumpet players on the front. The button is printed:

THE GREAT AMERICAN DIXIELAND JAZZ FESTIVAL
SAN DIEGO
1985

The non-profit organization, America’s Finest City Dixieland Jazz Society (AFCDJS) in San Diego, California, held its first Great American Dixieland Jazz Festival, in 1979. The festival now known as The San Diego Jazz Fest & Swing Extravaganza is held every Thanksgiving weekend. The organization supports the San Diego traditional jazz community with monthly concerts, education programs, publication of a newsletter, an adult traditional Jazz camp, and a lending library of small band music.

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.