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Tapscott (Horace) papers
PASC-M.0237  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Conditions Governing Access
  • Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
  • Conditions Governing Use
  • Preferred Citation
  • Acquisition Information
  • Processing Information
  • UCLA Catalog Record ID
  • Biography
  • Scope and Content
  • Arrangement

  • Contributing Institution: UCLA Library Special Collections
    Title: Horace Tapscott papers
    Creator: Tapscott, Horace
    Identifier/Call Number: PASC-M.0237
    Physical Description: 37.5 linear feet (77 boxes)
    Date (inclusive): 1960-2002
    Abstract: The collection consists of sound recordings, musical compositions and arrangements of Horace Tapscott and other composers, and the performances of the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra and the Union of God's Musicians and Artists Ascension. The collection is in the midst of being processed, and updates will be made to this finding aid periodically.
    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

    Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.

    Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

    CONTAINS AUDIOVISUAL MATERIALS: This collection contains both processed and unprocessed audiovisual materials. For information about the access status of the material that you are looking for, refer to the Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note at the series and file levels. All requests to access processed digital materials must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.

    Conditions Governing Use

    Property rights to the physical objects belong to 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.

    Preferred Citation

    [Identification of item], Horace Tapscott papers (Collection Number PASC 237-M). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA.

    Acquisition Information

    Gift of Cecilia Tapscott, 2003.

    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.
    Processed by UCLA Library Special Collections staff.

    UCLA Catalog Record ID

    UCLA Catalog Record ID: 4907732 

    Biography

    Horace Elva Tapscott (b. Houston, 6 April 1934; d. Los Angeles, 27 Feb 1999) began piano studies at the age of six with his mother, the pianist Mary Lou Malone, and took up trombone two years later. His family moved to Los Angeles in 1943 and he studied trombone in school, playing with Frank Morgan in a high-school band; other young associates from this period included Don Cherry and Billy Higgins. Tapscott worked with Gerald Wilson's orchestra before graduating from Jefferson High School in 1952. After studying briefly at Los Angeles City College he enlisted in the air force, and served in a band in Wyoming (1953-7). He then returned to Los Angeles and worked with various local bands before touring as a trombonist with Lionel Hampton (1959 to early 1961), for whom he also wrote a number of arrangements and at times sat in on piano. By the early 1960s he was playing piano exclusively, in part because of persistent dental problems resulting from an automobile accident during his high-school years.
    By the end of 1961 Tapscott had formed the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra, which at various times included Arthur Blythe, Stanley Crouch, Azar Lawrence, Marcus McLaurine, Roberto Miranda, the brothers Butch and Wilber Morris, David Murray, the saxophonist Michael Session, Sonship Theus, and Jimmy Woods. The purpose of the Arkestra was to preserve, develop, and perform African-American music within the community. Its rapid growth and branching off into related social and artistic activities led to the formation in 1963 of a larger organization, the Underground Musicians Association (UGMA), of which the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra was a component. By the late 1960s the organization's continued evolution led to broader community involvement, symbolized by a change of name to the Union of God's Musicians and Artists Ascension (UGMAA). Although activities had tapered off by the mid-1980s, both the Arkestra and UGMAA continued to play a role in their community in the 1990s.
    Between the late 1950s and early 1970s Tapscott recorded with Lou Blackburn (1963) and Onzy Matthews (1963, accompanying Lou Rawls), arranged and conducted the music for two albums for the singer (and, later, Black Panther Party leader) Elaine Brown, and composed and conducted the material for Sonny Criss's album Sonny's Dream (Birth of the New Cool) (1968, Prst. 7576); his first album as a leader was made one year later. From 1978 through the mid-1980s he recorded for Interplay and Nimbus, two labels formed by enthusiasts for Tapscott's music. He recorded with the Arkestra, as an unaccompanied soloist, in a duo with the drummer Everett Brown, with his trio (notably a session in performance at the Lobero Theater in Santa Barbara, California), and as the leader of a sextet. In the 1990s he became increasingly busy with writing and international touring. His commissioned composition Two Shades of Soul was the centerpiece of the 17th annual Asian-American Jazz Festival in San Francisco in 1998. With S. Isoardi, he wrote his autobiography, Songs of the Unsung: the Musical and Social Journey of Horace Tapscott. His date of death appeared in some obituaries as 28 February 1999; he actually died on the 27th, at ten minutes before midnight.

    Scope and Content

    The Tapscott Archive includes both sound recordings and musical manuscripts documenting the life and work of Horace Tapscott, and the music of the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra (P.A.P.A.) and the Union of God's Musicians and Artists Ascension (UGMAA). The recordings include radio interviews, airchecks, concert tours, rehearsals, club dats, studio recording sessions, and performances at educational and other locations with PAPA, UGMAA and Tapscott's various small jazz groups. The music collection includes original compositions and arrangements by Tapscott, and arrangements for other composers. Note: The Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra (P.A.P.A.) is also referred to as "The ARK;" to find these materials use: "Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra."

    Arrangement

    The collection is organized into the following series:
    • Series 1. Sound Recordings
    • Series 2. Music Manuscripts
    • Series 3. Miscellaneous

    Subjects and Indexing Terms

    Jazz musicians -- California -- Los Angeles -- Archives.
    Composers -- California -- Los Angeles -- Archives.
    Tapscott, Horace--Archives