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MLA Officer Report
In this column, we hear from another MLA board member, Scott Stone.
By the time this article has gone to press, I will have shifted into my role as the Planning and Reports Officer (PRO), after a year of serving in the Assistant Planning and Reports Officer (APRO) role on the Board. This position chairs the Planning Committee, which is charged to consider matters relating to the administrative structure of the Association, and to study proposals and carry out long-range planning for the Board’s consideration based on information and requests from the Board, committees, and individual members. We (the PRO and APRO) also help organize all of the organization’s committees and interest groups, and are the people behind those emails near the beginning of each new calendar year asking for letters of support to renew interest groups and informing the membership which committees have upcoming vacancies that need to be filled.
Part of what I enjoy so much about this specific position is its fluidity. During my year as APRO, I was the Board delegate to a working group creating a potential new charge for the Diversity Committee; I also helped members create a new Music Therapy Interest Group, and actively worked alongside the Strategic Plan Task Force. This coming year — with the new Strategic Plan in place— I anticipate most of my time will be spent leading the Planning Committee as we determine strategic priorities and help MLA move forward by supporting and facilitating the work of other bodies in the organization.
Being a part of the Board has been an incredible learning experience about how the organization as a whole works, and I’m honored to help ensure MLA grows and evolves to support the changing needs of its members and the profession!
“Dr. Daddy-O” Broadcast Recordings at Tulane Now Digitized
Live broadcasts, interviews, and radio segments by Vernon “Dr. Daddy-O” Winslow for “Jivin’ with Jax” on WWEZ AM New Orleans are now available online via the Tulane University Digital Library. This digitization project, administered by Tulane University Special Collections, was funded in part by a grant from the GRAMMY Museum®, awarded in 2019.
The recordings selected for digitization are part of the Vernon “Dr. Daddy-O” Winslow collection of the Hogan Archive of New Orleans Music and New Orleans Jazz, a division of Tulane University Special Collections. They are among over 3,000 78 RPM records of commercially released music and recorded broadcasts that Winslow played on WWEZ. “Though just a small representation of the Winslow collection, we selected these discs for digitization due to their extremely fragile and unique nature. We are thrilled that the GRAMMY Museum’s support enabled us to preserve these recordings so that we can share them worldwide,” says Jillian Cuellar, director of Tulane University Special Collections and Principal Investigator of the grant.
Originally airing between 1949 and 1958, these recordings represent the emergence of Black radio in New Orleans, while featuring Winslow’s work as the first African American radio disc jockey on New Orleans airwaves. “Jivin’ with Jax,” sponsored by New Orleans’ Jackson Brewing Company, would become the first full-length radio program in New Orleans to feature a Black DJ and specifically cater to and develop a Black listenership.
The digitized sound recordings include Winslow’s hosting of remote broadcasts, and his personalized advertisements and endorsements for New Orleans bars, music clubs, Jax Beer, and J&M Recording Studio, among others. Also included are Winslow’s conversations with internationally renowned Black celebrities, such as music luminaries Roy Brown, Savannah Churchill, Duke Ellington, Avery “Kid” Howard, Ivory Joe Hunter, Louis Jordan, Big Maceo Merriweather, Little Esther Phillips, Professor Longhair, and Roosevelt Sykes; professional baseball legends Roy Campanella and Don Newcombe; and local figures such as Roland Brown, the 1951 king of the Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club. Non-commercially issued music is also included, featuring performances by the Dave Bartholomew Orchestra, and by the Golden Chain Jubileers, a New Orleans-based gospel warhorse quartet.
“These rare recordings reveal and, to some, remind us of Winslow’s brilliance and importance as a broadcaster, both locally and nationally,” says Melissa A. Weber, curator of the Hogan Archive of New Orleans Music and New Orleans Jazz. “They provide a welcomed addition to the stories of Black radio history, the desegregation of New Orleans airwaves, the roles of sales and advertising in radio broadcasting, and the birth of rock and roll music.”
For more information, contact Melissa A. Weber, curator of the Hogan Archive of New Orleans Music and New Orleans Jazz, at mweber3@tulane.edu or 504-247-1807. To learn more about Tulane University Special Collections, visit the TUSC website or email specialcollections@tulane.edu, and follow them on Facebook and Instagram.
Photo caption: Side A of a 10-inch acetate featuring Dr. Daddy-O interviewing professional baseball pitcher Don Newcombe at Pelican Stadium, circa 1950s, Vernon “Dr. Daddy-O” Winslow collection HJA-055, Box 80, Tulane University Special Collections, New Orleans, LA.
Session Summary: Music Bibliography
Reported by Maria Souliotis, Northeastern State University
To lecture or not to lecture? Kristina Shanton (Ithaca College) addressed this question head-on with her music bibliography classes to increase student engagement while covering essential course concepts. In her MLA 2022 conference session “Reimagining the Music Bibliography Class,” Shanton showed how she redesigned her pedagogical approaches, upgrading class sessions to best accommodate the learning styles of contemporary students. I thought the results of this daring approach were remarkable.
Shanton overhauled her music bibliography courses by shifting from a lecture format to a group learning setup. Students used class time to meet in small groups (typically 4-5 per group) and work on course projects and presentations. The new arrangement emphasized “learning by doing” and encouraged creative expression in both learning processes and finished products. The final course project, an annotated bibliography, was eliminated and replaced with a “research-based bibliographic project.” The format for the final project was open-ended; students could choose any form of expression for their culminating presentations. In stark contrast to previous iterations of the course, Shanton replaced traditional grades with a system in which students graded their own work as well as that of their peers. Shanton assured her students that only she would see the grades and comments students submit for each other, thereby encouraging thorough and honest feedback.
Shanton explained that the reimagined course was governed by the principle of democratic pedagogy and the practice of “ungrading.” She described democratic pedagogy as “learner-centered student agency” in the sense that students are responsible for their own learning and seeking out opportunities to learn from others. The instructor’s role is to facilitate learning, acting as a guide or mentor instead of directing all classroom activities single-handedly. Students are responsible for generating feedback on their peers’ learning progress as well as assessing their own learning. By shifting assessment to the students, these processes enable “ungrading.” The emphasis on formative feedback lays the foundation for assessment as a conversation between the students and instructor.
In viewing samples of her students’ work, I was impressed by the variety of topics covered and creativity shown in expressing key concepts and ideas. Final projects manifested themselves in the form of thematic catalogs of underrepresented composers and musics, mock Wikipedia pages about notable figures in musicology, and new entries for Slonimsky’s Lexicon of Musical Invective. Multimedia included podcasts, in which students interviewed real practitioners in the field of music education and technology, and a YouTube video of a skit where students “time-traveled” through different eras of music criticism. The plethora of project formats and the resulting quality of the final products shows that the students were truly engaged in their own learning and took pride in presenting their best work.
The strategies conveyed in “Reimagining the Music Bibliography Class” have inspired me to reflect on my own current pedagogical practices so I can implement new approaches to teaching and learning in future instructional sessions. Looking ahead, I know I will encounter students who are already accustomed to learning online in a post-COVID-19 world. My teaching must accommodate that reality through the use of multimedia and the flipped classroom.
I also anticipate adapting what I source from Shanton’s methods to the unique needs of my university and its students. The session did not address how to reconfigure “one-shot” instruction sessions or strategies for fostering engagement with non-music majors in music appreciation classes, for whom music is a foreign language. However, these activities constitute the bulk of my formal teaching and outreach for my university’s music department, and I suspect this may also be the case for others. It would be beneficial to revisit and address these topics in a future session.
Image credit: “chair circle” by Apocalypse Center is marked with CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
Best of Chapters
Reported by Catherine Hammer and Casey Burgess
Each year the Best of Chapters committee accepts the nomination of one session presentation from each local MLA chapter. The three committee members evaluate the sessions separately and rate them based on a variety of factors: relevance of the topic to current issues in music librarianship, originality and innovation, organization and significance, research quality, and potential appeal to a national-level audience. The rankings from each member are combined to determine the two highest-ranked sessions that will be presented at the next national MLA meeting.
At the 2022 virtual MLA conference, the winning presentation was “Clarinetists in the Stacks: a Clarinet Studio’s Role in Expanding Inclusive Holdings” from Lenora Schneller, Director of the Music and Fine Arts Libraries at Cornell University. Ms. Schneller works as both a music librarian and a clarinet instructor at Cornell, and as such, she shared about her unique opportunity to seek out new and diverse clarinet works that would better reflect the experiences and backgrounds of her students and add them to the library’s collection. These new acquisitions serve a dual purpose of diversifying the library’s music collection as well as providing her students with the opportunity to reach beyond previously considered standard repertoire. For example, Schneller has added works by composers Chen Yi, Joan Tower, Alvin Batiste, Clarence Cameron White, and Florence B Price.
The Best of Chapters runner-up was “Researching the Negro Spiritual” from Kathy Abromeit, Public Services Librarian at Oberlin College Conservatory of Music, and Randye Jones, Media Collections Coordinator at Grinnell College. Ms. Abromeit discussed her ongoing indexing project of spirituals using uniform titles, first line of the song, alternate titles, subject, scripture references, and additional information such as accompanying instrumentation or unique notation. Ms. Jones walked attendees through a proposed reference interaction using The Spirituals Database, a free online resource she developed. She discussed the use of various facets to narrow search results to identify individual arrangements or recordings of spirituals to better inform library patrons who may wish to incorporate these works into their own performances.
Photo credit: Hal Gatewood via UnSplash
Citation Reflections
The MLA Citation, the Association’s tribute for lifetime achievement, is awarded in recognition of distinguished service to music librarianship over a career. Citation recipients become Honorary Members of the Music Library Association. At its 2022 meeting, MLA bestowed this award upon Randye Jones, whose reflections appear below. An official award announcement is posted on the MLA blog.
So many things went through my mind as I contemplated what to say in acceptance of the MLA Citation. MLA had long become a valued go-to for my cataloging and research questions, and I had developed numerous collegial relationships—even friendships—with members of the organization. However, one of my strongest and favorite recollections happened very early into my membership.
In the early 1990s, I mentioned on MLA-L that I planned to visit the Library of Congress during my trip to Washington, D.C. One of the music catalogers at LOC informed me that the facilities were undergoing a major renovation and were not open to the public. However, shortly afterward, I got an invitation to come for a visit.
I entered the music cataloging area and was amazed at all of the staff and space designated just for music cataloging! I met several catalogers, learned about a variety of projects they were doing at the time, and got to ask questions about cataloging. I was given an extensive tour of the area, including portions under renovation, where stonemasons and others were working on different projects.
The highlight of the day, however, was having lunch with several catalogers who were also…STAR TREK FANS!! We talked about all things Trekker. And I learned how Star Trek fans were using the burgeoning Internet to meet and participate in role-playing games, something I investigated upon returning home.
While my role-playing days are long over, I’ve been able to keep in touch with MLA members who are also Trekkers. And we try to get together at conference to share a meal or drinks and talk about the latest shows, movies, books, etc. In fact, someone informed me that of the several accomplishments mentioned on the MLA Citation, my most important contribution is the Star Trek gatherings! How can I argue that point? To me, it’s a perfect example of how members of MLA can be so committed to the work of music libraries, yet have a good time when they can.
Congratulations, Randye!
Did You Know?…
…the plot for Pietro Mascagni’s opera Cavalleria Rusticana is set on Easter Day?
According to Ukrainian conductor Myron Yusypovych, who has conducted this opera at his home country’s Lviv Opera House, this is the only opera regularly performed around the world that takes place at Easter time. Unlike the rest of the story, the scene featuring Mascagni’s “Easter Hymn” is a joyous occasion, celebrating the resurrection of Christ.
Sources:
“The Easter Hymn in Cavalleria Rusticana by Mascagni” (https://www.yusypovych.com/eng/Easter-Hymn-Cavalleria-Rusticana-Mascagni).
Simon, Henry W. 100 Great Operas and Their Stories: Act-by-Act Synopses. Anchor Books, 1989.
Image credit: Ukrainian Pysanka from Pixabay