Tom Everett jazz scores, memorabilia, and other material, 1944-2011.

For over four decades, Harvard University has fostered an active environment for jazz performance and scholarship. Through the years, the university has hosted residencies for jazz legends, sponsored courses and seminars on jazz topics, and maintained several performance groups for Harvard students.

The central figure in promoting jazz at Harvard has been band director Tom Everett. A trombonist by trade, Everett was hired in 1971 to direct the college bands, and founded the Harvard Jazz Band later that year. While the early years saw the band supporting itself by playing local dances, university support gradually increased, especially through the Office for the Arts, allowing for official residencies and formal commissions. Everett taught courses on jazz as well, inviting a parade of stars to address and inspire Harvard undergraduates. This enhanced level of respect— aided by the growing presence of jazz in the academic curriculum—bred good-will from the artists themselves, who were welcomed with tributes appropriate to their accomplishments.

Everett amassed a significant collection of scores, correspondence, photographs, and memorabilia. These materials represent both a personal and an institutional history. When viewed collectively, the interaction between jazz musicians, colleagues, students and friends serves to chronicle the university’s evolving support for the jazz enterprise.