Jazz connoisseurs are familiar with things being branded “blue note.” There’s the Blue Note in New York City with chains in Japan, China, and the U.S., Blue Note Records, the Blue Note Jazz Festival, The Blue Note in Chicago (now closed), to name a few. Another prominent jazz club with the popular name was in Philadelphia, and Harvard is fortunate to have a selection of their musician contracts from 1949-1957, with the bulk of the contracts concentrated in 1956.
Represented in the collection are jazz contracts from well-known musicians Cannonball Adderley, Louis Armstrong, The Australian Jazz Quintet, Count Basie, Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, The Modern Jazz Quartet and several others. The most frequent signatures on the contracts are Jack Fields, owner of the Blue Note in the early 1950s, also known by his given name Irvin Rosenfeld as described in his obituary, and Lou Church, co-owner with Bob Pesselo, who began signing the contracts we have in hand starting in June 1956.
Lou Church and Miles Davis signatures on contract for performances from Dec. 3-8, 1956. Ms. Coll. 119
From December 3rd to the 8th, the Miles Davis Quintet began a two month series of engagements, starting in Philadelphia. The group featured Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Red Garland, Paul Chambers, and Philly Joe Jones.
Contract for Miles Davis performance at the Blue Note in Philadelphia. Ms. Coll. 119
On Saturday, December 8th, the set was featured on Bandstand, U.S.A., with audio available on YouTube. On this night the club was raided by police, as described in the African-American newspaper The Philadelphia Tribune. Lou Church is quoted as saying, “Police squads armed with shotguns enter the Blue Note frequently and frisk customers in hopes of embarrassing them into not coming to the club again.”
Clippings from the Philadelphia Tribune, Dec. 11, 1956.
The Collection of Jazz Contracts, 1949-1957 (Ms. Coll. 119) is located in the Isham Memorial Library, adjunct to the Loeb Music Library. There’re a lot of connections to be made about the life and history of the musicians and the Blue Note Club of Philadelphia in the collection of contracts. The collection can be viewed by appointment.
Bibliography
“Police Harass 400 at Blue Note; Deny Drive on White-Tan Lovers.” Philadelphia Tribune, Dec. 11, 1956.
This is a great post, one that brings attention to an archive of materials that could likely be used for a number of different interesting research projects. I was so intrigued by the clip from the Philadelphia Tribune that I looked up the original article in Proquest Historical Newspapers to read more about the club owner’s belief that the raid was part of an effort to stop what at the time was called “race-mixing.” Along the way I found a poem by Philadelphia Tribune city editor Art Peters, published in the paper on December 29, 1956 and titled “New Gifts for 1957!!!” One line of it goes:
To the Blue Note Cafe, where jazz lovers meet,
Peace from the cops, who’ve turned on the heat.
I also found it interesting that while the city’s largest newspaper, The Philadelphia Inquirer, ran an ad for Miles Davis’s upcoming performance at the Blue Note in its Monday, December 3 paper, it devoted no coverage to the police raid.
Thanks for the interest and enthusiasm, Eric! There are so many interesting connections to be made from these contracts and we’re thrilled that you were inspired to continue the search to find out more.