This is a guest post by Anes Ahmed, an Intern with Lincoln Center’s year-long Internship Program (LCIP). The Music & Recorded Sound Division hosted Anes in the fall of 2020, for his first "rotation" in the LCIP. He is a student in creative writing at College of Staten Island with a strong interest in interdisciplinarity in the arts, and his time with us focused on exploring our collections and how they might be of interest to people who are unaware that the collection exists, or those who believe that it is only available for “highly qualified” scholars and researchers. Part of the process was spending time with many of the Music &Recorded Sound librarians to learn about the work that that they do, what we do to make our materials available as broadly as possible, and why, in the grand scheme, this is important to the world at large. It has been a joy to have him participate in our group projects and to watch his eyes open, literally and metaphorically, to the potential that lurks within the walls of the Library for the Performing Arts. 

For every writer, there is a distinctive moment in which the crossroads of music and the written arts surfaces into a singular and synonymous condition. This moment occurred for me when I first read Toni Morrison’s novel Jazz, a lyrical narrative and experimentation that mirrors the sounds of improvisational jazz, blues, and ragtime into a sensual portrait of Harlem grit and swag. This profound revelation was captivating, and helped me realize that literature has the magical and sonic capability to evolve into a music of its own.

After I read the novel, I began to search for, and listen to, more jazz composers and musicians such as Miles Davis and Wynton Marsalis to better understand the influence jazz has within the greater scope of literature. I was surprised to learn the power and impact jazz has for many present-day, and classic, literary figures as diverse as James Baldwin and Haruki Murakami. And as a writer myself, I became curious about the idea of incubating the fundamentals of my storytelling/writing through the musicality of jazz.

In September of 2020, I began an internship at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts as a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Intern. My first placement was with the Music & Recorded Sound Division of the NYPL for the Performing Arts. While I was in the introductory stages of learning the archival process of musical compositions, this became a prime opportunity to investigate the works of classical jazz musicians that I was formerly unaware of. To prepare myself for the months ahead, I conducted shadow sessions with individual librarians to understand the intricacies behind NYPL. My discussions with the librarians revolved around a variety of topics such as the manuscripts and sheet music in the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts rare music collection, how to access materials in the Rodgers & Hammerstein Archive of Recorded Sound, and public initiatives and outreach (such as the online LP Club) to promote awareness of more obscure music. Despite conducting this rotation virtually, what I learned has grown beyond my expectation and showed me that music is not a passive art of listening, but a lively art of enterprise.

From understanding the meticulous steps and protocols it takes to secure vinyl restoration and audio preservation (many containing commanding musical collections of jazz) to compiling instructional materials and articles to help users master the applications that will be included in a Tech Kit the LPA plans to loan to local artists who are without the equipment needed to make their art available on the internet, I grew to understand the inner machinations of NYPL’s resources and catalogues.

Prior to this internship, I had always considered a library to be a quick, and quiet space, to do simple reading and research, but I had never associated a library with being a place to explore historical recordings while it simultaneously offers the opportunity to engage with New York’s contemporary music scene. The librarians that I met within these one-on-one sessions exposed me to music and artists that were foreign to me but who, I now realize, have had both direct and indirect effects on my own creative process.

As someone pursuing an undergraduate degree in Creative Writing and Literature, exploring the dynamics between writing and jazz has been a fascinating process. One that demonstrates the close intimacy and commitment it takes to develop a sharpened ear for the natural and rhythmic sounds of instrumentation, and the needed eye for captivating and precise wording. In essence, jazz has framed and tuned the worlds, imaginations, and creative processes of countless authors and their interpretations of our collective reality. Great authors such as Marlon James (A Brief History of Seven Killings), August Wilson (The Pittsburgh Cycle), James Baldwin (If Beale Street Could Talk), and Dominique Morisseau (Paradise Blue) all serve as primary instances of writers harnessing their love of jazz as the root to capture the poetics of our everyday.

Call Number: Performing Arts Research Collections - Theatre (*T-PRG (Paradise blue (Morisseau))

When I consider my duty and commitment as a creative writer, the duality of fantastical thought and the sway of jazz influence has allowed a stronger merger for the historical, the societal, and the personal. It is this merger that allows jazz to be a powerful force of nature and the forefront of virtuosic sounds and instrumentality. Embracing these connections, allows for an inventive capacity for people to develop a diverse orchestra of creative works/ideas and to embrace the greater acoustic authority of jazz.

Below are some examples of writers whose novels and plays have been inspirational to me, and below that the works of jazz music that have been inspirational to their creative output.

Jazz by Toni Morrison 

If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin 

A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James 

The Pittsburgh Cycle by August Wilson 

• Gem of the Ocean 
• Joe Turner’s Come and Gone 
• Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom 
• The Piano Lesson 
• Seven Guitars 
• Fences 
• Two Trains Running 
• Jitney 
• King Hedley II
• Radio Golf 

Paradise Blue by Dominique Morisseau 

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

The authors who have inspired me, were in turn inspired by these musical works which can be found on these recordings in the Rodgers & Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound:

• Beale Street Blues by W.C. Handy 
• Walkin'  by Miles Davis 
• Survival  by Bob Marley 
• Original Rockers by Augustus Pablo
• West End Blues by Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five 
• The Complete Recordings. Vol. 1 by Bessie Smith 

To explore Jazz at the Library for the Performing Arts & Beyond, please take look at this LibGuide:

•  https://libguides.nypl.org/jazz

To learn about researching music and recorded sound from home using the NYPL's resources, and how to access these materials when you visit the Library for the Performing Arts in person, please look at these LibGuides: 

Researching Music Remotely through the NYPL

•  https://libguides.nypl.org/RemoteMusicResearch

Rodgers & Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound

•  https://libguides.nypl.org/RHA