Arnold Shaw Popular Music Center - UNLV

Jazz trombone materials at the Shaw Center!

The Arnold Shaw Popular Music Center is pleased to announce the following newly processed collections related to jazz trombone performers Carl Fontana and Si Zentner:

1)
Carl Fontana Manuscript Collection. This collection contains manuscript scores and parts for fifty-one tunes performed and recorded by Carl Fontana (1928–2003). A staple musician in Las Vegas for decades, Fontana enjoyed a reputation as one of the most influential jazz trombone players, particularly renowned for his soloing skills. Prior to settling in Las Vegas, Fontana performed in the bands of Woody Herman, Lional Hampton, and Stan Kenton in the 1950s. In Las Vegas, he appeared with Paul Anka, Sammy Davis Jr., Tony Bennett, Wayne Newton, and the Benny Goodman Orchestra.

UNLV’s collection contains manuscripts of original arrangements used by Fontana in both performances and recordings, including The Great Fontana, It’s Tru, and others.

Further information available here:
https://asc.unlv.edu/carl-fontana-manuscript-collection/

2)
Si Zentner Memorabilia Collection. This collection of Si Zentner’s memorabilia supplements our holdings of Zentner’s manuscript scores. The stars of this collection are two National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences nomination certificates and an award from Pl***oy Magazine, signed by Hugh Hefner.

Further information available here:
https://asc.unlv.edu/si-zentner-memorabilia/

For more details on these and other collections, visit http://asc.unlv.edu.

Announcing our Spring 2024 lectures! Come join the Shaw Center for discussions about film music with special guests discussing the cinematic western and the music of John Williams. Free!

The Shaw Center is pleased to announce our most recently processed archive: the Larry Fotine Music Collection.

This collection comprises the library of composer and jazz band leader Larry Fotine (1911–1990). Born Lawrence Constantine Fotinakis in Camden, New Jersey, this son of a Greek immigrant father and an American mother enjoyed a long and prosperous career as a jazz band leader, arranger, recording artist, and performer. Fotine directed his own bands beginning in the 1930s, with many million-plus seller recordings and residencies in New York, Atlantic City, Memphis, Chicago, and elsewhere. Fotine composed over 300 songs, including the popular “You were Only Fooling (While I was Falling in Love)” and, in collaboration with Duke Ellington, “I Ain’t Got Nothin’ but the Blues.” He arranged music for Sammy Kaye’s band (1940–1945), Blue Barron and Art Mooney (1945–1947), and Lawrence Welk (1958–1960). Many famous artists recorded Fotine’s songs, including Gene Autry, Patsy Cline, Chet Atkins, and Fotine’s own orchestras. Fotine composed music for the "Buttons and Rusty" cartoon shows at the end of his career in the 1980s.

The library comprises 40 linear feet, including manuscript scores, printed sheet music of works by Fotine, ASCAP agreements and contracts, photographs (including a digital photograph collection), published and archival/demo recordings, correspondence, books by Fotine, and memorabilia.

Links:
Web guide: https://asc.unlv.edu/larry-fotine-music-collection/
Full catalog: http://tinyurl.com/FotineMasterIndex

Last Friday, the Shaw Center welcomed to the UNLV School of Music Jake Johnson, Joanna Dee Das, and Brian F. Wright to celebrate the publication of their new book, “The Possibility Machine: Music and Myth in Las Vegas” (University of Illinois Press, 2023). They shared with an enthusiastic audience a hunka-hunka burnin’ scholarship about Elvis, Las Vegas, and musical culture. We are grateful to them for their visit!