Edward Beach Collection
Catalog Record: http://lccn.loc.gov/2006577400
General International Standard for Archival Description
Music Division Library of Congress Washington, D.C.
Finding Aid encoded by Library of Congress Music Division, 2007
Encoded Archival Description
Encoded Archival Description (EAD) Version 2002
collection
Edward Beach Collection1940-1975 (bulk 1950-1975)
Beach, Ed
Biographical History for: Edward Beach Collection1940-1975 (bulk 1950-1975)
Biographical Sketch Edward Beach was the host of a well-known jazz radio program in New York City from the early 1960s to the mid-1970s. "Just Jazz," broadcast over station WRVR, was hailed by musicians and those with an avid interest in jazz as one of the finest radio shows in the area devoted to that topic. Beach was born in Winnipeg, Canada, and moved to Portland, Oregon, as a child. He became interested in jazz music as a teenager. He later performed as a pianist with the Gus Arnheim Big Band, and formed a jazz trio which appeared in Portland, St. Louis and Chicago. After attending college in Portland, Beach earned course credits towards a graduate degree in theater at Cornell University. He then spent five years in New York City working as an actor in off-Broadway productions, touring companies, television and summer stock theater. In 1957, Beach began working at radio station WNYC in New York. He took a position in 1961 with WRVR, a not-for-profit station operated by New York City's Riverside Church. It was there that he developed the much-praised format of the "Just Jazz" broadcast, which featured a single artist on each show. Beach became well-known for his extensive knowledge of jazz music and musicians. The "Just Jazz" show ceased production when the radio station was sold in 1976. Beach retired to Tualatin, Oregon, in 1977.
Scope and Content Note The Edward Beach Collection consists exclusively of photographs and other iconography of musicians. Primarily, the images are of jazz musicians; also represented are a few notable figures from other musical and artistic disciplines. The bulk of the material dates from the 1950s through the mid-1970s; one photograph is dated 1940. Included among the images in the Edward Beach Collection are many musical figures; some are rarely depicted in standard sources. Of particular interest are images of: Louis Armstrong; William "Count" Basie; Sidney Bechet; Leon Bismarck "Bix" Beiderbecke; Bennett Lester "Benny" Carter; John Coltrane; Miles Davis; Roy "Little Jazz" Eldridge; Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington; Bill Evans; John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie; Benny Goodman; Coleman Hawkins; John Cornelius "Rab" Hodges; Billie Holiday; Henry "Hank" Jones; Charles Mingus; Thelonious Monk; Bessie Smith; Art Tatum; Jack Teagarden; and Lester Young. Apart from musicians in the jazz tradition, there are images of composers Benjamin Britten; Aaron Copland; Frederick Delius; Paul Hindemith; Leoš Janàček; Bohuslav Martinu; Darius Milhaud; Carl Orff; Serge Prokofiev; Maurice Ravel; Dmitri Shostakovich; Karol Szymanowski; and Ralph Vaughan Williams, among others. Included also is a large poster of dancer Vaslav Nijinsky. Many of the photographs appear to have been produced for publicity purposes. Some items are autographed or bear other inscriptions. Kate Rivers, May 1995
series
Iconography
The Edward Beach Collection consists exclusively of photographs and other iconography of musicians. Primarily, the images are of jazz musicians; also represented are a few notable figures from other musical and artistic disciplines.
file
Adderley, Julian Edwin "Cannonball"
Akiyoshi, Toshiko
Allen, Henry "Red"
Armstrong, Louis
Auld, Georgie (John Altwerger) see Goodman, Benny Sextet
Baker, Chesney H. "Chet"
Bartók, Béla
Basie, William "Count"
Bechet, Sidney
Beiderbecke, Leon Bismarck "Bix"
Berg, Alban
Berigan, Roland Bernard "Bunny"
Bernstein, Arthur "Artie" see Goodman, Benny Sextet
Bloch, Ernest
Braff, Reuben "Ruby"
Brian, Havergal
Britten, Benjamin
Brown, Clifford
Brown, Raymond
Bryant, Raphael "Ray"
Burton, Gary
Byas, Carlos Wesley "Don"
Carter, Bennett Lester "Benny"
Christian, Charlie see Goodman, Benny Sextet
Clayton, William "Buck"
Cohn, Alvin Gilbert (and "Zoot" Sims)
Cole, Nat "King" Trio
Coltrane, John William
Copland, Aaron
Dankworth, John
Davis, Miles Dewey, Jr.
Davison, William "Wild Bill"
Debussy, Claude
DeFranco, Boniface Ferdinand Leonardo "Buddy"
Delius, Frederick
Desmond, Paul
Edison, Harry "Sweets"
Edwards, Leonard
Eldridge, Roy "Little Jazz"
Ellington, Edward Kennedy "Duke"
Evans, Bill
Farmer, Arthur Stewart
Fitzgerald, Ella
Flanagan, Tommy Lee
Garner, Erroll Louis
Gershwin, George
Getz, Stanley
Gillespie, John Birks "Dizzy"
Goodman, Benny
Goodman, Benny Quartet
Goodman, Benny Sextet
Gordon, Dexter
Grappelli, Stephane see also Hot Club of France, Quintet of the
Griffin, John Arnold III "Johnny"
Hackett, Robert Leo "Bobby"
Haig, Alan W.
Hampton, Lionel
Harris, Barry Dole
Hawes, Hampton
Hawkins, Coleman
Hindemith, Paul
Hines, Earl
Hinton, Milton "Judge"
Hodges, John Cornelius "Rab", "Rabbit", "Jeep"
Holiday, Billie (Eleanor Gough McKay)
Honegger, Artur
Hot Club of France, Quintet of the
Hubbard, Frederick Dewayne "Freddie"
Hyman, Dick
Ives, Charles
Jackson, Milton "Bags"
Jacquet, Jean-Baptiste "Illinois"
Janàček, Leoš
Jones, Hank
Kelly, William
Kirk, Roland T.
Kodály, Zoltán
Konitz, Lee
Krupa, Gene see Goodman, Benny Quartet
Laine, Cleo see Dankworth, John
Lewis, John
Mahler, Gustav
Martinu, Bohuslav
McKenna, David J. "Dave"
McPartland, Marian
Milhaud, Darius
Miller, Bass see Cole, Nat "King" Trio
Mingus, Charles see also Gillespie, John Birks "Dizzy"
Monk, Thelonious
Montgomery, John Leslie "Wes"
Montoliu, Vincente "Tete"
Moore, Oscar Fred see Cole, Nat "King" Trio
Morton, Ferdinand "Jelly Roll"
Mulligan, Gerry
Nat "King" Cole Trio
Navarro, Theodore "Fats"
Newborn, Phineas, Jr.
Nichols, Herbert Horatio "Herbie"
Nielsen, Carl
Nijinsky, Vaslav
Orff, Carl
Parker, Charlie see also Gillespie, John Birks "Dizzy"
Passalaqua, Joseph Anthony "Joe Pass"
Peterson, Oscar Emmanuel
Petrucciani, Michel
Pettiford, Oscar
Poulenc, Francis
Powell, Earl "Bud" see also Gillespie, John Birks "Dizzy"
Prokofiev, Serge
Ravel, Maurice
Reinhardt, Jean-Baptiste "Django" see also Hot Club of France, The Quintet of
Roach, Max see Gillespie, John Birks "Dizzy"
Rollins, Theodore Walter "Sonny"
Roussel, Albert
Rowles, James George "Jimmy"
Satie, Eric
Schoenberg, Arnold
Schuman, William
Scriabin, Alexander
Shearing, George Albert
Shostakovitch, Dmitri
Sibelius, Jean
Silver, Horace Ward Martin Tavares
Sims, John Haley "Zoot" see also Cohn, Alvin Gilbert
Smith, Bessie
Smith, Hezekiah Leroy Gordon "Stuff"
Stewart, Leroy "Slam"
Stitt, Sonny
Stravinsky, Igor
Sullivan, Ira Brevard, Jr.
Sullivan, Marietta Williams "Maxine"
Sutton, Ralph Earl
Szymanowski, Karol
Tabackin, Lew see Akiyoshi, Toshiko
Tate, George Holmes "Buddy"
Tatum, Art
Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilych
Teagarden, John Weldon "Jack"
Terry, Clark
Thompson, Eli "Lucky"
Tristano, Leonard Joseph "Lennie"
Vaughan, Sarah Lois
Vaughan Williams, Ralph
Waller, Thomas Wright "Fats"
Walton, Sir William
Webster, Benjamin Francis
Weston, Randy
Williams, Charles "Cootie" Melvin see also Goodman, Benny Sextet
Williams, Mary Lou
Wilson, Theodore "Teddy"
Woods, Phil
Young, Lester Willis "Pres"