Catalog Record:
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Library's online catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically therein.
Gift; Edward Beach; 1992
No further accruals are expected.
The Edward Beach Collection was processed in 1995/1999 by Kate Rivers with assistance from Michael Ferrando and other Music Division staff. The original finding aid was prepared with Corel WordPerfect 8. In 2007 the Edward Beach Collection finding aid was coded for EAD format by Michael A. Ferrando.
Tape recordings of radio broadcasts of "Just Jazz," aired over station WRVR in New York and hosted by Edward Beach, were purchased by the Library of Congress and are held in the Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division.
The status of copyright on the materials of the Edward Beach Collection is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).
The Edward Beach Collection is open to research. Researchers are advised to contact the Performing Arts Reading Room prior to visiting. Many collections are stored off-site and advance notice is needed to retrieve these items for research use. Certain restrictions to use or copying of materials may apply.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: container number, Edward Beach Collection, Music Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Edward Beach was the host of a well-known jazz radio program in New York City from the early 1960s to the mid-1970s. "Just Jazz," broadcast over station WRVR, was hailed by musicians and those with an avid interest in jazz as one of the finest radio shows in the area devoted to that topic.
Beach was born in Winnipeg, Canada, and moved to Portland, Oregon, as a child. He became interested in jazz music as a teenager. He later performed as a pianist with the Gus Arnheim Big Band, and formed a jazz trio which appeared in Portland, St. Louis and Chicago. After attending college in Portland, Beach earned course credits towards a graduate degree in theater at Cornell University. He then spent five years in New York City working as an actor in off-Broadway productions, touring companies, television and summer stock theater.
In 1957, Beach began working at radio station WNYC in New York. He took a position in 1961 with WRVR, a not-for-profit station operated by New York City's Riverside Church. It was there that he developed the much-praised format of the "Just Jazz" broadcast, which featured a single artist on each show. Beach became well-known for his extensive knowledge of jazz music and musicians. The "Just Jazz" show ceased production when the radio station was sold in 1976. Beach retired to Tualatin, Oregon, in 1977.
The Edward Beach Collection consists exclusively of photographs and other iconography of musicians. Primarily, the images are of jazz musicians; also represented are a few notable figures from other musical and artistic disciplines. The bulk of the material dates from the 1950s through the mid-1970s; one photograph is dated 1940.
Included among the images in the Edward Beach Collection are many musical figures; some are rarely depicted in standard sources. Of particular interest are images of: Louis Armstrong; William "Count" Basie; Sidney Bechet; Leon Bismarck "Bix" Beiderbecke; Bennett Lester "Benny" Carter; John Coltrane; Miles Davis; Roy "Little Jazz" Eldridge; Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington; Bill Evans; John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie; Benny Goodman; Coleman Hawkins; John Cornelius "Rab" Hodges; Billie Holiday; Henry "Hank" Jones; Charles Mingus; Thelonious Monk; Bessie Smith; Art Tatum; Jack Teagarden; and Lester Young. Apart from musicians in the jazz tradition, there are images of composers Benjamin Britten; Aaron Copland; Frederick Delius; Paul Hindemith; Leoš Janàček; Bohuslav Martinu; Darius Milhaud; Carl Orff; Serge Prokofiev; Maurice Ravel; Dmitri Shostakovich; Karol Szymanowski; and Ralph Vaughan Williams, among others. Included also is a large poster of dancer Vaslav Nijinsky.
Many of the photographs appear to have been produced for publicity purposes. Some items are autographed or bear other inscriptions.
Kate Rivers, May 1995
The Edward Beach collection is organized in 1 series:
The Edward Beach Collection consists exclusively of photographs and other iconography of musicians. Primarily, the images are of jazz musicians; also represented are a few notable figures from other musical and artistic disciplines.
Arrangement is alphabetical by subject