Ivan Black papers

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id: 2952
origination: Black, Ivan, d. 1979
date statement: 1887-1979 [bulk 1937-1978]
key date: 1887
identifier (local_mss): 20409
org unit: Music Division
call number: JPB 06-20
b-number: b16591405
total components: 1189
total series: 4
max depth: 6
boost queries: (none)
component layout: Default Layout
Extended MARC Fields: false
Extended Navigation: false
created: 2013-04-01 15:04:37 UTC
updated: 2026-08-15 02:22:59 UTC
status note: (missing)
Display Aeon link: true

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physdesc: {"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"22.8 linear feet", "unit"=>"linear feet"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"55 boxes", "unit"=>"containers"}], "supress_display"=>true}
unitid: {"value"=>"JPB 06-20", "type"=>"local_call"}

{"value"=>"20409", "type"=>"local_mss"}
unitdate: {"value"=>"1887-1979", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1887/1979"}

{"value"=>"1937-1978", "type"=>"bulk", "normal"=>"1937/1978"}
unittitle: {"value"=>"Ivan Black papers"}
repository: {"value"=>"The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Music Division. <div class=\"address\"> New York, New York</div>"}
abstract: {"value"=>"The Ivan Black Papers document Black’s work as a publicity agent on behalf of nightclubs, musicians and entertainers in New York from the 1940s to the 1970s. They include press releases, clippings, correspondence, photographs, promotional material and published music scores."}
prefercite: {"value"=>"Ivan Black Papers, JPB 06-20. Music Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts."}
origination: {"value"=>"Black, Ivan, d. 1979", "type"=>"persname"}
bioghist: {"value"=>"Ivan Black (b. Philadelphia, 14 May 1903, d. New York, 25 March 1979) was a publicity agent for nightclubs, Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, musicians and visual artists in New York City from the early 1940s until his retirement in the mid-1970s. Black grew up in Trenton, New Jersey and received a Bachelors degree in Renaissance arts and literature from Harvard in 1924. He worked as an architect in New Jersey and Florida before moving to Boston to work as a reporter for the Boston Transcript in 1928. After a brief return to Philadelphia, where he was an art critic for the Philadelphia Record and International Studio, and wrote for The Theatre Guild, he moved to New York in 1932, where he began working for the Works Progress Administration. Black formed and supervised a WPA project for unemployed writers that produced the American Guidebook series, among others, then was made manager of the Federal Theatre Project before being promoted to head of the Division of Information and Publicity for the Federal Theatre Radio Division. That division was dissolved in 1939, by which time Black had so many radio industry contacts that he was able to open his own publicity office. His first clients were the Café Society (whose proprietor, Barney Josephson, was a childhood friend of Black’s), the writer-director-producer Arch Oboler and The Adventures Of The Thin Man radio series. After the Café Society closed, Black did some work for corporate clients in the early 50s, such as the Philco Corporation, and the magazines Argosy and True, before returning to nightclub work in the late 50s with two major Greenwich Village venues, the Five Spot and the Village Gate. He continued working for both clubs into the 1960s, as well as for Basin Street East, Slug’s, and, in the early 70s, Gregory’s, Stryker’s, Bar None and Larson’s. Black occasionally worked directly for entertainers or events, including Hazel Scott, Miriam Makeba, the pianists Erroll Garner and Brooks Kerr, the singer Dardanelle and the New York Jazz Loft Celebration in 1976 and 1977. He also retained an interest in visual artists, such as Lumen Martin Winter and Jo Anne Schneider, and occasionally promoted their work. Black publicized many important performing artists during his career. He discovered the comedian Sam Mostel at a party and launched his career at the Café Society, anointing him with the stage name “Zero” because his career had nowhere to go but up. Other major figures associated with the Café Society whom Black promoted included the musicians John Kirby, Teddy Wilson, Josh White, Edmond Hall, Albert Ammons, Pete Johnson, Benny Morton, Nellie Lutcher, Dorothy Donegan and the Golden Gate Quartet; the singer Lena Horne; and the comedians Jimmy Savo, Imogen Coca and the Revuers (Judy Holliday, Adolph Green and Betty Comden). Major jazz musicians associated with the Five Spot whom Black promoted included Thelonious Monk, Sonny Rollins, Ornette Coleman, Rahsaan Roland Kirk and Charles Mingus. The Village Gate featured jazz musicians as well, such as Miles Davis, Herbie Mann, Stan Getz and Art Blakey, but Black also promoted folk singers such as Odetta and Harry Belafonte, the South African musicians Miriam Makeba and Hugh Masekela and the comedian Dick Gregory, all of whom were featured regularly at the Gate in the 1960s. Black did publicity for many Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, most notably Jacques Brel Is Alive And Well And Living In Paris at the Village Gate, but also lesser-known productions such as Anna Lucasta, Devil’s Galore and Stalag 17. He also promoted political and social justice causes, including benefit events for John Lindsay and for the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee. Source: “Ivan Black, 75, a Publicity Agent.” The New York Times, Mar. 27, 1979, B14."}
scopecontent: {"value"=>"The Ivan Black Papers primarily document the publicity work Black did on behalf of nightclubs in New York and the musicians and comedians who worked there, providing a detailed look at several key venues and the artists appearing in them from the 1940s to the 1970s. The largest portion of the collection is client and subject files containing mainly press releases and newspaper and magazine clippings, but also including promotional flyers, concert and stage programs and correspondence. The collection also contains a large section of photographs, mostly publicity headshots but also some performance and candid photos; and a set of published scores of stock musical arrangements. Major venues documented in the client/subject files include the Café Society Uptown and Downtown, the Five Spot, the Village Gate and Gregory’s. Papers for each club include performance schedules, promotional material and correspondence. Artists with significant content in the files include Zero Mostel, Hazel Scott, Thelonious Monk, Miriam Makeba, Sonny Rollins, Ornette Coleman, Erroll Garner, Jimmy Savo, Nina Simone, Brooks Kerr and Arch Oboler, among many others. The paper files also contain much documentation of Broadway and Off-Broadway stage and radio productions, including Jacques Brel Is Alive And Well And Living In Paris, The Adventures Of The Thin Man, and Anna Lucasta. Black’s interest in social justice and political causes is revealed by documentation of his work for the Works Progress Administration, the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee and the Congress On Racial Equality. His interest in the visual arts is documented by files for artists such as Lumen Martin Winter, Catharine Barjansky and Jo Anne Schneider, among others."}

{"value"=>"The Ivan Black papers are arranged in four series:\n<ul class='arrangement series-descriptions'>\n<li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mus/20409#c610899'></a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1927-1979 and undated</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>37 boxes</div>\n<div class='series-description'>This series comprises the paper portion of the collection, and consists of the files Black kept on his clients and, occasionally, on subjects of interest to him. The bulk of these papers consists of press releases, promotional literature and flyers, and newspaper and magazine clippings that were the direct results of Black’s work. Some files contain correspondence with newspaper reporters and listings editors, or with nightclub owners and managers. Direct correspondence with artists is rare. Some files contain screenplays or manuscripts, sometimes with no other accompanying correspondence; these are filed by authors’ names.</div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mus/20409#c611722'>Series II: Photographs</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1887-1978 and undated</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>14 boxes</div>\n<div class='series-description'>With a few exceptions, the photographs in this series were separated from folders in series I. Many subjects and clients in series I therefore have parallel sub-series and folders in this series. Most of the photographs are publicity headshots. Some folders contain performance or candid photographs, as well as contact sheets, and, in a few cases, negatives.</div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mus/20409#c612055'>Series III: Stock Arrangements</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1926-1945</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>2 boxes</div>\n<div class='series-description'>The scores in this series are all published stock dance arrangements for jazz big band with violins. All contain markings indicating they were rehearsed or performed. They do not indicate which musician or band used the arrangements. Dates are taken from copyright information and may be inaccurate. The arrangements are of songs popular in the mid-1940s, such as Body And Soul, Honk Kong Blues, How Deep Is The Ocean and It Might As Well Be Spring. More such arrangements, without markings, are in Separated Material.</div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mus/20409#c612070'>Series IV: Oversized Material</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1942-1969 and undated</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>2 boxes</div>\n<div class='series-description'>Most of this series consists of oversized photographs, with divisions for people and productions. The Ornette Coleman and Larry Adler folders contain several large images, some mounted. The Coleman folder features images of the musician with each of his three instruments (alto saxophone, trumpet and violin). Among the productions, Anna Lucasta contains the most images. The last folder in the series, Promotional Material and Personal Papers, includes performance programs and flyers, proofs of album cover art, an honorary Doctorate in humor for Zero Mostel from City College of New York, and enlargements of newspaper clippings.</div></li></ul>\n", "type"=>"arrangement"}
arrangement: {"value"=>"The collection is organized into 3 series and 6 sub-series. They are:<ul> <li>Series I: Client And Subject Files, 1927-1979 and undated <ul> <li>Sub-series 1 – Productions, 1937-1976 and undated</li> <li>Sub-series 2 – Venues, 1939-1978 and undated</li> <li>Sub-series 3 – People And Organizations, 1927-1979</li></ul></li> <li>Series II: Photographs, 1887-1978 and undated<ul> <li>Sub-series 1 – Productions, 1937-1972 and undated</li> <li>Sub-series 2 – Venues, 1887-1975 and undated</li> <li>Sub-series 3 – People And Organizations, 1939-1978 and undated</li></ul></li> <li>Series III: Stock Arrangements, 1926-1945</li> <li>Series IV: Oversized Material, 1942-1969 and undated</li></ul>", "supress_display"=>true}
acqinfo: {"value"=>"The Ivan Black Papers were donated to the Music Division in 1983 by Jennie Black."}
separatedmaterial: {"value"=>" <ul> <li>Sound Recordings<ul> <li>33 RPM soundsheet: As You Remember Them. Time-Life demo recording.</li> <li>45 RPM Singles<ul> <li>Burton, Richard. Married Man / Finding Words For Spring. MGMK13307. From Broadway musical Baker Street. 1965.</li> <li>Darren, James. A Married Man / Baby Talk To Me. Colpix CP 765. From Broadway musical Baker Street. 1965. (2 copies.)</li> <li>Dearie, Blossom. Sweet Georgie Fame / One Note Samba. Fontana TF 788. 1967.</li> <li>James Dee & A Piece Of The Action. Brother James / Destruction. Enrica 1017. Undated.</li> <li>Jones, Etta. Lonely Crowd / Moon Man. Roulette R-4699. Undated. (2 copies.)</li> <li>Lazos, Serafim. If I Could / Stars Of Worth. Nina N-208. 1973</li> <li>Middleton, Tony. Sittin’ In The Sunshine / Rock & Roll Lullabye. Toy TR-3803. 1972.</li> <li>Pike, Dave. Jet Set / You’ve Got Your Trouble. Atlantic A-10145. Undated.</li> <li>Rabbath, François. La Guerre Et La Paix (2 movements on each side). MN 22005. Ca. 1971.</li> <li>Rhodes, Betty. Mea Culpa / Triad. Gemini BR-101. Undated.</li> <li>Savina<ul> <li> You Go To My Head / The Man I Love. Rave 3005/3006. Undated</li> <li> It Don’t Mean A Thing / Too Marvelous For Words. Rave 3003/3004. Undated</li></ul></li> <li>Waldo, Ralph Emerson. Ace In The Hole / How Could Red Riding Hood? Blackbird 706. Undated.</li></ul></li> <li>Tape Reels <ul> <li>Proctor, Joan. No other information on tape box.</li> <li>The Sentimental Seventeen. Live at Huntington Crescent Club, June 1, 1968. Contents listed on tape box.</li> <li>Unidentified <ul> <li>“Trudeau Tape, To Eric Blau” written on tape box, no other information.</li> <li>“Satire on James Joyce & Gertrude Stein” written on tape box, no other information.</li></ul></li></ul></li></ul></li> <li>Book<ul> <li> Pori Jazz 1966-1974. (Retrospective picture book of Pori Jazz Festival, Finland. No publication information.)</li></ul></li> <li>Sheet Music (All published.) <ul> <li>Piano-Vocal Scores<ul> <li> Amor by Ricardo Lopez Mendez and Gabriel Ruiz. English lyric by Sunny Skylar.</li> <li> Jacques Brel Is Alive And Well And Living In Paris Souvenir Album. Full songbook. By Jacques Brel. English lyrics by Eric Blau and Mort Shuman.</li> <li> Sunday In The Park by Frank Weston and Ben Kaplan.</li></ul></li> <li>Stock Arrangements (For jazz big band and violins.)<ul> <li> All Around The Christmas Tree by Johnny Stuart and Johnny Klein. Arranged by Paul Weirick.</li> <li> Always Goodbye by Robert Sour and Abraham Ellstein. Arranged by Paul Weirick.</li> <li> Angel by Arthur Freed and Harry Warren. Arranged by Jack Mason.</li> <li> As Long As I Live by Charlie Tobias and Max Steiner. Arranged by Johnny Warrington.</li> <li> Ask My Heart by Marion Taylor and Lou Schwartz. Arranged by Joe Solomon.</li> <li> Blue Velvet by Dorothy Stewart. Arranged by Paul Weirick.</li> <li> Bobby Sox Polka by Larry Wellington. Arranged by Carroll Lucas.</li> <li> But I Did by Joseph Meyer and Al Jacobs. Arranged by Johnny Warrington.</li> <li> Can’t You Read Between The Lines by Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn. Arranged by Jack Mason.</li> <li> Chickery Chick by Sylvia Dee and Sidney Lipman. Arranged by Paul Weirick.</li> <li> Choo Choo Polka by Mike Shore and Zeke Manners. Arranged by Paul Weirick.</li> <li> Christmas Candles by Raymond Leveen, Leo Breen and Wilbur Sampson. Arranged by Albert Sack.</li> <li> Counting The Days Until Christmas by Buck Ram and Hal Kanner. Arranged by George Snowhill.</li> <li> A Couple Of Years Ago by Larry Stewart and Bert Reisfeld. Arranged by Chas Hathaway.</li> <li> Cuddles by Charlie Tobias and Nat Simon. Arranged by Paul Weirick.</li> <li> Dearest Darling by Dick Robertson, James Cavanaugh and Frank Weldon. Arranged by Jack Mason.</li> <li> A Door Will Open by Don George and John Benson Brooks. Arranged by Paul Weirick.</li> <li> Fishin’ For The Moon by Eddie Seiler, Sol Marcus and Guy Wood. Arranged by Johnny Warrington.</li> <li> Goin’ Home by Charlie Tobias and Max Steiner. Arranged by Jack Mason.</li> <li> Going Back Home by Robert Sour and Robert Stolz. Arranged by Paul Weirick.</li> <li> Good-Night My Sweet by Mack David and Irving S. Cravis. Arranged by Van Alexander.</li> <li> Here I Go Just Dreamin’ Away by Al J. Neiburg and Henri Woode. Arranged by Johnny Warrington.</li> <li> I Can’t Get You Out Of My Mind by Jack Brooks and Edgar Fairchild. Arranged by John Warrington.</li> <li> I Tho’t You Ought To Know by Tommy Dilbeck and Cecil Carter. Arranged by Jack Mason.</li> <li> I’d Do It All Over Again by Dick Robertson, James Cavanaugh and Frank Weldon. Arranged by Paul Weirick.</li> <li> I’d Rather Be Me by Sam Coslow, Eddie Cherkose and Felix Bernard. Arranged by John Warrington.</li> <li> If I Had A Dozen Hearts by Paul Francis Webster and Harry Revel. Arranged by Jack Mason.</li> <li> In Love With Love by George Waggner and Milton Rosen. Arranged by Van Alexander.</li> <li> In The Middle Of May by Fred Ahlert and Al Stillman. Arranged by Paul Weirick.</li> <li> In The Valley by Johnny Mercer and Harry Warren. Arranged by Jack Mason.</li> <li> Into The Night by Robert Sour and Robert Stolz. Arranged by Paul Weirick.</li> <li> It’ll Take A Little Time by Lee Pearl, Art Berman and Irving Gaumont. Arranged by Fred Barovick.</li> <li> It’s A Beautiful Day by Paul Cunningham and Joe Burke. Arranged by Paul Weirick.</li> <li> Jose Gonzales by Red Evans, Bob Hilliard and Dick Miles. Arranged by Van Alexander.</li> <li> June Comes Around Every Year by Johnny Mercer and Harold Arlen. Arranged by Johnny Warrington.</li> <li> Just A Blue Serge Suit by Irving Berlin. Arranged by Paul Weirick.</li> <li> The Last Time I Saw You by Marjorie Goetschius and Edna Osser. Arranged by Jack Mason.</li> <li> Latch by Georgy Weiss and Cy Baker. Arranged by Georgy Weiss.</li> <li> Lily Belle by Dave Franklin and Irving Taylor. Arranged by Bob Ballard.</li> <li> Linda by Ann Ronell. Arranged by Vic Schoen.</li> <li> ‘Long About Evening by Lee Kuhn, Alice Cornell and Eddie Asherman. Arranged by Paul Weirick.</li> <li> Love Me by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne. Arranged by Jack Mason.</li> <li> Nancy (With The Laughing Face) by Phil Silvers and Jimmy Van Heusen. Arranged by Paul Weirick.</li> <li> No More Toujours L’Amour by Paul Francis Webster and Hoagy Carmichael. Arranged by Lou Leaman.</li> <li> Oh! How She Lied To Me by Mann Curtis and Vic Mizzy. Arranged by Vic Mizzy.</li> <li> Oh, Matildaby May Webb and Gene Vincent. Unknown arranger.</li> <li> Poor Lenore by Lita Ayers, Bob Ayers and Ervin Drake. Arranged by Jack Mason.</li> <li> Put Another Chair At The Table by Richard Nelson and Pvt. Cecil Grant. Arranged by Johnny Warrington.</li> <li> Put Your Dreams Away by Ruth Lowe, Paul Mann and Stephan Weiss. Arranged by Paul Weirick.</li> <li> Rubiera by Ottalie Barbanell. Arranged by Graham Prince.</li> <li> Slowly by David Raksin and Kermit Goell. Arranged by Chas Hathaway.</li> <li> A Song To Remember by Sammy Cahn, Morris W. Stoloff and Saul Chaplin. Arranged by Bob Ballard. Based on Chopin’s E Major Etude.</li> <li> Tampico by Allan Roberts and Doris Fisher. Arranged by Van Alexander.</li> <li> Teheran by Vincent Lopez and Georgy Weiss. Arranged by Georgy Weiss.</li> <li> Tell It To A Star by Shirley Botwin. Arranged by Dave Matthews.</li> <li> That’s The Stuff Ya’ Gotta Watch by Noble Sissle, Edgar Battle, Buck Ram and Gail Meredith. Arranged by Buster Harding.</li> <li> There You Go by Edna Osser and “Fud” Livingston. Arranged by Johnny Warrington.</li> <li> This Is It by Frankie Marino. Arranged by Johnny Warrington.</li> <li> Uptown by George Fragos, Jack Downey, Capt. D.C. Moore and Joe Marsolais. Arranged by George Arden.</li> <li> Wait And See by Johnny Mercer and Harry Warren. Arranged by Jack Mason.</li> <li> Who Knows by Robert Sour and Robert Stolz. Arranged by Paul Weirick.</li> <li> The Wonder Of You by Duke Ellington, Johnny Hodges and Don George. Arranged by Van Alexander.</li> <li> Yolanda by Arthur Freed and Harry Warren. Scored by Jack Mason.</li> <li> You Was Right Baby by Peggy Lee and Dave Barbour. Arranged by Van Alexander.</li></ul></li></ul></li></ul>"}
userestrict: {"value"=>"For permission to publish, contact the Chief, Music Division."}
date_inclusive_start: 1887
date_inclusive_end: 1979
relatedmaterial: {"value"=>"Music Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts"}
keydate: 1887
processinfo: {"value"=>"Processed by Matthew Snyder; Machine-readable finding aid created by Matthew Snyder."}
extent_statement: 22.8 linear feet (55 boxes)
date_start: 1887
date_end: 1979
date_bulk_start: 1937
date_bulk_end: 1978

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Ivan Black papers

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