Archives of African American Music and Culture

🎷Sonny Rollins, the legendary “Saxophone Colossus,” has passed away at the age of 95.🎷

“The music I play is too big to be put into any one style,” Rollins once said, a philosophy that defined his bold, inventive sound and transformed modern jazz. A master improviser, he shaped generations of music through collaborations with Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, and Max Roach, as well as through the relentless dedication of his famed practice sessions on the Williamsburg Bridge.

While his archival collection is preserved at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York, Rollins’ legacy also lives on throughout the collections at the AAAMC in interviews, photographs, and commercial media. To access these items, please contact us at [email protected].

We were thrilled to serve as the research home for last week’s Engaging Race, Music, and Gender (EMRG) Symposium, hosted by Dr. Ayana Smith.

This dynamic workshop brought together an inspiring group of professors, authors, and students from across the country to dive into archival research with AAAMC collections, spark new collaborations, and share progress on their current projects.

A heartfelt thank you to Dr. Smith and all of the visiting scholars for spending time with us and the collections!

It is with profound sadness that we learn about the passing of Dr. Deborah Smith-Pollard. Dr. Smith-Pollard was a renowned gospel scholar, radio announcer, educator, and cultural historian.

Born and raised in Detroit, MI, she earned an undergraduate degree in television and radio from Michigan State University and later her doctorate in American Studies. After graduating from college, she was employed at Detroit's NBC affiliate, WDIV Channel 4 where she created and produced a monthly local gospel show and later a radio show. Pollard often mixed genres of music on her show and is credited as one of the first gospel radio announcers to play Christian Hip Hop on a major station in Detroit. In addition to her prolific career in radio, Pollard also serves as an instructor of English, African American literature, and gospel music at the University of Michigan-Dearborn.

The Deborah Smith-Pollard Collection was established here at the AAAMC in 2015. Her collection includes more than 200 gospel music magazines and other publications from the 1980s to 2000s. The collection also includes Pollard's gospel music television specials, over 50 interviews she conducted with gospel artists and industry figures, airchecks of Pollard's radio program "Strong Inspirations" and radio programs hosted by other announcers.

Her legacy will continue to inspire future generations of scholars. To learn more about accessing her collection, please contact us at [email protected].

Join us for Love Uprising: A Soul Era Symposium, a three-day celebration honoring the history and legacy of the soul era. Throughout the symposium, we will be paying tribute to the illustrious career of Dr. Portia Maultsby, commemorating the 60th anniversary of SOUL Magazine, and finishing off with a reception, A Night on the Soul Train.

Events will include keynote panels with esteemed scholars, tours of the AAAMC, Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center, and the Black Film Center and Archive, a film screening of “Who in the Hell is Regina Jones,” and an evening featuring Dr. Portia Maultsby in conversation with Dr. Charles Sykes.

Attendance for this symposium is free, but registration is required. To register, please scan the QR code on the flyer or follow the link below. We hope to see you there!

https://iu.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0GjLXnvU4BiAjAO

🎸AAAMC Experiences A Taste of Honey🎸

For the final guest for Dr. Cooper’s Popular Music of Black America Lecture Series, we were honored to welcome Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter, educator, and bassist, Dr. Janice-Marie Johnson, lead singer and founder of A Taste of Honey.

From sharing stories about her groundbreaking career as the first Black female bassist to win Best New Artist, to delivering her powerful insights on mentorship and helping others, professional accountability, and standing confidently in your worth, Dr. Johnson left the students feeling inspired and empowered. She was also able to take a break and join Brother William Morris as he hosts the Soul Kitchen on WFIU.

An enormous thank you to Dr. Janice-Marie Johnson and her manager, Monet, for visiting us! It was truly a joy to host them at the AAAMC and have them connect with the students. Be sure to follow her to stay updated on her latest projects!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/atasteofhoneyfeatjanicemarie/
Instagram & Tik Tok:
www.atasteofhoneymusic.com

📅Mark your calendars!📅

The African American Arts Institute (AAAI) and the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center (NMBCC) presents "Hanging with Dr. Mumford," an evening with Dr. Charles Sykes and his years of memories with Dr. James E. Mumford. Dr. Mumford, who was previously director of the IU Soul R***e and long-time director of the African American Choral Ensemble, was an incomparable musician, mentor, educator. His dedication to the success of these ensembles led to the establishment of the Dr. James E. Mumford Excellence in Extraordinary Teaching award in 2021.

Join Dr. Sykes on April 6th at 7pm in the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center Grand Hall for this exciting event! Contact the NMBCC for more information at [email protected].

🎤 Lectures with Living Legends! 🎤

Dr. Cooper’s Popular Music of Black America lecture series recently welcomed two true icons of the music industry: Otis Williams, founding member of The Temptations, and Eddie Gilreath, a retired marketing and sales executive who helped shape the success of major labels including Motown, Warner Bros., and Geffen.

Taking a short break from touring with The Temptations, Mr. Williams joined the class to share stories from his early life, musical influences, and legendary career. Students heard firsthand behind-the-scenes moments from timeless hits like “My Girl” and “The Way You Do the Things You Do,” along with memories of working with Berry Gordy and recording at Motown during its golden era.

Mr. Gilreath offered an inside look at the business side of the music industry, discussing how record labels built audiences through radio and television promotion. He also shared experiences working with artists such as Marvin Gaye, Bob Marley, and Guns N’ Roses.

A heartfelt thank you to Mr. Williams and Mr. Gilreath for spending time with the students and sharing such incredible stories. To access the Eddie Gilreath Collection at the AAAMC, please contact us at [email protected].

Highlighting collections housed at Indiana University’s Archives of African American Music and Culture (AAAMC), Faces of Jazz is an exhibit presenting jazz as a spectrum of expression, consciousness and collective movement, spanning the early 20th century to the present.

The exhibit consists of three installments, two of which focus on Reggie Workman, one of the most prolific bassists in modern jazz recording history, and Joe Chambers, acclaimed multi-instrumentalist widely known for his seminal recordings as sideman on Blue Note Records during the label’s post-bop era in the 1960s. Taken together, Workman and Chambers exemplify distinct lived experiences and significant contributions as definitive instrumentalists, bandleaders, composers, educators and community organizers who contributed to the artistic character, critical voice and action associated with a dynamic African American performance community. The third installment focuses on Indiana jazz, from the early production and distribution of the genre by Gennett Records in Richmond during the 1920s, to Indiana Avenue, the historic entertainment district in Indianapolis from the 1920s to the 1970s, which served as a focal point for Black commerce and entertainment. Highlighted in the third exhibit are notable Indiana-born artists, educators and entrepreneurs such as Noble Sissle, Wes Montgomery, J.J. Johnson, David Baker, Freddie Hubbard and Denver Ferguson.

Faces of Jazz encompasses a wide range of archival materials expressing a spectrum of organized sound, identity, function, meaning, negotiation and movement towards aesthetic gratification and liberty. In essence, jazz is not simply “music for music’s sake.” Rather, the genre embodies a complex of spirited exploration, mediation, contestation and affirmation crystalizing Black life and expressivity intersecting the broader human experience.

Faces of Jazz: Dynamic Art and Agency will open at AAAMC on Friday, February 27, 2026, and remain until June 30. Admission is FREE and open to the general public Monday through Friday from 10am-4pm.

Last week, we were incredibly honored to welcome internationally renowned percussionist, composer, and educator, Mr. Joe Chambers to the AAAMC. Throughout Mr. Chambers’ more than sixty-year career, he has collaborated with artists such as Max Roach, Sonny Rollins, Charles Mingus, Art Farmer, and many other incomparable jazz legends.

Mr. Chambers brought decades of his musical expertise and insight to share and engage with the students of Dr. Cooper’s Popular Music of Black America course. To learn more about his extraordinary life and career, please visit the AAAMC for access to his growing collection of papers, scores, documents, and media items.

A heartfelt thank you to Mr. Chambers and his wife, Ruth, for spending time with us!

It is with heavy hearts that we mourn the loss of the Reverend Jesse L. Jackson Sr., a pillar of the Civil Rights Movement and tireless advocate for equality, opportunity, and justice. His decades of work committed to uplifting the voices of marginalized peoples have served as an inspiration across many communities. His legacy will live on in our continued efforts of collecting and preserving the stories of the African American lived experience.

(Image from Karen Shearer Collection)