Felix Grant
Encyclopedia
Felix E. Grant was a disk jockey who specialized in jazz during a long career (1945 to 1993) in radio and television in Washington, D.C.
; primarily on station WMAL, the local ABC affiliate. In addition to playing records, he was distinguished for his many interview
s with performers. Many of those interviews were recorded and are now retained in the Felix E. Grant Jazz Archives, housed at the University of the District of Columbia
. The collection also includes many other materials collected by Grant during his nearly 50 year career on the radio. "Access to the digital AUDIO files in this collection is restricted to registered patrons in good standing of institutions that are members of the Washington Research Library Consortium." Guest access can be granted to researchers by e-mailing the curator.
Grant is also generally accepted as the person who introduced Brazilian music (primarily bossa nova) to the US community of performers and listeners. See, for example, C. McGowan and R. Pessamba, "The Billboard Book of Brazilian Music, page 8, published by Guinness, 1991.
Grant is responsible for discovering Duke Ellington
's birthplace (2129 Ward Pl., NW). Although the original house had been demolished, Grant began efforts to mark the site in 1987. A bronze plaque was placed on the building occupying the birth site along with a sign: the "Duke Ellington Building." Duke Ellington's son Mercer attended the dedication on Ellington's birthday in 1989. Grant was also responsible for renaming Western High School, Duke Ellington High School (now Duke Ellington School of the Arts
) and for renaming the Calvert Street Bridge the Duke Ellington Bridge
(1974). Documents in support of these events can be found in the Felix E. Grant Digital Collection.
His other credits included Brazil's highest award, the Order of the Southern Cross
; recognition from the DC government, including plaques, proclamations, and the designation of Felix Grant Day in 1985; and the naming for him of a music-radio library at the University of Jamaica. He was chairman of the Brazilian-American Cultural Institute and president of Partners of Brasilia. He established the Felix E. Grant Scholarship Fund at UDC.
. The majority of the holdings are commercially issued LPs
(approx. 45,000) and CDs (10,000) in addition to reel-to-reel tapes, audio cassettes, 45s and 78s. Books, periodicals, photographs, and other paper materials complement the commercially issued sound recordings. The Felix E. Grant Digital Collection gives a sampling of the types of materials housed in the Archives. Some standouts are:
Cataloging of holdings is ongoing.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
; primarily on station WMAL, the local ABC affiliate. In addition to playing records, he was distinguished for his many interview
Interview
An interview is a conversation between two people where questions are asked by the interviewer to obtain information from the interviewee.- Interview as a Method for Qualitative Research:"Definition" -...
s with performers. Many of those interviews were recorded and are now retained in the Felix E. Grant Jazz Archives, housed at the University of the District of Columbia
University of the District of Columbia
The University of the District of Columbia is a historically black, public university located in Washington, D.C. UDC is one of only a few urban land-grant universities in the country and a member of the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund...
. The collection also includes many other materials collected by Grant during his nearly 50 year career on the radio. "Access to the digital AUDIO files in this collection is restricted to registered patrons in good standing of institutions that are members of the Washington Research Library Consortium." Guest access can be granted to researchers by e-mailing the curator.
Grant is also generally accepted as the person who introduced Brazilian music (primarily bossa nova) to the US community of performers and listeners. See, for example, C. McGowan and R. Pessamba, "The Billboard Book of Brazilian Music, page 8, published by Guinness, 1991.
Grant is responsible for discovering Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
's birthplace (2129 Ward Pl., NW). Although the original house had been demolished, Grant began efforts to mark the site in 1987. A bronze plaque was placed on the building occupying the birth site along with a sign: the "Duke Ellington Building." Duke Ellington's son Mercer attended the dedication on Ellington's birthday in 1989. Grant was also responsible for renaming Western High School, Duke Ellington High School (now Duke Ellington School of the Arts
Duke Ellington School of the Arts
The Duke Ellington School of the Arts is a high school located at 35th Street and R Street, Northwest, Washington, D.C., and dedicated to arts education. One of the high schools of the District of Columbia Public School system, it is named for the American jazz bandleader and composer Edward...
) and for renaming the Calvert Street Bridge the Duke Ellington Bridge
Duke Ellington Bridge
The Duke Ellington Bridge, named after Duke Ellington, carries Calvert Street NW over Rock Creek in Washington, D.C., United States. It connects 18th Street NW in Adams Morgan with Connecticut Avenue NW in Woodley Park, just north of the Taft Bridge....
(1974). Documents in support of these events can be found in the Felix E. Grant Digital Collection.
His other credits included Brazil's highest award, the Order of the Southern Cross
Order of the Southern Cross
The National Order of the Southern Cross is a Brazilian order of chivalry founded by Emperor Pedro I on 1 December 1822. This order was intended to commemorate the independence of Brazil and the coronation of Pedro I...
; recognition from the DC government, including plaques, proclamations, and the designation of Felix Grant Day in 1985; and the naming for him of a music-radio library at the University of Jamaica. He was chairman of the Brazilian-American Cultural Institute and president of Partners of Brasilia. He established the Felix E. Grant Scholarship Fund at UDC.
Archives
The Felix E. Grant Jazz Archives are maintained by the Jazz Studies Program, College of Arts and Sciences, and the Learning Resources Division at the University of the District of ColumbiaUniversity of the District of Columbia
The University of the District of Columbia is a historically black, public university located in Washington, D.C. UDC is one of only a few urban land-grant universities in the country and a member of the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund...
. The majority of the holdings are commercially issued LPs
LP album
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
(approx. 45,000) and CDs (10,000) in addition to reel-to-reel tapes, audio cassettes, 45s and 78s. Books, periodicals, photographs, and other paper materials complement the commercially issued sound recordings. The Felix E. Grant Digital Collection gives a sampling of the types of materials housed in the Archives. Some standouts are:
- Felix Grant's interviews of radio personalities which include jazz giants such as - Cannonball Adderley, Cab CallowayCab CallowayCabell "Cab" Calloway III was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was strongly associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City where he was a regular performer....
, Monty AlexanderMonty AlexanderMonty Alexander is a jazz pianist and melodica player. His playing has a strong Caribbean influence and swinging feeling, but he has also been influenced by Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson, Wynton Kelly, and Ahmad Jamal.-Biography:Alexander discovered the piano at the age of 4, taking classical music...
, Art FarmerArt FarmerArthur Stewart "Art" Farmer was an American jazz trumpeter and flugelhorn player. He also played flumpet, a trumpet/flugelhorn combination designed for him by David Monette. His identical twin brother, Addison Farmer Arthur Stewart "Art" Farmer (August 21, 1928, Council Bluffs, Iowa –...
, Johnny HartmanJohnny HartmanJohn Maurice Hartman was an American bass jazz singer who specialized in ballads and earned critical acclaim, though he was never widely known. He recorded a well-known collaboration with the saxophonist John Coltrane in 1963 called John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman, and was briefly a member of...
, Jimmy RushingJimmy RushingJames Andrew Rushing , known as Jimmy Rushing, was an American blues shouter and swing jazz singer from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, best known as the featured vocalist of Count Basie's Orchestra from 1935 to 1948.Rushing was known as "Mr...
, Sonny StittSonny StittEdward "Sonny" Stitt was an American jazz saxophonist of the bebop/hard bop idiom. He was also one of the best-documented saxophonists of his generation, recording over 100 albums in his lifetime...
, as well as those with more local flavor such as Barnee Breeskin, author of "Hail to the RedskinsHail to the RedskinsHail to the Redskins is the fight song for the Washington Redskins. It was written sometime between 1937 and 1938 and was performed for the first time as the Official Redskins Fight Song on August 17, 1938...
"; Tommy GwaltneyTommy GwaltneyThomas O. "Tommy" Gwaltney is an American jazz multi-instrumentalist and bandleader. He has played clarinet, saxophone, and vibraphone....
, original owner of Blues AlleyBlues AlleyBlues Alley, founded in 1965, is a jazz dinner-and-nightclub in an alley off Wisconsin Avenue in Washington, D.C.'s Georgetown neighborhood.As of 2008, exclusively jazz musicians are booked into Blues Alley for approximately 360 nights out of the year....
and Shep Allen, manager of the Howard Theater - in addition to Brazilian artists such as João GilbertoJoão GilbertoJoão Gilberto Prado Pereira de Oliveira, known as João Gilberto , is a Brazilian singer and guitarist. His seminal recordings, including many songs by Antônio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes, established the new musical genre of Bossa nova in the late 1950s.-Biography:From an early age, music...
, Dorival CaymmiDorival CaymmiDorival Caymmi was a Brazilian singer, songwriter, actor, and painter active for more than 70 years beginning in 1933...
, Tania MariaTania MariaTania Maria is a Brazilian artist, singer, composer, bandleader and piano player, singing mostly in Portuguese or English. Her Brazilian-style music is mostly vocal, sometimes pop, often jazzy, and includes samba, bossa, Afro-Latin, Pop and Jazz fusion.-Biography:Born in São Luís, Maranhão,...
and Leny AndradeLeny AndradeLeny de Andrade Lima, better known as Leny Andrade, was born in Rio de Janeiro, on January 25, 1943, and is a Brazilian singer and musician. Both Andrade's first and last names are sometimes misspelled in English as "Lenny", "Leni", and "Adrade". She has had several hits on the Brazilian charts...
, Flora PurimFlora PurimFlora Purim is a Brazilian jazz singer known primarily for her work in the jazz fusion style. She became prominent for her part in Chick Corea's landmark album Return to Forever...
and Airto. He has also interviewed historians and archivists like Thornton 'Tony' Hagert of Vernacular Music ResearchVernacular Music ResearchVernacular Music Research is an archival and historical collection of music. It includes print , 78' records, and other media featuring American music and dance from the early 19th century to the 1960s....
Users outside of the Washington Research Library ConsortiumWashington Research Library ConsortiumThe Washington Research Library Consortium was founded as a joint initiative of eight members of the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area to coordinate access and increase the scope of resources of each university's main library....
apply for a guest ID through a form on the website to listen. - Lorton ReformatoryLorton ReformatoryThe Lorton Reformatory was a prison built for the District of Columbia, United States. It was operated by the District of Columbia Department of Corrections.-History:...
Jazz Festival. Lorton was once the location of a jazz festival featuring some of the top names in jazz Ella FitzgeraldElla FitzgeraldElla Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
, Count BasieCount BasieWilliam "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years...
, Nancy Wilson, Oscar PetersonOscar PetersonOscar Emmanuel Peterson was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. He was called the "Maharaja of the keyboard" by Duke Ellington, "O.P." by his friends. He released over 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, and received other numerous awards and honours over the course of his career...
, Ray BrownRay Brown (musician)Raymond Matthews Brown was an American jazz double bassist.-Biography:Ray Brown was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and had piano lessons from the age of eight. After noticing how many pianists attended his high school, he thought of taking up the trombone, but was unable to afford one...
. A commemorative booklet and rare photographs can be viewed. - Duke EllingtonDuke EllingtonEdward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
Cataloging of holdings is ongoing.
External links
- @ Carlos Lyra Official Site - Article about the 1965 album of Carlos LyraCarlos LyraCarlos Lyra is a Brazilian singer and composer of numerous bossa nova and Música Popular Brasileira classics. He was born on May 11, 1939. Along with Roberto Menescal, he was a primary figure of the younger generation of bossa nova musicians who closely followed the inception of the style by João...
and Paul WinterPaul WinterPaul Winter is an American saxophonist , and is a six-time Grammy Award nominee.- Biography :Paul Winter attended Altoona Area High School and graduated in 1957...
, The Sound of Ipanema. - Felix E. Grant Collection - online images from the University of the District of Columbia
- http://www.eagle-wing.net/GoodWords/Thoughts/WHFS.shtml
- Felix E. Grant Jazz Archives
- Felix E. Grant Radio Interviews List
- Jazz Archives in the United States by Michael Fitzgerald