Brubeck Collection goes digital at Wilton Library
WILTON – The Brubeck Collection at the Wilton Library has been liberated.
The collection of recordings, correspondence, photos and manuscripts from late jazz legend Dave Brubeck can now be easily searched and browsed online for the first time at www.brubeckcollection.org.
“Something I heard at a conference about 10 years ago has stuck with me,” said Michael Bellacosa, curator of The Brubeck Collection. “In the earlier prenetworked age, a public library was the intermediary for bringing the world to a town. Now, in the networked age, a public library can be the mechanism for bringing a town to the world.
“Our digital (Brubeck) archive liberates this vast and important collection from its physical archive room and sends it out into the world. As a result, we hope people will enjoy visiting us online as well as inperson at Wilton Library,” Bellacosa said.
The collection also includes at least 85 DVDs of performances and TV appearances by Brubeck, who lived in Wilton with his wife, Iola, until his death in 2012 a day before his 92nd birthday. The collection, established by Brubeck and his wife, features unreleased music, interactive tour maps, photos, correspondence, concert programs, posters and more. The Wilton Library launched The Brubeck Collection as a digital component on April 30.
Included are song timelines, from the biggest-selling jazz single of all time, “Take Five,” to Brubeck’s achievements in the classical world. His prolific compositions includes oratorios, orchestral works, choral pieces, quartets, ballets and chamber works.
“It’s probably too soon for on-site attendance to be affected by the digital archive,” Bellacosa said. “However, we have received numerous comments, all positive, directly and via the website’s ‘contact’ and ‘inquire’ functions and these comments have come from within and outside the United States.”
The digital move is part of the current three-year strategic plan encompassing 2023 to 2026 to enhance the overall Wilton Library experience online and offline and to increase on-site attendance.
“The development of the various possibilities of The Brubeck Collection is indeed one of the four major goals of the strategic plan,” Bellacosa said. “Within that context, increasing and enhancing online access to the collection was one of the main objectives.”
The Brubeck Collection digital component and leveraging its high-profile impact on the library were among the major goals for the Wilton Library’s strategic plan. It also involves other upgrades, including updated infrastructure with state-of-the-art services and new programs.
There are also plans to increase public engagement with new Brubeck-related programs, such as connecting with high school and college music students to add to their learning experiences.
“We are in the middle of a four-part series on the seminal jazz albums of 1959, one of which was Brubeck’s ‘Time Out’,” Bellacosa said. “Session Two covered that album and used various items from the collection, including vintage photos, a manuscript ‘lead sheet’ written by Dave, and audio excerpts of studio rehearsals from the making of that album.
“In our Hot & Cool Jazz series, we are working on a concert with a band leader who conducted research in the archive to prepare for the concert. We also just hosted a visit to the archive from the top-level jazz band at Wilton High School and look forward to further collaboration with the schools as well as our other community partners,” he said.
In addition to enhancing and expanding the digital archive, library officials will be looking at ways to improve the physical space in the library and heighten awareness through marketing efforts.
“We anticipate receiving more physical materials from the Brubeck family, and will also be undertaking further digitization projects in order to make even more of the collection fully accessible online,“Bellacosa said.
According to the library’s website, the digital component shares Brubeck’s musical legacy as well as his broad cultural impact, highlighting the many dimensions from his music and family life to his involvement in the 1950s and 1960s civil rights movement.
Jazz collections of a comparable scope include Duke Ellington’s at the Smithsonian, Ella Fitzgerald’s at the Library of Congress, and Benny Goodman’s at Yale University.
“Creating an online digital archive for The Brubeck Collection was an essential step in making
its broad scope of materials accessible worldwide,” Bellacosa said. “Dave Brubeck was an internationally renowned musical pioneer and we have been honored to steward his legacy, at Wilton Library and now everywhere.”