Jeff Winner of RaymondScott.com on a research expedition at
UMKC's Marr Archives, June 2008, reviewing archival press clippingsIn the mini-doc, Marr director Chuck Haddix explains his mission: "I don't collect records—I collect collectors."
Hat tip to our buddy Mark Greenberg at the Mayfair Workshop blog for noting the video and providing a concise overview of what's in the collection. As a member of Chicago's legendary Coctails, Mark was in the forefront of the Scott revival. The band was performing "Powerhouse" in 1991, when Scott was still a forgotten footnote in music history.
Our Raymond Scott CD releases (on Basta) were compiled from recordings stored at Marr. On a number of occasions, Gert-Jan Blom, Jeff Winner, and I have conducted on-site audio archeology for such projects as Manhattan Research, Inc., Microphone Music, and Ectoplasm. More releases are planned; it's a deep collection of unheard music. Scott was a maniac about recording rehearsals, demos, radio airchecks, mic placement takes, and idea development. An electronica follow-up to Manhattan Research is in the pipeline.
Unfortunately, despite technological progress in field of archiving science, not everything can be restored and preserved:
Thank you very much for enjoying and sharing my short film. I worked at the archives for the past 4 years or so and it was an incredible education.
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Jordan Kerfeld
http://www.jordankerfeld.com
I can relate to the flaking E.T. photograph. Theoretically it can be reconstructed using optical techniques (assuming that you have all the flakes), but practically it still hasn't been done. I know the frustration you feel, knowing that you have all the data, but can't put it together in a coherent format! At least you've saved whatever you can at this time.
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