The
James R. and Susan Neumann Jazz Collection presents
 |
| the neUmann DIGITization project |
Beginning in fall 2013,
we're giving interested students the chance to choose an LP to digitize from
the ca. 50,000 jazz-related recordings currently in the Neumann Jazz Collection and then to answer a few brief questions about their
experience. If you'd like to be a part
of the project, you can find out more information here. Today our post is by Matt Segall
(OC '15), who chose the 1972 album Alkebulan: Land of the Blacks
by Mtume (Strata-East SES-1972-4.]
Why in general did you
want to be a part of this project?
I came up with the
idea of the U DIG IT? Project, so I wanted to be the first to contribute to it
– to give an example for what these blog posts could mean to the participants.
I've worked for Jeremy Smith in the Neumann Collection since fall 2012, and
I was eager to tell more students about the collection, and even more so, help
get them access to listen to the LPs themselves (which formerly were only
listened to for digitization purposes by employees). So my mission with
this project is twofold: first, to increase the accessibility of the thousands
of LPs in the Neumann Collection, particularly for students interested in jazz
history, recording, and vinyl collecting; and
second, to promote and increase awareness of this incredible and
underrepresented resource to the greater Oberlin community.
Why did you choose
this particular record?
I noticed Alkebu-Lan while I was doing some
preservation work on the LPs one day. I was very intrigued, because the
personnel included a handful of artists I knew personally: Gary Bartz, my
primary teacher here at Oberlin, and mentor; Billy Hart, drum instructor at
Oberlin; and Ndugu, who I have studied with since the age of 13 at the Stanford
Jazz Workshop. Beyond this personal aspect, the artists are a remarkable and
unlikely cast.
What did you gain from
this experience that you otherwise wouldn’t have if you had found an existing
digital version on YouTube or Spotify?
The warm quality of
vinyl recordings is sorely missed in low-quality digital format recordings
found on YouTube, Spotify, and the like. While there is some fuzz, pops
and other noise, the nuanced quality found on vinyl is much truer to the sounds
of the instruments, and in this case (because Alkebu-Lan is a live record), the audience as well. To me,
that makes the experience so much realer, actually feeling close to the
musicians. The cover art on a 12” record is so much more a part of the
experience, even than that of a CD, and non-existent with a digital recording.
The art (and liner notes), aside from being aesthetically appealing,
gives context to the recording, resulting in a deeper and more integrated
experience of the music.
What musically stood out to you as you listened to the recording?
As with many other recordings from this era, this record is
explicitly “not jazz”. I would describe it as Afro-centric, spiritually
and politically charged. The music is constructed of loose melodies,
reminiscent of early black spirituals, mixed with energetic free sections.
Can other students
listen to the LP now that it's been digitized?
Yes, just click here and, when prompted, enter your ObieID and password.
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