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University Daily Kansan
Friday, April 18, 1958
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RARE ONES—Jean Johnson, Lawrence sophomore and student assistant in the music library, displays some of the records that are available at the library in the Music and Dramatic Arts Building. (Daily Kansan photo)
Music Library Has 2,000 Records
Would you care to listen to a few original cuttings of Enrico Caruso records? Or perhaps you prefer the 1920's recording of "Bottle It Up and Go" by the Dallas Jug Band, featuring woodblocks, washboards, and cowbells.
Over 2,000 records and albums both rare and popular are available to students and faculty at the music library in Room 448 of the Music and Dramatic Arts Building.
"All of the records are on the shelves where students can help themselves," said Mrs. Nan Fulton, librarian. She explained that browsing allows the student to become curious about recordings he would otherwise ignore.
"Most of the early opera recordings do not mention the names of the performers—only the conductor." Mrs. Fulton said, adding that occasionally a famous singer would rate mention.
The library has many early recordings of classical artists such as Alma Gluck, Rosa Poussele, Ezio Pinza, and pianists Serge Rachmaninoff, Olga Samoroff and others.
Before moving from the Strong Annex location to the new building students other than fine arts majors were not encouraged to use the collection because of limited space, she said.
Now, however, everyone is invited to use the records, including the rare ones. There are 16 machines equipped with earphones in the library, and six more are expected to be installed in the near future.
"Three of the new machines will be equipped with a 78 r.p.m. speed, since many of the older records are of that speed." Mrs. Fulton said.
Early Jazz Records Available
Duplicates of many of the 1920—1940 recordings by the jazz artists of the day are available. Among them are early records by Jelly Roll Morton, Paul Whiteman, Benny Goodman, Louis Armstrong, Bing Crosby, Red Nichols and others.
"Many of the early recordings sound funny to the modern listener," she said, giving an example of a record called "Awake, Sweet Love" sung by Cecile Dolmeth with a lute and violin accompaniment.
Mrs. Fulton explained that the
easiest way to find a recording is to know the composer and use the card catalogue; however, there is a librarian on duty to aid students.
Students may use the library recordings and study there at the same time, she said.
"Many times I'll see students using the records and machines while working with a slide rule or reading a medical book at the same time," she commented.
The library is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday. No records are to be taken from the room, but students may make tape recordings if they wish.
Mrs. Fulton says that plans are being made to have 33 r.p.m. speed recordings made of the guest recitals and musical events that are presented on campus.
There is also a room designed for group listening, where discussion of records is permitted. This is being used by many classes, Mrs. Fulton said.
Many of the present recordings which are scratchy or defective will also be duplicated.
Jazz Helped Professor
Band A Good College Job
In the days when dixieland jazz was considered "not quite respectable," a KU professor, then an undergraduate, was earning his way through school by playing saxophone on weekends at dances or at the old Bowersock Theatre (now the Jayhawk Theatre) in Lawrence.
Carroll D. Clark, chairman of the department of sociology and anthropology, still feels that playing in a band is one of the best jobs for college students
"It interferes with homework less than any other type of outside work would." Clark said. "When I was working, we played jazz Friday and Saturday evenings and rehearsed one hour or so during the day. Today, it is much more respectable employment than it was in my undergraduate days (1919 to 1923), when the mildest thing that could be said about it was that it was frowned upon. Musicians are also much better organized now."
He said that he really learned jazz during World War I when he was in military training in the South.
"I didn't frequent dives," he said. "I would just hang around listening and finally joined a group of servicemen who had a little jazz band."
Job Came In Handy
In 1919, after he got back from France and entered KU, his jam sessions during the war came in handy when he had to find a job because "there was no GI Bill in those days."
While at KU, he was a member of Phi Mu Alpha, which at that time was both a social and professional fraternity.
"Some of the faculty members of the fraternity looked askance on jazz," Prof. Clark said. "We members earned our musical status separately by being in the glee club, band, or other musical organizations. But some of us who liked jazz would get together to play."
He played jazz professionally in Wisconsin during the summer of 1922. In 1923, after he was graduated from KU, he took a summer job in a five-man jazz combo at an amusement park in Denver, Colo.
"On July 4, 1923, a jitney marathon dance was held," he said. "I played the saxophone for the longest stretch I ever played in my life. We started playing at 10 in the morning and didn't quit until 2 a.m. When we finished, my lip was like raw beefsteak, and the piano player's fingernails were split. But I earned $28, an astronomical amount for a day's work at that time."
"I didn't have a good lip for the cornet, so my mother bought me a secondhand saxophone in 1910," Dr. Clark said. "I had learned music from a German music teacher in grade school. The saxophone was a new instrument then; people would always ask me what it was. Where I was living there was no one to teach it. I picked it up by myself. I could read music and play by car, which ties in with jazz."
After returning from military service in World War II, he formed a jazz group with some other faculty members.
CARROLL D. CLARK
Still Have Small Combo "We broke up in 1954, when several members of the group moved
away and I went on sabbatical leave," Prof. Clark said. "Now a few teachers and I have a small combo and meet now and then for a jam session."
Dr. Clark has a jazz program on KANU, KU's FM radio station from 7 to 8 p.m every Saturday.
"It is an educational broadcast, not a disc jockey type of show," he explained. "I talk about the jazz scene and sometimes have guest jazz groups in to play, and discuss the character, musicology, and sociology of jazz. Jazz has a great deal of social significance. It is a democratic force bringing together people of different races, religions, and backgrounds."
He said that jazz was never a music in which segregation was prominent.
"There was some segregation in
A timber company in the Pacific Northwest is now seeding timber land by helicopter. In one month 17,000 acres of land were seeded in 75 hours of flying time.
Sports Car Club To Hold Rally
Headquarters for
A display of well-groomed cars and a sports car rally will be a semi-official part of the Engineering Exposition.
The Jayhawk Sports Car Club will hold a Concours d'Elegance Friday and Saturday in the Marvin Hall parking lot.
The Concours will be held from 9 a.m. until dark Friday, and 8 a.m. to noon Saturday.
Jayhawk
"Jazz is largely a cultural innovation of the Negroes," he explained. "But it is not Negro music—it is American music. Many minority groups in America have participated."
The rally will be judged on time and distance checks, with many average speed changes and "a few gimmicks," Jim Masson, Bethel freshman said.
After the Concours, the club will hold a rally and a picnic. There is to be a driver's meeting at 2 p.m.
Saturday south of Allen Field House. Starting time will be 2:15 to 2:30 p.m.
At the Concours, rather than the usual set of judges to pick the best car, the winner will be chosen by the votes of the spectators.
Many Europeans believe that jazz is the only true indigenous art form that America has contributed, he said.
NOVELTIES & SOUVENIRS
The cars are judged, not on speed or nearness—they never move during the concours—but on cleanliness, condition of the finish and chrome, additional equipment installed by the owner and over-all beauty. Allowance is made for the age and mileage of the car, but a Concours winner must be a near-perfect machine.
Jack Heimovics, Prairie Village sophomore and Concours chairman, said the club expects 25 to 30 entries from KU, Lawrence, Topeka and Kansas City.
the early days, but it was dissolved quite early," he said.
Among the cars entered will be Jaguars, Austin-Healeys, Triumphs, Porsches, MGs, and Ghia-Karmann Volkswagens.
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