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Posted by: Pat Padua
“We consider Music by Muzak a definite part of the modern office. It goes naturally with good lighting, soft colors and intelligent layout. After the installation of Muzak, our best estimates show that efficiency increased 5%.” –R.R. Harley, Assistant Treasurer, National Gypsum Co., Buffalo NY, in a 1965 Muzak brochure. On September 20, 1853, Elisha …
Posted in: Musicians, Special Collections
Posted by: Pat Padua
Every other Friday, a new batch of photos from the William P. Gottlieb collection is uploaded to Flickr. This week’s selection includes iconic photos of Ella Fitzgerald and Dizzy Gillespie, and portraits of jazz greats such as Errol Garner, Benny Goodman, and Lionel Hampton. But in addition to the well-known names are intriguing portraits of lesser- …
Posted in: Jazz, Musicians, Special Collections, Women in Music
Posted by: Pat Padua
September always brings back memories of my school days, when I walked to class barefoot four miles in chin-high snow (winter coming dreadfully early in those times), dodging packs of rabid wolves and feral children. But the modern age provides you, the reader, with sundry opportunities to learn from the comfort of your own coffee …
Posted in: Sheet Music, Special Collections
Posted by: Pat Padua
Today, as will happen every other Friday for the next several months, additional batches of photographs from the William P. Gottlieb Collection have been uploaded to Flickr . This week’s set is particularly varied, with classic portraits of Duke Ellington, Billy Eckstine, Tommy Dorsey, Doris Day, Nat “King” Cole, and Perry Como. In addition to these portraits are …
Posted in: African American History, Birthdays, Jazz, Musicians, Special Collections
Posted by: Pat Padua
The following blog post was written by Daniel Walshaw, Music Division. Wild, passionate, perspiring, and, above all, human – words not typically associated with a man clad in a tuxedo performing great works of the classical repertoire. However, it is nearly impossible to describe the extroverted music-making of Leonard Bernstein without using at least one of …
Posted in: Composers, Guest bloggers, Special Collections
Posted by: Pat Padua
Pianist, bandleader, composer, William “Count” Basie was born on this day in 1904. Some of the greatest names in jazz passed through his band, from tenor legend Lester Young to singers like Bille Holiday, Jimmy Rushing, and Joe Williams, just to name three. Basie’s career spanned fifty years and did not shy from whatever music happened …
Posted in: African American History, Birthdays, Composers, Jazz, Musicians, Special Collections
Posted by: Pat Padua
Summer means baseball, and baseball has a long history of superstition, but before you decide to stop bathing after your next no-hitter, remember that the performing arts is far from immune to the allure of old wives’ tales. The most notable superstition in the repertoire may be that of theater professionals who refer to one …
Posted in: Composers, Sheet Music, Special Collections
Posted by: Pat Padua
In the Muse does not ordinarily send two missives into the blogosphere in a single day, but we could not let the day pass without honoring the man playing trumpet on the banner that heads every page of this blog. Jazz legend Louis Armstrong was born on this day in 1901. His influence can be …
Posted in: African American History, Birthdays, Jazz, Musicians, Special Collections
Posted by: Pat Padua
The Music Division was saddened to hear that record producer/ recording artist/television legend Mitch Miller passed away on saturday in Manhattan. Miller lived to the venerable age of 99 years and thus bore witness to nearly a century of popular music history. As an executive at Mercury and then Columbia records, Miller played a vital …
Posted in: In Memoriam, Jazz, Musicians, Special Collections