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
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