Above left: A framed photograph of Tommy Flanagan, inscribed to Carl Hill. Photo by Leni Sinclair, 1996. Above right: The reverse of the framed photo, featuring Sinclair’s signature and personal thanks and a flyer for Flanagan’s performance at the Blue Bird Inn, 1996.
Abstract: This collection was donated in remembrance of Carl and Sylvia Hill, along with the Robertson Family. It contains a number of framed art prints of jazz legends, as well as photographs of performances. The artist most represented in the collection is jazz pianist Tommy Flanagan, with whom the Hills had a personal relationship. Included in the collection is a photograph of Flanagan taken by Leni Sinclair and personally inscribed to Carl Hill. There is also a personally signed Flanagan record (1987’s Nights at the Vanguard). Also represented in the collection is Yusef Lateef, the Detroit Jazz Festival, Baker’s Keyboard Lounge, and the Blue Bird Inn through photographs, posters, and prints. The collection also included hundreds of CDs and some vinyl records, which were integrated into Detroit Sound Conservancy’s own music library.
Donor(s): Beverly Spriggs, on behalf of Carl and Sylvia Hill
Dates: 1982-2014, bulk 1982-1996
Extent: 4 LF (Mostly framed prints accounting for the collection’s size)
Collection Type: Physical
Subjects: Jazz, Tommy Flanagan, Yusef Lateef, Blue Bird Inn, Detroit jazz
Related Collections and Artifacts:
- Blue Bird Inn Oral Histories
- Graystone International Jazz Museum Collection
- Harold McKinney Music and Manuscripts
- Jim Ruffner Live Jazz Audio Collection