Top of page
Posted by: Pat Padua
Today we release the penultimate set of photographs from the William Gottlieb Collection to Flickr. This set includes classic portraits of jazz legends like Fats Navarro and Tadd Dameron, Ray Nance, and Buddy Rich. There are also striking images of lesser known figures, like a Kodachrome portrait of singer Dottie Reid. Her isolation in the frame – …
Posted in: Jazz, Musicians, Special Collections
Posted by: Pat Padua
In the Muse has been under the weather lately, and would have otherwise paid timely homage to one of the twentieth century’s greatest entertainers. Francis Albert Sinatra was born in Hoboken, New Jersey on December 12, 1915. His long and storied career invited imitation …
Posted in: Birthdays, Jazz, Musicians, Pic of the Week, Special Collections
Posted by: Pat Padua
This week’s Pic of the Week breaks one of the cardinal rules of Good Photography: show your subject. But if you recognize the face emerging from the ghostly apparition, it makes perfect sense. Jazz singer Mel Tormé was born on this day in 1925. He began his long career as a drummer for Chico Marx, …
Posted in: Birthdays, Jazz, Musicians, Pic of the Week, Special Collections
Posted by: Pat Padua
September 2 marks the birthdays of two very different musician/ composers whose works grace the Music Division’s storied vaults. Classical guitarist Laurindo Almeida was born on this day in 1917. His career ran the gamut from Sao Paulo radio to Hollywood session man, and he worked with a range of artists from Villa-Lobos and Carmen …
Posted by: Pat Padua
As August draws to a close, In the Muse would like to catch up on a number of birthdays you may have missed. August 4, which is the day we celebrated Louis Armstrong’s birthday, was also the birthday of film composer David Raksin, who donated sketches and scores from films like Laura, Forever Amber, and Carrie …
Posted in: Birthdays, Jazz, Musicians, Pic of the Week
Posted by: Pat Padua
In the Muse can’t believe it’s been a year since the Music Division joined the Library of Congress’s efforts on Flickr Commons. On July 30, 2010, we uploaded the first batch of photos from the William P. Gottlieb Collection to the popular photo sharing site. And it is a happy coincidence that we belatedly celebrate …
Posted in: Birthdays, Musicians, Pic of the Week, Special Collections
Posted by: Pat Padua
Thanks to Sharon McKinley, Senior Cataloging Specialist, for conducting these interviews with Carolyn Turner and Rachel Weiss, two of this summer’s crop of interns. What made you want to do a volunteer internship at the Library of Congress? Carolyn: My older sister Jessica was a Junior Fellow when I was twelve years old and she …
Posted in: Interviews, Musical Instruments, Special Collections, Staff Interviews
Posted by: Pat Padua
In the Muse wonders how it got to be July already. To mark the latest turn of the calendar page, we present the most viewed blog posts from June 2011. Thanks to Elizabeth Fulford Miller for providing web metrics. And now, from our home office atop Independence Avenue, the top eleven blog posts for June …
Posted in: Pic of the Week, Sheet Music, Sheet Music of the Week, Special Collections
Posted by: Pat Padua
On this date in 1846, Belgian-born Antoine-Joseph “Adolphe” Sax patented the family of instruments that bear his name. The saxophone was originally developed in two categories, an orchestral group and a band or military group, of seven instruments each. Only a handful of these varieties are in common use today, although composer/musician Anthony Braxton, who …
Posted in: Jazz, Musical Instruments, Musicians, Special Collections