Descriptive Summary |
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| Creator: | Barron, Bill, 1927-1989 |
| Title: | The William "Bill" Barron (1927-1989) Collection |
| Dates: | 1970s-1988 |
| Quantity: | 2 manuscript boxes, 1 linear foot |
| Abstract: | The Bill Barron Collection contains a small but diverse amount of music and documents spanning the latter part of Barron's career, mainly from the 1970s until 1988. The collection contains catalogs, brochures, and programs from his years as a music educator as well copies of some of his compositions. |
| Collection No.: | MC 005 |
| Language: | English |
| Repository: | Rutgers University Libraries. Institute of Jazz Studies |
Bill Barron, born William Barron Jr., was born March 27, 1927 in Philadelphia. He played tenor and soprano saxophone as well as being a gifted composer and teacher. He began playing the piano at age nine like his younger brother Kenny eventually would, but switched to saxophone.
At age seventeen, Barron joined the Carolina Cotton Pickers, and soon went on toured the South in the early 1940s. After serving in the army for three years beginning in 1943, he enrolled in the Ornstein School of Music in Philadelphia, formerly Combs College of Music, where he studied composition, theory and arranging as well as saxophone and clarinet. He went on to perform with such artists as Red Garland, Philly Joe Jones, Cecil Taylor, and Jimmy Heath throughout the 1950s. After moving to New York in 1958, he continued to work with Taylor and Jones, and formed his own group, the Barron Brothers. Barron joined up with trumpeter Ted Curson in 1964 and toured Europe, where he continued to thrive, mainly in Sweden and Denmark. Barron performed at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1965 with Cecil Taylor.
He directed the Muse Jazz Workshop of the Children's Museum in Brooklyn between 1968 and 1974. Barron received his doctorate in education from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1975 and began teaching at Wesleyan University. Barron went on to become the chairman of the music department in 1984 and remained there until his death on September 21, 1989 in Middletown, Connecticut.
Some of Barron's more famous recordings include "The Next Plateau" (1989) and "Jazz Caper" (1982); compositions include "Motivation" and "Hold Back Tomorrow." Kenny Barron played on all of his brother's recordings. Wesleyan University maintains a collection of Bill Barron's music and papers.
The Bill Barron Collection contains a small but diverse amount of music and documents spanning the latter part of his career, mainly from the 1970s until 1988; covering his activities as a musician and educator.
There are several catalogs, brochures, and programs from his years as a music educator as well as photocopies of some of his compositions.
The Bill Barron collection is divided into two series:
The Bill Barron Collection (MC 5), Institute of Jazz Studies, Rutgers University Libraries.
This section provides descriptions of the materials found within each series. Each series description is followed by a container list, which gives the titles of the folders and their locations in the numbered boxes that comprise this collection.
| Series 1. Music Manuscripts and Notes, 1924-1926 | |||||||||||
| Arrangement: The Music Manuscripts and Notes series is divided into two subseries, 1A. Music Manuscripts and Parts and 1B. Notes. | |||||||||||
| Subseries 1A. Music Manuscripts and Parts | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 1 | 1 | "Flip Flops" by Bill Barron, undated | |||||||||
| 2 | "Musin" by Bill Barron, 1924-1926 | ||||||||||
| 3 | Untitled Parts, undated | ||||||||||
| 4 | Untitled Parts, undated | ||||||||||
| 5 | Untitled Parts, undated | ||||||||||
| Subseries 1B. Notes | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 1 | 6 | Notes: Literature on the Drumset in the African American Tradition, handwritten notes, undated | |||||||||
| Series 2. Publications | |||||||||||
| Arrangement: The Publications series is divided into eight subseries, 2A. Arrangement and Sheet Music Catalogs; 2B. Record Catalogs; 2C.Jazz Education Programs; 2D. Concert Programs; 2E. Newsletters; 2F. Publicity Kits for Other Artists; 2G. United Nations Jazz Society; and 2H. Miscellaneous Publications. | |||||||||||
| Subseries 2A: Arrangement and Sheet Music Catalogs | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 2 | 1 | Arrangement Catalogs, 1979-1984 or undated | |||||||||
| Our African-American Heritage In Music, Catalog: Carl Fischer Music Stores, 1979-80 | |||||||||||
| Pender's Musical Company, brochure, Denton, Texas, 1981 | |||||||||||
| Mixamodian Music, catalog of music scores, 6 pages, Inglewood, CA, 1983-84, | |||||||||||
| Jazz Music Arrangements, Andrews Musical Enterprises, Washington DC: | |||||||||||
| - The Andrew White Small Band Series of 40 arrangements, undated | |||||||||||
| - The Andrew White Big Band Series 18, undated | |||||||||||
| - The Jazz Miniatures For Big Band, undated | |||||||||||
| - The Andrew White Demonstration Tape Series Catalogue, revised edition, undated | |||||||||||
| Subseries 2B: Record Catalogs | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 2 | 2 | ||||||||||
| Mosaic Brochure No. 4, Mosaic Records, Stamford, CT, 1986 | |||||||||||
| World Music Catalog, recordings/videos/books, Tivoli, NY, Fall 1987 | |||||||||||
| Maurice Smith Recording Services: Audio, Video and Computer Supplies, Catalog, Ithaca, NY, 1988 | |||||||||||
| Subseries 2C: Jazz Education Programs | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 2 | 3 | ||||||||||
| MENC Soundpost, A Publication of the Music Educators National Conference, Vol. 1 No. 1, Fall 1984 | |||||||||||
| Individualized Music Education is Our Business!!, Temporal Acuity Productions, Inc.; Washington (music computer software), Winter 1984 | |||||||||||
| Black Jazz Music Caucus, agenda, National Association of Jazz Educators Convention, Dallas/Ft. Worth, 1985 | |||||||||||
| Willie Thomas Presents ... A Teaching Tool for Developing Jazz Fundamentals, basic jazz curriculum, copyrights-1978-1985 | |||||||||||
| Subseries 2D: Concert Programs | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 2 | 4 | ||||||||||
| Shades of Blue, Grand Rapids Junior College Music Department, concert for the National Association of Jazz Educators, Dallas, Texas, January 11, 1985 | |||||||||||
| Princeton University Jazz Ensembles, 15th Anniversary Spring Concert, featuring special guests Benny Carter and Terence Blanchard, New Jersey, May 5, 1990 | |||||||||||
| KulturHuset, Stockholm, Sweden, Summer 1979 | |||||||||||
| Subseries 2E: Newsletters | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 2 | 5 | ||||||||||
| Institute for Studies in American Music Newsletter, April 1972, May 1973, November 1973 | |||||||||||
| Black Music Research Newsletter, Vol. 2 No. 4, Fisk University, Nashville, Tennessee, Spring 1979 | |||||||||||
| Member Newsletter, International Association of Jazz Appreciation (IAOJA), Los Angeles, California, February 1988 | |||||||||||
| Subseries 2F: Publicity Kits for Other Artists | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 2 | 6 | ||||||||||
| Billy Taylor, Brochure / Press Packet on Billy Taylor, undated | |||||||||||
| Coming Your Way ..., brochure: Abby Hoffner Enterprises client roster, undated | |||||||||||
| It all adds up. - Brochure on Jimmy Owens, undated | |||||||||||
| Subseries 2G: United Nations Jazz Society | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 2 | 7 | ||||||||||
| 25 Years of the UNSRC Jazz Society, special issue of "The World of Jazz," United Nations, New York, 1958-1985 | |||||||||||
| Concert Program, The Permanent Mission of Finland to the United Nations in Collaboration with the UN Staff Recreational Council Jazz Society Presents a Concert by the Well-Known Contemporary Finnish Orchestra, UMO (Unden Musiikin Orkesteri), General Assembly Lobby, New York, June 26, 1986 | |||||||||||
| Subseries 2H: Miscellaneous Publications | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 2 | 8 | ||||||||||
| Black and Hispanic Visions, Wesleyan University, April-May 1976 | |||||||||||
| Recordings & Bookings Worldwide, Jazzman's Reference Book, part 3, International Jazz Federation, New York, 1979-1980 | |||||||||||
| Pop, Jazz, & Show Choir Magazine, September/October 1984 | |||||||||||
| How to Make a Block Power Work for You; Guide to Organizing a Neighborhood Block Association, New York, undated | |||||||||||