Conditions Governing Access
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use
Processing Information
UCLA Catalog Record ID
Administrative/Biographical History
Scope and Contents
Contributing Institution:
UCLA Library Special Collections
Title: Leonard Feather sound recording collection
Source:
Feather, Leonard, 1914-1994
Identifier/Call Number: PASC-M.0278
Physical Description:
50 Linear Feet
(100 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1960-2004
Physical Location: Stored off-site. All requests to access
special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located on
this page.
Language of Material: Materials are in
English.
Conditions Governing Access
Portions of collection unprocessed. Audio materials are unavailable for access. Please
contact Special Collections reference (spec-coll@library.ucla.edu) for more information.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
CONTAINS UNPROCESSED AUDIO MATERIALS: Audio materials are not currently available for
access and will require further processing and assessment. If you have questions about this
material please email spec-coll@library.ucla.edu.
Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use
Property rights to the physical objects belong to the UCLA Library Special Collections. All
other rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the
responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the
copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not
hold the copyright.
Processing Information
Collections are processed to a variety of levels depending on the work necessary to make
them usable, their perceived user interest and research value, availability of staff and
resources, and competing priorities. Library Special Collections provides a standard level
of preservation and access for all collections and, when time and resources permit, conducts
more intensive processing. These materials have been arranged and described according to
national and local standards and best practices.
UCLA Catalog Record ID
Administrative/Biographical History
Leonard Feather (b. London, September 13, 1914; d. Encino, California, Sept. 22, 1994) was
an American writer, composer, and arranger. He studied piano and clarinet while attending
St. Paul's School and University College in London (1920-32) and taught himself arranging.
Feather began writing about jazz for the Melody maker in 1934, and in July of the following
year he made his first trip to New York to hear some of the great jazz musicians play. In
1938 he discovered George Shearing and produced his first recordings in London. Feather
traveled to America at the onset of war and was the New York correspondant for Down beat
magazine (1940-41). He continued to produce recordings, including the first sessions by
Dinah Washington (1943) and Sarah Vaughan (1944), Dizzy Gillespie's 78 rpm album of New 52nd
Street Jazz (1946), and sessions involving Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington, and Armstrong
and Jack Teagarden (1947). Feather composed Washington's hit songs, "Evil Gal Blues" and
"Salty Papa Blues" (both in 1943) and Lionel Hampton's "Blowtop Blues" in 1945. He
contributed to Metronome from 1943 to 1950 and to Esquire from late 1943 to 1956. In the
years 1944 to 1946 he played the central role in the compilation of Esquire's annual jazz
poll, which made a substantial step toward acknowledging African-American giants of jazz who
had been ignored in polls in Down beat and Metronome; at the same time he became deeply
involved in an ugly critical battle between adherents of the newly emerging style, bop, and
fans of traditional jazz, which he then greatly disliked. Later, in partnership with the
disc jockey, Symphony Sid Torin, he organized a series of bop concerts at Carnegie Hall
(1947-49); he also presented weekly jam sessions at the Three Deuces nightclub on 52nd
Street. In 1948, Feather became an American citizen, and the following year, under the
pseudonym "Billy Moore", he wrote another hit song for Dinah Washington, "Baby Get Lost".
With Mercer Ellington he established the record company and label Mercer (1950) and he again
worked on radio, broadcasting jazz programs on the Voice of America (1950-52). From 1951 to
1986 Feather contributed to Down beat magazine, supplying countless informative surveys and
interviews, and conducting popular "blindfold tests", in which well-known jazz musicians
discussed unidentified recordings. His first edition of The encyclopedia of jazz was
published in 1955, revised in 1960 and then continued in volumes published in 1966 and 1976
(the latter with Ira Gitler as co-author), this 3-volume encyclopedia became the standard
reference source in the field. In another comprehensive publication, The book of jazz : a
guide to the entire field (1957, rev. 1965), he surveyed jazz historically and offered
essays on instruments, race, improvisation, and other general topics. During this same
period he wrote articles on jazz for Playboy (1957-62). In 1960 Feather settled in the Los
Angeles area, where he became a columnist for the Los Angeles Times, a position he held for
the remainder of his life. He produced a German television series on jazz (1965), published
anthologies of essays on jazz, two books of humor, a study of Louis Armstrong (written with
John Chilton and Max Jones), and an autobiography. He taught at Loyola Marymount University
(1972-74), the University of California, Riverside (1973), California State University,
Northridge, and UCLA (1987-88), and, in addition to his ongoing work for Melody maker, Down
beat, and the Los Angeles Times, he was a regular contributor to Contemporary keyboard and
Jazz times. He is best known as an author of scholarly works on jazz and as a columnist;
because of his eminence as a writer his musical talent is often overlooked, yet it
contributed much to his skillful reviews and articles.
Scope and Contents
Leonard Feather sound recording collection.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Feather, Leonard, 1914-1994