Hamilton College Jazz Archive Director Monk Rowe has conducted the majority of the archive’s more than 400 interviews of jazz greats, their band members, critics, writers, and composers. Rowe has now organized those interviews within major categories of interest and has captured salient, meaningful, and groundbreaking moments in a series of podcasts, making them more accessible to the public. Interviewees describe their personal histories in the world of jazz in audio and video recordings.
The first episode in the third series of Rowe’s podcasts will be released on Monday, July 17th. All three series are accessible here https://www.hamilton.edu/jazzbackstory Additional episodes will be released weekly on Mondays. Rowe not only serves as moderator but also as occasional instrumentalist.
Among the topics the third series addresses are:
- The Color of Jazz – “Jazz is one of America’s most original art forms. Its origins are well documented but controversy regarding ownership and race vs. skill persist. The opinions that matter most are offered by the practitioners,” said Rowe. Lionel Hampton, Clark Terry, and Rashied Ali are among those who discuss the issue.
- Jazz Goes International – “Jazz was the first American music to be embraced and copied around the world. Its infectious swing and message of democracy between musicians rang a bell from Scotland to Japan,” said Rowe. Steve Allen, Dave Brubeck, and Rossano Sportiello are among those who discuss the issue.
- In the Studios – “After the big band era played itself out, the most versatile jazz musicians found plentiful work in the studios. Los Angeles eventually rivaled New York as a center for recording with an emphasis on pop music and film scores,” Rowe said. Dick Hyman, Bucky Pizzarelli, and Ernie Watts are among those who respond.
Established in 1995, and dedicated in 2013 in honor of Milton F. Fillius, Jr. and Nelma “Nikki” Nenneau Fillius, the Fillius Jazz Archive holds a collection of more than 440 videotaped interviews with jazz musicians, arrangers, writers, and producers. The wide-ranging collection includes interviews with those who have performed from the 1920s through the present.
Rowe, the Joe Williams Director of the Fillius Jazz Archive, has presented programs about the Jazz Archive at conferences for the Jazz Education Network, the Music Library Association, and the International Society of Music Educators. He co-authored Jazz Tales From Jazz Legends (https://digitalcommons.hamilton.edu/books/67/) with Romy Britell and created the edX online course, “Jazz: The Music, The Stories, The Players,” (https://learning.edx.org/course/course-v1:HamiltonX+Music160x+3T2016/home) in collaboration with members of the Library and Instructional Technology Services at Hamilton College. He is an active performer on saxophone and piano and has composed numerous works for both jazz and classical ensembles.
