Series I and Series II are open. Series III (audio) is in process and not available at this time.
This collection is located on-site.
Box 25 (CVs) is restricted until 2050.
Document cleaning was performed on all material in 2023. Although everything can be used in the reading room, patrons that are sensitive to mold or certain smells may still experience a reaction to materials that have been cleaned.
The Juma Sultan papers includes a large collection of performances from the loft era in New York City, a significant but under-documented period of jazz history. The recordings collection of circa 430 items, spanning the period from 1965-1975 (on open reel and cassette) contains unique, unreleased concert recordings, with the exception of a small amount of the collection included in the box set of Aboriginal Music Society recordings, Father of Origin (Eremite records, 2011). The recordings document not only the music of Sultan's own groups, such as the Aboriginal Music Society, but also a wide variety of recordings of other bands at Studio We, at other loft spaces in Lower Manhattan (e.g., Studio Rivbea, Artist House, the Ladies Fort, and Ali's Alley), as well as in Woodstock.
In addition, the collection includes papers and photographs. The papers contain extensive documentation of Sultan's work as an organizer of musicians, relating to New York Musicians Organization (NYMO), the 1972 and 1973 NYMO festivals, the "Bicentennial Jazz Festival", Studio We, and Intermedia. The papers also include a rich set of flyers, pamphlets, African-American publications, and other ephemeral materials from 1970s New York.
This series contains photographs (prints and contact sheets), depicting primarily Juma and his musical colleagues in performance. The photographs show signs of both water and fire damage. The numbering system and detailed description comes from the donor. The finding aid reflects what is found in the collection.
In digitization. Boxes 11-24 (record storage cartons) containing 350 audio reels (107 ten-inch; 193 seven-inch; 50 five-inch) and 56 audiocassettes. Once digitized, materials will be available onsite in RBML and to Columbia affiliates via login.
Rbml Advance Appointment
Series I and Series II are open. Series III (audio) is in process and not available at this time.
This collection is located on-site.
Box 25 (CVs) is restricted until 2050.
Document cleaning was performed on all material in 2023. Although everything can be used in the reading room, patrons that are sensitive to mold or certain smells may still experience a reaction to materials that have been cleaned.
Reproductions may be made for research purposes. The RBML maintains ownership of the physical material only. Copyright remains with the creator and his/her heirs. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Juma Sultan papers; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.
Preserved copies of http://jumasarchive.org can be found at the Internet Archive: http://jumasarchive.org
2014.2015.M096: Source of acquisition--Juma Sultan. Method of acquisition--Purchase; Date of acquisition--12/20/2016.
Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Processed by Kevin Schlottmann, 2023. The paper materials were extensively rearranged and heavily weeded for duplicates.
Description for series II and III taken from information provided by the donor. For individual digitized audio files, metadata is primarily as provided by the creator, with some additional clarifications, corrections, and standardization added by the CUL metadata team.
Contact sheets in boxes 10 and 11 were flattened and rehoused by conservation in 2024.
Born in April 1942, Juma first started performing in the Bay Area. In 1966, a period of bi-coastal musician interactions, he came to the East Coast with saxophonist Sonny Simmons. He quickly established himself in the New York underground music scene, with dual bases of operation on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and in Woodstock, New York. He is probably best known for having played percussion in Jimi Hendrix's band Gypsy Sun and Rainbows at Woodstock in August 1969 (the concert where Hendrix performed his famous version of "The Star-Spangled Banner"). But Sultan was equally central in the emerging "loft jazz" scene in lower Manhattan, recording with many musicians, including Noah Howard and Archie Shepp, as well as organizing a percussion-centered group of his own, the Aboriginal Music Society.
With Ali Abuwi and James DuBoise, Sultan founded the collaborative performance and rehearsal space Studio We, located at 193 Eldridge Street. Along with Sam Rivers's Studio Rivbea on Bond Street and Rashied Ali's Ali's Alley on Greene Street, it was one of the most prominent musician-run venues to emerge in the 1970s.
Sultan was also pivotal in the founding of the New York Musicians Organization (NYMO) in 1972. When producer George Wein brought the Newport Jazz Festival to New York for the first time in 1972, many local musicians felt that he was ignoring New York-based talent. In response, NYMO organized a noted "counter-festival" in the summers of 1972 and 1973; these festivals received grants from the New York State Council on the Arts and the New York City Parks Department, and presented over 500 performances across the five boroughs. From 1974 to 1976, Sultan also helped organized a massive "Bicentennial Jazz Festival" of concerts across the city, supported by the New York Bicentennial Corporation.
The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches for other collections at Columbia University, through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, and through ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.
All links open new windows.