Guide to the John and Devra Hall Levy Collection NMAH.AC.1221 Vanessa Broussard-Simmons, Jack Barral, Lauren Finkle, Caroline Kleiner, Abigail Phelps, and Erin Wiebe Archives Center, National Museum of American History P.O. Box 37012 Suite 1100, MRC 601 Washington, D.C. 20013-7012 [email protected] http://americanhistory.si.edu/archives Table of Contents Collection Overview ........................................................................................................ 1 Administrative Information .............................................................................................. 1 Arrangement..................................................................................................................... 2 Scope and Contents........................................................................................................ 2 Biographical / Historical.................................................................................................... 2 Names and Subjects ...................................................................................................... 3 Container Listing ............................................................................................................. 4 Series 1: Personal Papers, 1916-2010, undated..................................................... 4 Series 2: Business Records, 1957-2007, undated................................................. 11 Series 3: Photographic Materials, 1963-2002, undated......................................... 16 Series 4: Artist Files, 1942-2001, undated............................................................. 19 Series 5: Joe Williams, 1962-2007, undated......................................................... 46 Series 6: Nancy Wilson, 1959-2008, undated........................................................ 54 John and Devra Hall Levy Collection NMAH.AC.1221 Collection Overview Repository: Archives Center, National Museum of American History Title: John and Devra Hall Levy Collection Identifier: NMAH.AC.1221 Date: 1916-2010, undated Extent: 23.6 Cubic feet (96 boxes) Creator: Lincoln, Abbey, 1930 - Adderly, Nat, 1931- Wilson, Nancy, 1937- Mbulu, Letta Levy, Devra Hall Adderley, Cannonball Montgomery, Wes, 1925-1968 Levy, John, 1912-2012 Horn, Shirley, 1934- Language: English Administrative Information Acquisition Information Donated to the Archives Center in 2011 by Devra Hall Levy. Related Materials Bobby Short Papers Processing Information The collection was processed by Jack Barral (intern), Lauren Finkle (intern), Sarah Gediman (intern), Caroline Kleiner (intern), Abigail Phelps (intern), Erin Wiebe (intern), and Vanessa Broussard- Simmons, archivist Preferred Citation John and Devra Hall Levy Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Restrictions Collection is open for research. Page 1 of 74 John and Devra Hall Levy Collection NMAH.AC.1221 Conditions Governing Use Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions. Biographical / Historical John Levy was a renowned leading representative of jazz musicians and was the first African American to work in the music industry as a personal manager. Born in 1912 in New Orleans, Louisiana his family moved to Chicago when he was six. By the early 1940s he had begun playing bass in jazz bands around town. In 1944, Levy left Chicago with the Stuff Smith Trio to play an extended engagement at the Onyx Club on New York City's 52nd Street. Over the next years, he played and recorded with many jazz notables, including Ben Webster, Buddy Rich, Errol Garner, Rex Stewart, Milt Jackson, and Billy Taylor, as well as with Billie Holiday at her comeback performance at Carnegie Hall in 1948. In 1949, blind pianist George Shearing hired Levy for his own group and as they toured the country, Levy gradually took on the role of road manager. By 1951, Levy stopped performing to become the group's full-time manager, making history as the first African American manager of a major musical group, and establishing the career he would continue for the next fifty years. Levy's client roster included many major artists, including Nat and Cannonball Adderley, Betty Carter, Roberta Flack, Herbie Hancock, Shirley Horn, Freddie Hubbard, Ahmad Jamal, Ramsey Lewis, Abbey Lincoln, Herbie Mann, Wes Montgomery, Carol Sloane, Joe Williams, and Nancy Wilson, as well as Arsenio Hall (the only comedian he has managed among some one hundred entertainers). In recognition of his achievements, Levy has received numerous awards, including induction into the International Jazz Hall of Fame (1997), receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Los Angeles Jazz Society (2002), and being named a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master (2006). His autobiography, Men, Women, and Girl Singers: My Life as a Musician Turned Talent Manager, written with his wife Devra Hall, was published in 2001 and expanded into a photograph book, Strollin': A Jazz Life through John Levy's Personal Lens, released in 2008 on the occasion of his 96th birthday. Levy died in 2012 at the age of ninety-nine in Altadena, California. Scope and Contents The collection documents Levy's short career as a musician, his longer career as a manager, and the careers of some of his clients. The client most well represented in the collection is Nancy Wilson, with recordings, photographs, correspondence, financial statements, and contracts included. Papers relating to other clients include business records such as ledgers, scheduling information, itineraries, and contracts; publicity materials such as articles, press kits, photographs, and videotapes; personal correspondence; photographs; oral history interviews; scrapbook pages; recordings, some commercial and some non- commercial; and miscellany. The non-commercial recordings feature artists including Nancy Wilson, Cannonball Adderley, Nat Adderly, Abbey Lincoln, Wes Montgomery, Shirley Horn, Letta Mbulu, and others. Also included are some of Wes Montgomery's music manuscripts. Arrangement The collection is arranged into six series. Page 2 of 74 John and Devra Hall Levy Collection NMAH.AC.1221 Series 1: Personal Papers, 1916-2010, undated Series 2: Business Records, 1957-2007, undated Series 3: Photographic Materials, 1963-2002, undated Series 4: Artist Files, 1942-2001-05-12 Series 5: Joe Williams, 1962-2007, undated Series 6: Nancy Wilson, 1959-2008, undated Names and Subject Terms This collection is indexed in the online catalog of the Smithsonian Institution under the following terms: Subjects: African American musicians Jazz -- 20th century -- United States Jazz musicians -- United States Music -- 20th century -- United States Music trade -- 20th century -- United States Musicians -- United States Sound recordings -- Album covers Sound recordings -- Jazz -- 1930-1990 -- United States Types of Materials: Articles Audiotapes Business records -- 20th century Contracts Correspondence -- 20th century Financial records -- 20th century Interviews Itineraries Photographs -- 20th century Press releases Professional papers -- 20th century Schedules Scrapbooks Videotapes Page 3 of 74 Series 1: Personal Papers John and Devra Hall Levy Collection NMAH.AC.1221 Container Listing Series 1: Personal Papers, 1916-2010, undated Materials primarily document John Levy as a musician, but also include his early life and career as a manager. The materials spans from 1916 through 2010 and includes photographs, scrapbook pages, newspaper clippings, typed and handwritten notes, correspondence, interview transcripts, and VHS tapes. The materials are separated into two subseries: Subseries 1.1: Biographical and Professional Materials, and Subseries 1.2: Men, Women, and Girl Singers: My Life as a Musician Turned Talent Manager. Subseries 1.1: Biographical and Professional Materials, 1916-2010, undated Materials consists of John Levy's personal papers relating to his early life, his time as a musician, and various events in his management career. The materials are dated 1916-2010, with the bulk of the materials falling between the 1940s and early 2000s. The folders are arranged chronologically with undated material at the end. Early materials include childhood photographs and Levy's grammar school certificate. Photographs, scrapbook pages, programs, and one VHS tape document Levy's career as a musician in Chicago in the 1940s, particularly his role as a bassist in the Stuff Smith Trio. Newspaper clippings and magazine articles cover Levy's musicianship and his later management career. Other papers include correspondence, typed and handwritten notes, and undated photographs. Materials from Levy's later career and life in the 1990s-2000s consist of event programs, awards and certificates, and VHS tapes. Box 1, Folder 1 Photographs, 1916-1950s, undated Box 40, Folder 1 Willard School certificate, 1927 Box 1, Folder 2 Newspaper clippings, 1940-1949 Box 37, Folder 7 Scrapbook, 1940-1950 Box 37, Folder 8 Scrapbook, 1940-1950 Box 37, Folder 9 Scrapbook and photographs, 1940-1969 Box 1, Folder 3 Scrapbook pages, 1944-1945 Box 40, Folder 2 Scrapbook, 1944-1981 Box 1, Folder 4 Scrapbook, 1944-1998 Box 37, Folder 10 Scrapbook, 1948-1986 Box 1, Folder 5 Newspaper clippings, 1950-1959 Box 1, Folder 6 Hawaiian Mainliner Stratocruiser, 1952 Page 4 of 74 Series 1: Personal Papers John and Devra Hall Levy