Research Catalog

Title

Stanley Crouch papers.

Author

Crouch, Stanley

Publication

1901-2017, bulk 1972 - 2015.

Supplementary Content

Finding aid

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

27.29 linear feet (70 boxes)

Summary

• The Stanley Crouch papers mostly consist of materials related to his writing; these materials include various drafts, manuscripts, and final versions of his newspaper columns, articles, and books, both published and unpublished. There is also a vast amount of research material (including publications by other authors) and interview transcripts, mainly for his biography of Charlie Parker. There is a small amount of personal papers, which includes family correspondence and some biographical information. Additionally, the collection includes correspondence, both personal and professional, and other professional matter, such as address books, day planners, and material related to his participation on various boards and committees, including the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation (LAEF) and the PEN American Center (now, PEN America). Finally, the collection consists of printed matter, which includes publicity material for Crouch's publications and appearances, reviews of his work, and interviews.
• Stanley Crouch was a music and cultural critic, syndicated columnist, novelist, and biographer, known for "Kansas City Lightning: The Rise and Times of Charlie Parker" (2013), his biography of Charlie Parker, and his various books of criticism. Crouch was born on December 14, 1945, in Los Angeles, California. He attended East Los Angeles and Southwest junior colleges, but never received any degrees. From 1965-1967, he worked as an actor and playwright under the direction of Jayne Cortez in Studio Watts and the Watts Repertory Theatre Company. Crouch witnessed the 1965 Watts race riots, initiating his participation in the civil rights movement. From 1968-1975, he taught at the Claremont Colleges, first as poet-in-residence at Pitzer, then as a full-time faculty member of the Black Studies Center, and finally as a joint member of the Black Studies Center and the English Department of Pomona College. Crouch wrote and directed ten plays while at Claremont. In 1975, Crouch moved to New York City and wrote for "The Village Voice" and the "SoHo Weekly News" He was a staff writer for the "Voice" from 1979-1988. In addition, he was an aspiring jazz drummer and played with David Murray, who was also his roommate. While at the "Voice", Crouch became known for his criticism of "empty" and "phony" music, such as, in his view, fusion and avant-garde movements in jazz. He became an advocate for the neotraditionalist movement, which he saw as revitalizing the core values of jazz. As per his obituary in "The New York Times", Crouch was known partly for "his skewering, and even physical smackdowns, of his former intellectual comrades". In 1987, Crouch became the artistic consultant for the Jazz at Lincoln Center program, which he also helped create; Wynton Marsalis, a friend and protégée of Crouch's, joined Crouch in 1991, and later became the program's artistic director. After leaving the "Voice", Crouch published "Notes of a Hanging Judge: Essays and Reviews", 1979-1989, which was selected as the best book of essays published in 1990 by the Encyclopedia Britannica Yearbook. Crouch went on to win a Whiting Award in 1991, a MacArthur Foundation grant in 1993, and the Jean Stein Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, also in 1993. In the mid-1990s, Crouch became a regular columnist for the "New York Daily News" He wrote another book of criticism, "The All-American Skin Game; or, The Decoy of Race" (1995) which was nominated for a criticism award by the National Book Critics Circle. Crouch wrote four more books of criticism from 1998-2006 (including "Considering Genius: Writings on Jazz" 2006), and his first and only novel, "Don't the Moon Look Lonesome" in 2000. In 2008, Crouch became the president of the board of directors of the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation. In 2013, he published his biography of Charlie Parker, "Kansas City Lightning: The Rise and Times of Charlie Parker". After a long bout with an unspecified illness, Stanley Crouch died on September 16, 2020.

Subjects

• Music journalists
• Journalism > New York (State) > New York
• Jazz musicians > Biography
• Jazz > History and criticism
• Jazz > Analysis, appreciation
• Authors, Black
• African American journalists > United States
• New York Daily News (Firm)
• Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation
• Jazz at Lincoln Center (Organization)
• Parker, Charlie, 1920-1955
• Marsalis, Wynton, 1961-
• Ellington, Duke, 1899-1974

Access (note)

• Documents with personal information have been redacted; other materials, such as recommendation letters, student papers, and one interview, are closed until 50 years after most recent date in each individual file. Electronic records are currently unavailable.

Source (note)

• Purchase, Glenn Horowitz Bookseller, December 2019.

Call Number

Sc MG 973

OCLC

• 1274234364
• 1274234364

Author

Crouch, Stanley, creator.

Title

Stanley Crouch papers.

Production

1901-2017, bulk 1972 - 2015.

Type of Content

text

still image

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

sheet

Restricted Access

Documents with personal information have been redacted; other materials, such as recommendation letters, student papers, and one interview, are closed until 50 years after most recent date in each individual file. Electronic records are currently unavailable.

Location of Other Archival Materials

Materials Separated from the Resource: Transferred to the Digital Research Division: hard drives, laptop, and floppy disks. Transferred to the Photographs and Prints Division: photographs

Source

Purchase, Glenn Horowitz Bookseller, December 2019.

Connect to:

Finding aid

Research Call Number

Sc MG 973