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"Doing That Jazz Talk"
Contact Information
Monk Rowe

(315) 859-4071
Jazz Archive
Established in 1995, the Hamilton College Jazz Archive holds a collection of videotaped interviews, currently numbering 275+ entries, with jazz musicians, arrangers, writers and critics. The collection generally focuses on artists associated with mainstream jazz and the swing era. Former members of bands led by Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Woody Herman, Benny Goodman, Stan Kenton and the Dorsey brothers are well represented. Significant soloists and arrangers from small ensembles dating from the 1930s have also been interviewed.

The holdings are particularly viable for material pertaining to the learning process employed by young jazz musicians prior to the establishment of jazz education programs, and the realities of making a career in the jazz world. Other significant topics addressed include stories of life on the road and in the active New York City recording scene as well as racial relations (past and present) in jazz. Interviews with Oscar Peterson, George Shearing, Clark Terry and Milt Hinton were conducted by vocalist Joe Williams.

The interview collection has been fully transcribed and may be reviewed in print, video, audiocassette and DVD. References to specific subject matter may be found via electronic query. Support material includes LPs, CDs, photographs, commercial jazz videos, books and memorabilia as well as a concert documentary filmed in 1996 at Hamilton College with Joe Williams and the Count Basie Orchestra.

The gathering of interviews is an ongoing process. Researchers, students and writers are invited to request access in the following manner:
 

Access to Interviews

Interviews are cataloged in WorldCat, and are available on loan in DVD format, from the Hamilton College Library, via Interlibrary Loan. Please contact your local library's Interlibrary Loan department, to have them request specific items via WorldCat Resource Sharing or ALA Form.

Interested scholars and jazz enthusiasts are welcome to visit the
Hamilton campus and the archive room for consultation with the
director.

Contact Information

Monk Rowe, the Joe Williams Director of the Jazz Archive
phone: (315) 859-4071
e-mail: Monk Rowe
Web site: www.monkrowe.com

The Hamilton College Jazz Archive
Hamilton College
198 College Hill Road
Clinton, NY 13323

Jazz Talk

Joe Wilder
In 2005, Hamilton's Jazz Archive celebrated 10 years of collecting priceless audiovisual histories of jazz as told by musicians themselves. Sample five gems.


Internationally renowned jazz clarinetist Kenny Davern was a regular visitor to campus. Each fall, Davern performed during Fallcoming with other jazz legends in an annual concert established by long-time Hamilton trustee and jazz aficionado Milt Fillius '44. View a video excerpt from a 2001 interview.

Bob Rosengarden
Jazz percussionist Bob Rosengarden speaks about his experiences as a television studio musician.