Institute of Jazz Studies Honors Legendary Jazz Historian and Former Director Dan Morgenstern

They remembered his stories about hanging with jazz giants such as Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald. They honored him for building the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers-Newark into the world’s largest jazz archive. But Dan Morgenstern, who directed the institute from1976 until 2012, was also remembered for his liner notes, regarded as some of the genre’s most influential.

Gatekeepers of jazz history, family members, and jazz artists shared memories of Morgenstern, who died this fall at age 94, at  a celebration of life event held last month at Express Newark. Many mentioned his encyclopedic knowledge, generous spirit, incredible memory, wry humor, and celebrated writings, especially his liner notes, penned when he was a writer and editor for Downbeat magazine. They won him nine Grammy awards. 

For fans browsing record store bins, they were often the deciding factor in whether or not they bought an album. “He educated generations of  musicians with his liner notes,’’ said Loren Schoenberg, a jazz musician, historian,and writer. “People would turn the record over and read what Dan wrote.’’

“I was one of those kids who read them obsessively,’’ said Wayne Winborne, the institute’s executive director, who succeeded Morgenstern and Vincent Pelote, its senior archivist, who served as interim director.

At the event, candid photos of Morgenstern with jazz giants flashed onscreen, while David Oswald’s Louis Armstrong Eternity Band played some of his favorite songs, including “Sunshowers,’’ which Morgenstern requested to have played in his memory. 

Speakers at the celebration recalled Morgenstern’s detailed anecdotes about his time with the genre’s most well-known artists, many of whom were his friends. He was remembered as a writer who had a unique understanding and appreciation of jazz, in part because artists trusted him.

“A lot of jazz journalists, I don't like them too much.They talk and pontificate and they don’t know nothing,’’ said jazz drummer Kenny Washington. “But Dan was someone I truly respected. If he said something, he knew what he was talking about.’'

“Dan was one of the finest archivists–a storyteller both written and oral,’’ said Lynn Mullins, former director of the John Cotton Dana Library, where the jazz archive is located. “He said, ‘I learned about music not from books but from the people who created it.’ Dan had been everywhere there was jazz and was able to easily recall, with great specificity, literally hundreds of events, including those that took place decades ago.’'

Those who worked with Morgenstern remembered his many stories about jazz greats and the times that produced them. 

“He’d say, no, Wayne, that’s not what happened. Ella was sitting next to me that night, and what she said was…” Winborne recounted.

Pelote related an anecdote Morgenstern shared with him about a Louis Armstrong show. “He said, ‘Vinnie, it’s the only time I can recall Louis doing a complete performance like that when he was totally high’  My feeling was if Dan Morgernstern said it, that was  good enough for me.’'

Elizabeth Surles, archivist, also described Morgenstern giving her a tour of the archives more than 20 years ago, before she joined the staff. “I saw Billie Holiday’s plastic gardenia and Lester Young’s saxophone. The tour was filled with the historical gems and my nerves were quickly replaced by wonder and awe.’’

Rutgers-Newark Interim Chancellor Jeffrey Robinson declared the Institute a national and international treasure that also served the city. He explained how the IJS often loaned recordings to Newark-based jazz station WBGO. “Being an anchor institution like Rutgers-Newark, you are in a place where what you have to share is not just with others but with society.  What Dan did was show how a university could take its wealth and assets and share it with the community and with other people beyond the streets that make up our campus.’’

Morgenstern’s son, Josh, thanked the Institute for honoring his father’s legacy and continuing his mission. “People will come to the institute not just for the past but because it brings this music  forward and that’s always something he’ll be a part of,’’ said Josh. “Thank you for being a part of something that meant so much to him, and for the spirit and health of jazz music.’'