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The Paul Creston Collection was donated to the University of Missouri-Kansas City by his wife, Louise Creston, in 1987. Organized into 18 series that occupy nearly 100 boxes, the manuscript collection is housed in LaBudde Special Collections and consists of published and unpublished scores; music and non-music related writings, including correspondence, diaries, and notebooks; reviews and concert programs; awards and honors; scrapbooks, photographs and other miscellaneous items. The earliest...
The collection contains lacquer disc recordings of Jenkins family recordings, events in Kansas City, radio broadcast recordings, advertisements for radio broadcast, and copies of classical and popular music.
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Photos in UMKC Digital Special CollectionsThe collection consists of 65 black-and-white photographs related to the entertainment complex formerly at Linwood and Main in Kansas City, Missouri. Included are architectural renderings of the proposed development; interior and exterior shots; bandleaders and musicians, most notably Pla-Mor band director Chic Scoggin and his orchestra; as well as other...
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The Priscilla Bowman Collection was gifted to LaBudde Special Collections in May 2012 by her daughter, Marcia Bowman Hunt. Additional material was gifted in October 2012. The collection, broken down into four series, consists of material related to the Kansas City-born jazz and rhythm-and-blues singer. The first series, Print Music, contains manuscript and published sheet music, a songbook, and lyrics sheets and notebooks compiled by Bowman. The Publicity series houses event programs and...
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The Raymond Scott Collection was donated to the University of Missouri-Kansas City by Mitzi Scott, Raymond Scott’s widow, in 1993.Housed in LaBudde Special Collections, the original manuscript collection, which encompasses much of Scott’s career until 1980, is organized into 11 series: manuscript music scores; published music; correspondence; news clippings; journals, diaries and scrapbooks; production notes; personal; engineering and inventions; miscellaneous; oversized...
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The Richard and Mary Jane Miller (KWKI Radio) Collection was transferred in May 2015 to the UMKC Miller Nichols Library from Frank Absher, executive director of the St. Louis Media History Foundation. The bulk of the collection consists of company memos related to KWKI 93.3 FM Kansas City during its stint as a soul music radio station from 1971-73. Most of the memos originate from Richard J. Miller, president of the St. Louis-based parent company Communications Fund Inc. (CFI), which at the...
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The Richard “Colonel” Ware Collection was gifted to LaBudde Special Collections in November 2012 by his son Bradley Ware. Materials date from the late 1940s through the mid-1970s. The collection reflects Ware’s years as a sales and promotion representative for RCA, Capitol and Columbia Records. There is an abundance of marketing ephemera, including, musical programs, promotional booklets, periodicals, album inserts, flyers, photographs, etc. There are also company orientation materials as...
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The Robert Brookmeyer Collection consists of manuscript scores and copies of manuscript scores created for performance by jazz ensembles. The vast majority of the material was either composed or arranged by Robert Brookmeyer, although there are five arrangements by jazz musician and composer Bill Holman. The manuscripts date from 1958 to 1982 with the majority having been created between the years 1979-1982.The collection is arranged in three series: Jazz Ensemble Compositions,...
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The Ron Rooks Collection was gifted to LaBudde Special Collections in September 2008 by Nancy Rooks, wife of the late Ron Rooks. The collection contains items from the Music Exchange, a large and popular record store in Kansas City that Rooks owned and ran from 1979 until his death in 2006. The collection has a strong focus on popular music culture from the 1970s to early 2000s, reflected in the wide range of materials from artist write-ups, magazines and articles, concert and album posters,...
The collection consists of DVDs, VHS Tapes, and U-matic tapes of Ruth's Music Corner, a public access television program hosted by Ruth Rhoden from 1988-1996. The collection contains many interviews and recordings of live performances by Kansas City jazz musicians. Other recordings include live performances and raw footage from Kansas City Alive, where Ruth had her own jazz-oriented segment, which evolved into Ruth’s Music Corner.
The collection contains recordings of blues music on 45 RPM disc, many of which were autographed by the artist. Scott Bock's collection also contains LP recordings and those will be found in UMKC Libraries catalog.
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Sheet Music Collection Finding Aid (PDF).Sheet music from the Kansas City, World War I and World War II imprint collections is temporarily unavailable through Digital Special Collections. If you'd like to request any titles, please contact SpecialCollections@umkc.edu. The Sheet Music...
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The Solita Palmer Collection is archived at the UMKC Miller Nichols Library.Housed in LaBudde Special Collections, the manuscript materials contain correspondence, biographies, band music, manuscript scores, miscellaneous, published music, newspaper clippings, and photographs related to the composer.Housed in the Marr Sound Archives, the audiovisual materials consist of test pressings and demos of songs written by Solita Palmer and Emerson Yorke. Included are several...
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The Stephen R. Johnson Collection was gifted to the UMKC University Libraries by Debra F. Johnson and Russell Johnson in March 2016.Housed in LaBudde Special Collections, the manuscript collection contains a diverse assortment of materials from the music video and television director, animator, painter, and writer’s personal and professional life. There are awards and accolades, storyboards and screenplays, and newspaper clippings about Johnson’s work. There are photographs of...
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The Steve Miller Collection was a gift to the University Libraries in September 2011. Materials date from 1951-2012, with the majority of non-musical materials originating from the 1980s and 1990s. The impressive bulk of this collection can be found in the music manuscripts. Contained are over one thousand pieces of music, including pieces that are original arrangements and pieces that were performed by Miller’s ensembles.Most non-musical items in the collection give a wide...
The Stuart MacKay Collection was gifted to the LaBudde Department of Special Collections in May 2010. The collection consists primarily of jazz and classical music arrangements by John Saunders for MacKay’s woodwind quintet and band. These manuscripts are undated and unpublished. Included also are copies of two published MacKay compositions, fake books, bassoon and woodwind scores, a theory textbook, and some promotional material and personal papers. Inclusive dates are 1938-1986.
The collection consists of raw video recordings of interviews and live performances of Kansas City jazz and blues musicians that were used to create the 2011 documentary "Kansas City Jazz & Blues: Past, Present & Future", produced and directed by Sue Vicory.
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The Theodore (Ted) Dreher Collection was donated to the UMKC Miller Nichols Library in December 2007 by David Paul Dreher (grandson) and Ted Dreher (son). The manuscript collection is housed in LaBudde Special Collections, while the sound recordings are held in the Marr Sound Archives. The collection, which includes material from the 1910s to the 1990s, is contained in 21 manuscript boxes and is divided into series: Manuscript Scores, Musicals, Music Notebooks, Correspondence, and...
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The Thomas Weaver Collection was donated to LaBudde Special Collections by Thomas Weaver’s wife, Dera Weaver, in November 2014. It consists almost entirely of musical scores in the classical tradition. These scores have been separated by title, and stored with all related materials (parts, sketches, pre-composition, notes) in their own unique folder. Box 1, folder 6 contains Weaver’s only published score, Seven Dialogues: For Flute and Bb Clarinet. The remainder of Weaver’s scores are...
Scope and Contents
The Vic Damon Collection was donated to LaBudde Special Collections by his son, George Damon, in the 1990s.The manuscripts collection consists of the handwritten logbook kept by Damon documenting recording sessions produced by his Kansas City studio; related correspondence and notes; 17 photographs; and a trophy awarded by Cash Box for the success of the 1948 song My Happiness, produced by Damon. Mounted captions used for a Vic Damon exhibit previously on display in the UMKC Miller...
The Vince Giordano Collection was gifted by Giordano to LaBudde Special Collections in 2014. The collection relates to the noted New York bandleader and film/TV consultant specializing in 1920s and 1930s music. It comprises parts for over 2000 dance band arrangements of the era and consists of 34 boxes, each identified by title range. A complete list of tunes that includes title, composer, lyricist, arranger, publisher, and publishing date is also available.