Scope and arrangement
The Teo Macero Collection consists of 57.5 linear feet of material dating from 1949 to 1992. The heart of the collection is paperwork and photographs documenting the recording production work of Teo Macero (and occasionally other producers) at Columbia/CBS Records from 1958 to 1975, and the activities of the recording artists that he produced. Although most of the papers came from Macero's office, some material originated in the office of producer Irving Townsend, in particular the Duke Ellington and some of the Miles Davis material. Scores comprise about 30 linear feet of the collection and consist mostly of classical and commercial arrangements used on Andre Kostelanetz recordings from the mid-1960s to the early 1970s, but also include some of Macero's own compositions dating from his Juilliard days (early 1950s) to the early 1990s. The collection most thoroughly documents the careers of Andre Kostelanetz, Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck, Tony Bennett, Thelonious Monk, and Charlie Byrd. Duke Ellington, Maynard Ferguson, Stan Getz, Lionel Hampton, Woody Herman, J.J. Johnson, Ramsey Lewis, Charles Mingus and Jimmy Rushing receive lesser but still significant coverage. Many other musicians have more limited documentation.
The Teo Macero collection is arranged in eight series:
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1958 - 1982 and undated22 linear feet 44 boxes
This series contains paperwork documenting the working relationship between 128 different musicians/recording artists and Columbia records or Teo Macero's M. Productions. The length and products of the relationship range from a one-day failed audition to, in the case of Miles Davis, a decades-long partnership yielding over 30 album releases.
Within folders, the papers are divided into roughly four categories. The first, correspondence, consists of inter-office memos, letters to and from the recording artists or others, contracts, invoices, purchase orders, and hand-written notes. The second category, datasheets, refers to any evidence of the production of sound recordings, including studio tape and session logs, job sheets, notes on tape content, mastering information, and album cover copy. The third category, promotional material, refers to handbills, advertising copy and proofs, or other publications produced by Columbia's promotions department. The fourth category, clippings, refers to newspaper and magazine cutouts or issues. Some folders also contain sheet music related to the recording project in question. "General" folders at the end of each artist's section often contain important material which is not associated with a particular project, such as contracts, correspondence or tour itineraries; a general file at the end of the series contains items not associated with a particular artist. Further notes on particular artists appear under their names.
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1957 - 1975.5 linear feet 1 box
This series contains paperwork documenting special projects Macero produced at Columbia. These are mostly jazz "sampler" promotional recordings; notable exceptions are the soundtrack to the 1957 television program The Sound of Jazz (actually produced by Irving Townsend), and the companion recording for Stanley Dance's book The World of Swing. Material description is identical to Series I.
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1959 - 1975 and undatedOne linear feet 2 boxes
This series contains paperwork documenting the various soundtrack recording projects Macero produced. Notable Broadway production soundtrack albums documented are Bye Bye Birdie, Camelot, A Chorus Line, and Mame.
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1966 - 1978.5 linear feet 1 box
This series contains documentation of Macero's personal business and compositional activity, including correspondence with grant funding agencies; correspondence with the organist Frederick Tulan; professional resources Macero used as a producer and composer; and personal financial statements and correspondence.
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1959 - 1974 and undatedThree linear feet 2 boxes
This series contains prints, transparencies and proof sheets. Most come from files in Series I - III. Of particular interest are the Dave Brubeck photos, which contain prints of Brubeck and Jimmy Rushing in the recording studio and prints from the 1959 Playboy Jazz Festival; and the Miles Davis photos, which contain color transparencies of Davis in performance in Japan and a signed publicity photo.
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1949 - 1981Five linear feet 5 boxes
This series contains scores by Macero and others, both published and unpublished, and arrangements used on Andre Kostelanetz recording projects. Published scores by composers other than Macero have not been separated from the collection either because they are autographed by the composer, or, in the case of Kostelanetz scores, because they have been marked up by Kostelanetz with his notes and edits.
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1953 - 199225 linear feet 19 boxes
This series consists mainly of arrangements used on Andre Kostelanetz recordings. The remainder are Macero compositions, some dating from the early 1990s.
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1965 - 1974.5 linear feet 1 box
These books were not separated from the collection because they were autographed or contain Macero's notes.