Provenance
Preferred Citation
Copyright
Access
Biographical Sketch of Phil Elwood
Scope and Contents
Organization
Title: Phil Elwood Papers
Identifier/Call Number: 006.023
Contributing Institution:
Museum of Performance and Design, Performing Arts Library
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
26.0 Linear feet
26 document boxes
Date (inclusive): 1952-2005
Abstract: The Phil Elwood Papers offers a unique view into the San Francisco Bay Area entertainment scene. Philip "Phil" Elwood (1926-2006)
was a music journalist and radio broadcaster. From 1952-1996, Elwood had a weekly jazz program on Berkeley's KPFA radio station
called
Jazz Archives, making him among the first to broadcast jazz on FM radio. Alongside this program, in 1965, Elwood joined the
San Francisco Examiner as a critic. Elwood reviewed all manner of performances in the area, including concerts, cabaret shows, live events, and
theatrical productions among others. He continued his career at the
San Francisco Chronicle after the two papers merged in 2000 and retired in 2002. Following his retirement, he continued to play an active role with
the San Francisco Bay Area jazz community. This collection primarily contains materials related to his work at the
San Francisco Examiner with some materials related to his work at KPFA. Also included in this collection are publications and program books regarding
jazz performance and its role in the San Francisco Bay area musical landscape. The collection has been organized into the
following series:
Alphabetical Files and Working Documents;
Lecture Notes, Lists, and Other Documents;
Collected Publications;
Photographic Materials; and
Audio Materials.
Language: All materials are in English.
Creator:
Elwood, Phil
Provenance
This collection was donated by Benjamin Elwood on March 21, 2006.
Preferred Citation
[Folder Title], Phil Elwood Papers, Museum of Performance + Design.
Copyright
Museum of Performance + Design holds property rights. Copyright of all original works by Phil Elwood belong to his heirs.
Copyright of photographs and collected materials belong to their respective creators.
Access
This collection is open for research. Address lists with extensive contact information for other individuals is restricted.
Biographical Sketch of Phil Elwood
Philip "Phil" Elwood was born on March 19, 1926, in Berkeley, California. His father was a professor of agriculture at the
University of California, Berkeley (UCB). As a teenager, he was introduced to jazz music by photographer Dorothea Lange which
prompted his lifelong love of the genre and the building of his large jazz record collection.
Elwood's love of jazz became a part of his career. From 1952-1996, Elwood had a weekly jazz program on Berkeley's KPFA radio
station called
Jazz Archives, making him among the first to broadcast jazz on FM radio. Alongside this program, in 1965, Elwood joined the
San Francisco Examiner as a critic. He covered jazz, rock, blues, comedy, and cabaret shows, among others. He continued his career at the
San Francisco Chronicle after the two papers merged in 2000 and retired in 2002. Following his retirement, he continued to write for the web site
JazzWest.com. Over the course of his career, Elwood also wrote liners notes for several albums. Educated at UCB and at Stanford
University, Elwood also shared his love of jazz with students as a teacher at Albany High School, Laney College and as part
of the UCB Extension. Elwood was also actively involved in the jazz community, serving as Director of the San Francisco Traditional
Jazz Foundation and on the advisory board for the first Monterey Jazz Festival in 1958, an annual event still active as of
the publication of this finding aid.
In 2002, he received the Beacon Award from the San Francisco Jazz Festival and was the subject of a tribute concert,
A Salute to Phil Elwood.
A lifelong Berkeley resident, Elwood passed away from heart failure on January 10, 2006.
Scope and Contents
The Phil Elwood Papers offers a unique view into the San Francisco Bay Area entertainment scene. Through his dual roles as
a radio broadcaster for KPFA and a journalist for the
San Francisco Examiner and later the
San Francisco Chronicle, Elwood reviewed all manner of performances in the area, including concerts, cabaret shows, live events, theatrical productions
among others. Also included are publications and program books regarding jazz performance and its role in the San Francisco
Bay area musical landscape. The collection has been organized into the following series:
Alphabetical Files and Working Documents;
Lecture Notes, Lists, and Other Documents;
Collected Publications;
Photographic Materials; and
Audio Materials.
The
Alphabetical Files and Working Documents series contains documents resulting from Elwood's work at KPFA radio for his program
Jazz Archives and his works as a journalist. Materials included are articles and drafts written by Elwood, notes taken at various events
he attended, correspondence, and other materials collected by and/or sent to Elwood due to his dual roles as radio broadcaster
and music journalist. Collected materials include items such as press kits, event programs, biographical sketches, and other
related documents. Materials in this series are arranged in alphabetical order by artist name, group, event, and/or genre
and then in chronological order if applicable. This series comprises the bulk of this collection.
The
Lecture Notes, Lists, and Other Documents series includes materials related to various lectures and presentations done by Elwood, either as part of an event or part
of his work as a teacher. Also included are press materials regarding the special tribute concert "Salute to Phil Elwood",
where he won the Beacon Award in 2002. This series also contains address lists for various individuals affiliated with Elwood
and/or organizations he participated with. Access to these lists are restricted due to the detailed level of contact information.
The
Collected Publications series includes magazines, newsletters, music catalogs, and other music/jazz related publications collected by Elwood either
because of his affiliation with various organizations, sent to him as part of his work, or personal interest.
The
Photographic Materials series includes photographs collected by or sent to Phil Elwood as part of his work. The bulk of the materials are photographic
prints with eight 35mm mounted slides. Majority of the images are publicity photographs of various musicians and musical groups.
The
Audio Materials series consists of vinyl records collected by Elwood, likely sent to him as part of his work at KPFA.
Organization
This collection has been organized in the following series:
- Alphabetical Files and Working Documents
- Lecture Notes, Lists, and Other Documents
- Collected Publications
- Photographic Materials
- Audio Materials
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Comedy sketches.
Concerts.
Folk music California, Northern.
Folk music--California--San Francisco.
Folk music--United States.
Folk music.
Jazz--California--San Francisco.
Jazz--United States--20th century.
Jazz.
Music
Music--20th century--History and criticism.
Music--20th century--Performance.
Music--20th century.
Music--21st century.
Music--California--San Francisco--20th century--History and criticism.
Music--California--San Francisco.
Musicals--United States.
Performing arts--United States.
Photographic prints.
Popular music--United States.
Rock music--California--San Francisco--History and criticism.
Rock music.
Stand-up comedy.