Congratulations are in order for Sam Stephenson and his colleagues at Duke University's Center for Documentary Studies, because they just picked up some very fine recognition. Their work on last year's "Jazz Loft Project" has won an ASCAP Deems Taylor Award, given each year for outstanding coverage of music. The project consists of a book, radio broadcast and website about an underground jazz scene in New York during the 1950s and '60s, and it won in the multimedia category. For more, see this feature from a bit less than a year ago.
Up in the "Jazz Loft"
Submitted by dmenconi on 11/08/2010 - 14:39A sense of place
Submitted by dmenconi on 11/29/2009 - 09:15
At first glance, "Going Down to Raleigh" and "The Jazz Loft Project" don't seem to have anything at all in common. The first is a compilation of old-time stringband music, the second a book of photos of jazz musicians. But both artifacts are very bound up in location.
The music on "Going Down to Raleigh" sounds like what is thought of as "mountain music," and yet most of it was recorded right here in the Triangle. "The Jazz Loft Project," meanwhile, documents an under-the-radar jazz scene that went on behind closed doors in New York City during the 1950s and '60s.
They're both fascinating artifacts, well worth checking out. For more, see the stories in Sunday's paper. And for further audio-video content, check the "Going Down to Raleigh" youtube channel and the "Jazz Loft" Web site.
Duke documentary director on NBC's "Today" show
Submitted by brookecain on 11/12/2009 - 17:36
Sam Stephenson, the director of the Jazz Loft Project at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University, will be interviewed by Ann Curry on NBC’s "Today" show tomorrow morning (Friday, Nov. 13).
The Jazz Loft Project, based at the CDS at Duke, is promoting the release of a new book: The Jazz Loft Project: Photographs and Tapes of W. Eugene Smith from 821 Sixth Avenue, 1957–1965.
The book tells stories of life in a dilapidated, five-story loft building in Manhattan’s flower district where some of the biggest names in jazz jammed with underground musicians and crossed paths with assorted other figures, from famed writers and artists (Norman Mailer, Diane Arbus, Salvador Dali) to thieves, addicts, prostitutes, local cops, marijuana dealers, and photography students.
According to CDS, the segment is scheduled to air at 9:43 a.m. EST. Tune in to NBC, or you can visit the Today Show website tomorrow to watch after the broadcast.
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