Leonard Feather papers
Scope and Contents
The Leonard Feather papers span the years circa 1900–1999, with the bulk of the materials dating 1935–1990.
Included among the papers are photographs, negatives, scrapbooks and photo albums, pamphlets, notebooks, sketches, scores, soundsheets, correspondence, clippings, manuscripts (including those for books, articles, liner notes, and radio and television productions), promotional materials, research materials, travel and teaching notes, royalty statements and other financial papers, lists of Mr. Feather's personal collections (audio cassettes, records, and video tapes), ephemera, and papers related to Mr. Feather's last illness and documents gathered after his death.
The arrangement and labeling of Mr. Feather's personal and working files have been maintained.
Dates
- Creation: 1900-1999
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open to the public. Researchers must use the collection in accordance with the policies of the University of Idaho Special Collections and Archives.
Conditions Governing Use
Consult Head of Special Collections and Archives on permissions for use.
Biographical Note
Leonard Geoffrey Feather was born in Hampstead, London, in 1914. He relocated to New York City in 1939. Journalist, producer, and composer, Mr. Feather is best known as a jazz critic. He wrote several books about jazz, including Inside Be-Bop (1949), the Encyclopedia of Jazz (1960), and the Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz, co-written with Ira Gitler, which was published posthumously, in 1999. His compositions include songs such as "Evil Gal Blues," "Blowtop Blues," "Mighty Like the Blues," and "How Blue Can You Get." Leonard created the "Blindfold Test" for Metronome magazine and later for DownBeat magazine. The test also became a segment of Feather's radio show "Platterbrains." It consisted of artists listening to a recording, without knowledge of the performer and then offering an opinion, this process often resulting in surprising results. He moved to Los Angeles in 1960 and critiqued jazz for the Los Angeles Times until his death. Mr. Feather died in Sherman Oaks, California, in 1994.
Extent
129 cubic feet
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Leonard Feather was a British journalist, jazz critic, producer, composer, and pianist. The collection contains his personal papers.
Physical Location
Special Collections and Archives of the University of Idaho Library and at the Bruce M. Pitman Center. Forty-eight hours advance notice is required to access artifacts housed offsite.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift, Jane Feather and Lorraine Feather, 1994-2007.
Existence and Location of Copies
This collection's blindfold tests, scrapbooks and photographs have been digitized and were added to the digital Leonard Feather Collection.
Additionally, User Copies of the Reel-to-Reel tapes were created as CDs. User Copies Boxes 4-7 are shelved in the University of Idaho Archives and Special Collections Rare Book Room, row 38, section 1, shelves 3-4.
General
This manuscript group is part of the International Jazz Collections-IJC.
Processing Information
Processed by Lisa Kliger, consultant to the International Jazz Collections, under the direction of archivist Michael Tarabulski, from October 2002 to March 2003. Laura Guedes processed the photographs, plaques and awards, and materials from later donations, in 2008. Ms. Guedes also revised the arrangement of the papers and the finding aid, in 2010-2011.
- Title
- Guide to the Leonard Feather papers
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by Laura Guedes and Michael Tarabulski; updated by Sara Szobody in 2024.
- Date
- 2011
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Repository Details
Part of the University of Idaho Library, Special Collections and Archives Repository