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This trumpet was made by Georges Leblanc in Paris, France around 1960-1970. It is a B-flat trumpet, serial #29228, made of brass with 3 piston valves. This trumpet was previously owned and used by American jazz trumpeter and bandleader Charlie Spivak. This trumpet is engraved:

G.LEBLANC
PARIS

and

Charlie Spivak

Trumpeter and bandleader, Charlie Spivak (1905 or 1907-1982) grew up in New Haven, Connecticut and learned to play trumpet at 10 years old. In his professional career, Spivak played with a number of big bands including, Ben Pollack, Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, and Glen Miller. Spivak led his own band from 1939 to 1959 and continued to play and record until his death in 1982.

This trumpet was made by Georges Leblanc in Paris, France around 1960 to1965. It is a 770 Conrad Gozzo B-flat trumpet, serial #16674, made of brass with 3 piston valves. This trumpet is engraved:

G.LEBLANC
PARIS

(and on bell):

Gozzo

autographed model

This trumpet was previously owned by Charles James “Charlie” Shavers (1920-1971), an American jazz trumpeter, who performed with jazz greats such as, Dizzy Gillespie, Billie Holiday, Sidney Bechet, and Lucky Millinder.

Conrad J. Gozzo (1922–1964) was an American trumpet player. He was a highly respected lead trumpeter and greatly in demand as a studio musician performing with music luminaries as Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Benny Goodman, Woody Herman, Les Brown, Pete Rugolo, and Henry Mancini.

This trumpet was made by Severinsen-Akright in Oakland, California in 1994. It is a B-flat trumpet, 54 Bel Canto model, serial #0601, made of brass with 3 piston valves. This trumpet was given to American trumpeter Doc Cheatham for his 90th birthday from Doc Severinsen, Dick Akright, and Donald Byrd in 1994. This trumpet is engraved:

HAPPY 89TH BIRTHDAY
DOC CHEATAM
from
DOC SEVERINSEN
DICK AKRIGHT
DONALD BYRD
JUNE 13th, 1994

and

SEVERINSEN-AKRIGHT
MODEL 54
Bel Canto
564-14th St.
OAKLAND, CA 94612

Adolphus Anthony “Doc” Cheatham (1905-1997), first learned to play saxophone as well as trumpet. Early in his career, Cheatham performed with the African American Vaudeville theater in Nashville. Around 1924, Cheatham moved to Chicago where he heard trumpeters King Oliver and Louis Armstrong, both would have a lifelong influence on Cheatham’s playing.

Cheatham performed with several jazz musicians including Benny Carter, Fletcher Henderson, and Benny Goodman throughout the 1930s to the 1960s. In the 1970s, Cheatham worked to improve his playing by recording and listening to himself. After the age of 70, Cheatham’s self-assessment work would result in him receiving his best acclamations and critical reviews.

This trumpet was made by Frank Ellsworth Olds & Son in Fullerton, California around 1955 to 1956. It is a B-flat trumpet, Ambassador model, serial #178587, made of brass with 3 piston valves. This trumpet was previously owned and used by American jazz trumpeter, Andrew Blakeney. This trumpet is engraved:

AMBASSADOR
MADE BY
F.E. OLDS & SON
FULLERTON
CALIF.

Andrew “Andy” Blakeney (1898-1992) began playing professionally in Chicago around 1925. He moved to California the next year and would perform and record with several bands including Sonny Clay and Lionel Hampton. In the late 1930s, Blakeney played with Monk McKay’s band in Hawaii and would return to the mainland to perform in California throughout the 1940s to the 1950s. Blakeney’s later years were spent playing with groups including the Young Men of New Orleans and the Eagle Brass Band.

This button is of an unidentified trumpet player. It is a round button made of white paper with black ink covered with a clear film, on a two-piece metal button with a pin back.

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 bust of American jazz trumpeter, musician, bandleader, and composer Miles Dewey Davis III (1926 - 1991) was made by Ed Dwight in Denver, Colorado in 1990. Made of cast bronze, the sculpture depicts Davis’ torso, playing a trumpet, wearing a jacket and sunglasses, on a wood base.

Ed Dwight began his career as a graduate engineer, was a former United States Air Force test pilot who became the first African American to be trained as an astronaut in 1962. Following a career in real estate, computer systems engineering, and consulting, Dwight pursued art and received a Masters of Fine Arts from the University of Denver in 1977. Dwight’s works include fine art sculpture, large-scale memorials and public art projects.