Sun Ra/El Saturn Collection

The SUN RA/EL SATURN COLLECTION consists of approximately 600 tapes dating from the 1950s-1993 that represent the work of iconoclastic composer and bandleader Sun Ra. The recordings provide a unique documentation of Sun Ra's creative process, including his work with the Arkestra and its offshoots, vocal groups in Chicago, legendary trumpeter/composer Hobart Dotson, and African percussionists in New York. The collection consists of rehearsal tapes, recordings of live concerts, home recordings of sketches and experiments, and master tapes of material likely intended for commercial release. A number of tapes include lectures and recitations by Ra of original unpublished texts, which offer rare insight into his unique philosophy and a broader context for his musical ideas.

Support for the Sun Ra/El Saturn Collection is provided by Sun Ra LLC, courtesy Thomas Jenkins, Jr.; Irwin Chusid/Sun Ra LLC; and Michael D. Anderson/Sun Ra Music Archive.

Malachi Ritscher Collection

The MALACHI RITSCHER COLLECTION  represents the work of Chicago sound recordist Malachi Ritscher. Ritscher was a passionate supporter of Chicago's improvised music jazz scene. Although technically an amateur, Mr. Ritscher was well known in Chicago for making meticulous, high fidelity recordings at hundreds of live music events from the mid-1980s (perhaps earlier) until his death in 2006. This collection of recordings, now a part of the Creative Audio Archive, is a unique record of musical development in Chicago during a particularly fertile period, a history that resonates to the present.

Click here to read Marc Fischer's pamphlet on Ritscher's life, activism, and work, written on the occasion of Public Collectors' exhibit about Ritscher at the 2014 Whitney Biennial.

ESS Collection

These include audio art, music, radio art, installation, sound poetry, cinema, performing arts, and other projects. The collection does not include works created by clients or members who used ESS facilities. Sound recordings that comprise the collection were recorded and collected by staff. As an organizational archive, the collection will continue to grow as new programs are documented and archived..

Studio Henry Collection

The Studio Henry Collection consists of audio documentation of performances that took place at the avant-garde underground venue Studio Henry from 1979-1986, and can be included as an important, though relatively forgotten hub for New York’s downtown music scene. The Collection includes early recordings of such leaders in the field of experimental new music as John Zorn, Butch Morris, Wayne Horovitz, Ned Rothenberg, Robin Holcomb, Laraaji, Ikue Mori, Bob Ostertag, Derek Bailey, Fred Frith, Keiji Haino, and Zeena Parkins, among others. Significantly, the Studio Henry Collection documents a particular moment when these artists, who were previously tied to free improvisation, began to compose work and put ensembles together for these compositions, tying them to traditions stemming out from classical music. In this Collection audiences can hear the moment when musicians now heralded for their compositional technique and contributions to new music, like Zorn, became composers.

Fred Anderson Collection

The Fred Anderson Collection features rare unheard recordings of saxophonist and club owner Fred Anderson. Including audiovisual materials from the personal collections of Fred and longtime associates Andy Pierce, Sharon Friedman, and Lauren Deutsch, the collection contains audio recordings from as early as the 1970s, live performance videos from the '80s until well into the 2000s, hard to find documentaries on Fred, his collaborators, peers, and inspirations, and photographs and ephemera from throughout his extraordinary life in music.

About Fred Anderson: Saxophonist and composer Fred Anderson (1929 – 2010) was one of Chicago’s most creative, acclaimed, and beloved musicians. Born in Monroe, Louisiana, Anderson moved to Evanston, Illinois, as a child during the Great Migration. Later, he lived and worked in Chicago’s South Loop for three decades. Inspired by Charlie Parker’s music, Anderson developed his own unique method of playing jazz. As an original member of Chicago’s world-renowned Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, he performed in the first AACM concert in 1965. In 1979, he opened the Velvet Lounge, revered for its innovative music and diverse, loyal patronage. Generations of musicians and fans benefited from the inclusive spirit of his stage. While working other jobs to support his family and his art, Anderson released more than 30 recordings, performed for audiences around the world, and mentored countless young musicians. Fred Anderson always followed his motto of “patience, sincerity, and consistency.”

Penumbra Music Collection

HAL RAMMEL became involved in Chicago’s experimental jazz scene in the seventies and eighties. He has performed and recorded at the Experimental Sound Studio from its inception into the 2000s. The Penumbra Music Collection fills two boxes and includes both audio recordings and documents related to the Penumbra Music label. The material spans the period from Penumbra’s creation in 1994 to 2015. The audio material contains commercial, beta, and live recordings of the label. The documents are largely administrative, but also include magazine clippings, event announcements, and other ephemera of the label’s work.

NEW PENUMBRA FINDING AID COMING SOON

Links Hall Collection

The LINKS HALL COLLECTION contains recordings of over 135 events of spoken word, performance, and music that took place at Chicago's Links Hall, a multi-disciplinary project space founded in 1978 by Bob Eisen, Carol Bobrow, and Charlie Vernon. In 1985, Links Hall artistic director Michael Zerang initiated the The Links Hall Performance Series, a curated series that expanded Links Hall programming of dance and movement to include contemporary and experimental music, traditional ethnic folk music, literary readings, and performance art. The Performance Series was initiated to provide artists a consistent performance venue dedicated to the exhibition and dissemination of diverse artistic genres. Through the inception of the Performance Series, Links Hall provided Chicago audiences a series of events to experience the creative output of emerging musical, literary, and performance artists. Although the Performance Series began in 1985, unattended recordings created by Michael Zerang in a VHS audio format began in 1987. These recordings form the bulk of CAA's Links Hall Performance Series archive. In 1989, Jim de Jong took over Zerang's role as artistic director. The collection reflects Zerang's extensive holdings of recorded material from unattended recordings that began in 1987.

(a)R(t) Noise - Necessary Arts Collection

Thomas Gaudynski is a Milwaukee writer, sound and visual artist, and life-long entrepreneurial scholar.  Originally trained as a visual artist, Gaudynski switched his artistic focus to sound art and text sound in his early twenties. His sound art is represented on over 30 recordings from Penumbra Music, Utech Records, (a)R(t) NOISE, and Necessary Arts. 

This collection consists mainly of CDs and liner notes.  Liner notes include labels, dates, record labels, description, and artist instrumentation. CDs included are those of varying musical arrangements and a diverse assortment instruments and musicians.  Also in The (a)R(t) Noise / Necessary Arts Collection box is the “Sound Recording Gift Agreement,"  liner notes for the CDs, some photocopied news clippings, information concerning the music included in this box, and two vinyl records labeled “Object Lessons."

NEW (A)R(t) Noise FINDING AID COMING SOON