Collections : [Allen Music Library Special Collections]

This collection contains ten boxes of reel-to-reel recordings, mostly of Albert Tipton, including recitals and rehearsals as well as a few commercial recordings. Some of the reels are in poor condition.

The Charles H. Turner Collection consists principally of scores and personal effects donated by David Brinson and Turner's mother, Norma Turner. The scores are primarily copies of handwritten arrangements of jazz standards made for Sinatra's band, but there are also some published scores, including a few brass arrangements of Baroque pieces like the six-part from The Musical Offering, BWV 1079 by J.S. Bach.

The scrapbook collection consists of 39 books primarily concerned with the history of the school School of Music at the Florida State College for Women (1909-1947) and Florida State University (1947-present). The contents are mostly newspaper clippings directly related to the school or its faculty, recital and concert programs, and posters. Coverage extends from 1911 up to 2002.

The library possesses approximately 1700 reel-to-reel recordings. There are a few commercial recordings, but the collection consists principally of performances by FSU faculty and ensembles, dating from the mid-1950s to the early 1980s, with the bulk of the collection covering the late 60s to late 70s.

The Curtis Davidson Collection comprises a number of recordings in reel-to-reel, cassette, and compact disc format. These recordings document performances of the Curtis Davidson Orchestra and Curtis Davidson and his Southerners from 1930-1980. The recordings are primarily of the genre called Dixieland jazz which was prominent in New Orleans and the Big Bend area during this time. Davidson spent his nights playing throughout the southeast. He was interested in recording and many of these gigs were recorded on his own Wollensak tape recorder. These reel-to-reel recordings hold a prominent position in the collection. Some recordings feature former FSU professor of piano Dr. Robert Glotzbach and meteorologist Bill Ragsdale, who was known as "Willie the Weatherman."

The Dale A. Olsen Collection consists of over 800 audio and visual items that span Dr. Olsen's career as a researcher and educator from 1965 to 2007. They contain a variety of music from Japan, China, Indonesia, Persia, Africa, Ireland, South America, the Caribbean, and North America. While most of the recordings chronicle Dr. Olsen's extensive fieldwork in South America with Japanese immigrants and Warao Indians, other recordings include concerts by FSU world music ensembles, student and guest lectures, other special events and ceremonies, private gatherings at home, and even a handful of commercial recordings. About 80 of the reel-to-reel recordings were actually used as audio examples for Olsen's study of the connection of indigenous tribes to their environment, Music of the Warao of Venezuela: Song People of the Rain Forest, winner of the 1997 Alan P. Merriam Prize for "Most Outstanding Book in Ethnomusicology."

The Gloria Jahoda Music Collection includes books, reel-to-reel recordings, and other items concerning Frederick Delius (1862-1934). Piano/vocal scores of Delius' Irmelin and Fennimore and Gerda are also contained in this collection.

This library of 334 charts, approximately 250 of which were in active use, is written for 2 trumpets, trombone, 2 altos, tenor & baritone saxes, and four rhythm instruments. There are some instances of clarinet doubling in the sax parts, with alto sax also occasionally doubling on flute. Additional parts (instrumental and vocal) are included for some charts as noted. The majority of the arrangements are by Turner with others scattered throughout. A list was supplied with the collection of active and inactive charts as well as a breakdown according to style (as noted in the lists).

This collection contains information on John Boda's musical works, audio recordings, and nearly 100 manuscript reproductions of his compositions.