About the Collections

Felix E. Grant Collection         
The bulk of the material in the Felix E. Grant Collection consists of commercial sound recordings (16,500); recordings of the interviews of jazz artists and personalities taped by Mr. Grant during his four decades as a radio broadcaster (145); and recordings of radio shows conducted by Mr. Grant (200).  Other archival materials in the collection include books, periodicals, posters, promotional material, correspondence, radio program logs/playlists, liner notes, lectures, reviews, concert programs, magazine and newspaper articles, awards, commendations, photographs and personal memorabilia. LP albums frequently contain associated hand-written and typed notes, newspaper clippings, promotional material, and other ephemera. The original organization and arrangement of the sound recordings has been maintained. The collection and the finding aid are organized broadly into series and then into more refined sub series.  Both the finding aid and the collection itself are currently to be considered works in progress.

Radio Interviews and Shows
Felix Grant inaugurated The Album Sound in September 1954 on WMAL Radio 63 in Washington, D.C.  He spent 30 years as its host and producer.  The program featured the full spectrum of jazz and blues and had one of the widest listening audiences in the Washington metropolitan area.  Most of the interviews in this collection were conducted live during the program or were produced in the studio for broadcast on the show during the period from 1965 to 1984. The Archives implemented a pilot project to provide Web access to the Felix Grant radio interviews. These interviews of jazz artists and personalities are now accessible in streaming audio format through ALADIN - a multi-platform digital library system maintained by the Washington Research Library Consortium (WRLC).

In 1984 Mr. Grant prepared several radio programs for syndication at Studio Line Cable Stereo, a national cable radio distributor.  Studio Line was never realized and the programs were never distributed. The next phase of cataloguing and digitizing files will include the radio shows.

Felix E. Grant Digital Collection
The Felix E. Grant Digital Collection was implemented through a cooperative project with the Digital Collection Production Center (DCPC) of the Washington Research Library Consortium (WRLC) and is part of the WRLC Libraries Digital and Special Collections.  Photographs and associated resources were selected for this project from a collection that not only documents the career of this jazz authority and media personality, but also serves as a rich source for the study of broadcast radio and “jazz” in Washington, D.C., during Grant’s 48-year career (1945–93). The collection also highlights many jazz artists and events, and it documents Grant’s fascination with Duke Ellington and the music of Brazil, as well as Grant’s commitment to community service and involvement. The Felix E. Grant Digital Collection–which includes Felix Grant’s radio interviews as well as this selection of photographs and associated resources from the collection–forms part of the WRLC Libraries Digital and Special Collections.

Commercial Recordings
Commercial sound recordings are found in a variety of formats (compact discs, vinyl LPs, 45s, 78s, and cassette tapes). The ongoing cataloging of the materials will add to the research database accessible through ALADIN.

WDCU-FM JAZZ 90 Collection    Blues     Gospel   Gospel    Jazz
The bulk to of the material in the WDCU Collection consists of commercial sound recordings (14,000); recordings from National Public Radio shows such as Blues Stage, Afropop Worlwide, Jazz Set, Dizzy’s Diamond, Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz, Quarto Mundo, and Taylor Made Piano; recordings of the interviews of jazz artists and personalities taped by WDCU hosts and programmers; and recordings of the late Ernest P. White’s radio talk show Cross Talk. (620). The original organization and arrangement of the sound recordings has been maintained.  Other archival materials in the collection include periodicals, posters, promotional material, membership lists, business correspondence, concert programs, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, awards, commendations and photographs.

UDC Jazz Studies Program Collection
The Archives also houses materials that support the curriculum and document the history of UDC Jazz Studies – a program of study within the Music Program of the Department of Mass Media, Visual and Performing Arts. The collection comprises sound and video recordings of concerts, festivals, recitals, workshops and a variety of events produced from 1976 until the present.  Other archival materials in the collection include programs, correspondence, reports, newspaper clippings, posters, promotional material, awards, commendations and photographs. The collection is a rich source of information on Calvin Jones, director of the program from 1976 until his death in 2004, and a legendary figure in the Washington, DC community. His trombone was donated by his family to the Jazz Studies Program in 2005 and is now on exhibit in the Archives. The Jazz Studies Program has a rich history of involvement in community cultural and outreach activities and coordinates the various activities that are designed to bring the Archives’ resources to a wider public.

Dennis Askey Collection
In July 2000 the Felix E. Grant Jazz Archives acquired an audio-taped collection of Duke Ellington recordings. The collection consists of 149 (10”) reels.  Recorded chronologically and containing some 3,300 selections collected from 570 recording dates, the tapes provide a detailed and comprehensive record of Mr. Ellington’s studio, broadcast, concert, club, dance, and private performances from 1924 through 1947, his 78-rpm years.  The collection was accompanied by a matching 167-page discography listing dates, matrix numbers, venues, titles and composers, issue labels and numbers, and participating personnel for each session. In August 2002 Mr. Askey offered his collection of sixty-three 16mm jazz films.

Ernest Dyson Collection   
In September 2003 the Felix E. Grant Jazz Archives acquired the collection of Ernest Dyson. The collection comprises commercial sound recordings (2,100); a reel-to-reel tape collection that includes recordings of interviews, radio shows, festivals, and competitions. Other archival materials in the collection include books (800), lectures, reviews, concert programs, magazine and newspaper articles/clippings, correspondence, photographs and promotional material.

Paul Anthony Collection
In August 2006 the Felix E. Grant Jazz Archives acquired a collection of commercial recordings from jazz music specialist and veteran radio broadcaster, Paul Anthony.  The collection contains more than 5,100 LP records, almost entirely of American jazz artists of the mid- to late- 20th century.  The recordings were acquired throughout his extended career as a radio broadcaster, principally during the years in which he produced shows devoted to jazz for radio station WRC in Washington, DC (1966 to 1972); National Public Radio (1972 to 1979); and for radio station WGMS in Washington, DC (1980 to 1990).

Herb and Will Friedwald Collection
In June 2009, the acclaimed author and critic Will Friedwald donated his vast collection of jazz recordings to the Felix E. Grant Jazz Archives at the University of the District of Columbia. The collection was started over 50 years ago by his late father, jazz record producer, historian and lawyer Herb Friedwald. It includes approximately 10,000 LP recordings dating from the 1940s through the 1990s that cover jazz from traditional New Orleans style to cutting edge avant-garde experimentalism. The collection will be available for research use later this year and a complete inventory list will be available at this site.

Other Donors
The comprehensiveness of the materials housed in the Archives has attracted public attention that has resulted in gifts of worthy collections.  Mr. Rex Weil donated his private collection of 660 rare and vintage, 78 rpm records.  Other donors include Mr. Barrie Smiley (collection of 348 record albums including rare jazz albums from the 1950s and 1960s); Mr. Bill Morgan; Dr. Glen Wilson; Mr. Ray Lombardo; Mrs. Jean Taylor; Mr. Leo Scanlon; Mr. Moses Gozansky: Mr. Michael Codori; Mr. Robert L. Johnson; Mr. Jack Martinelli; Claus Haack, Anthonette A. Gibson-Rodriguez, Ph.D; Mr. Bernard White; Mrs. Mary W. Marshall; Mrs. Annie Thompson, Mr. Noble Jones, Mr. John D. Cameron, Mr. Irwin Hurwitz, Dr. Paul P. Cooke, and Mr. Ernest White.

Acquisition Policy
The Archives pursues an acquisitions policy that will increase the research value and utility of its holdings, particularly recordings, photographs, radio broadcast materials, manuscripts and archival materials concerning all aspects of jazz.  Of special interest to the archives are materials that document jazz in the Washington, D.C. area, particularly materials that complement existing documentary records in the collections.