"Men of Note" concert creates harmony between archives and the arts

The "Men of Note" were a prominent fixture on the Lexington jazz scene for decades.

On March 31, 2016, at 7 p.m. in the Singletary Center on the University of Kentucky campus, the UK Jazz Ensemble led by Miles Osland and the UK Repertory Jazz Band led by Brad Kerns will play a concert from historical arrangements by the “Men of Note," a band that played a leading part in the Lexington jazz scene for many years. Special guest performers will be surviving members of Men of Note. The concert is free and open to the public.

UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center holds a rich archive of materials on the Men of Note. Archival materials include the band's book of arrangements, an historic collection of charts dating back to the early 1940s. In 2014 Dick Domek, professor emeritus in the UK School of Music and member of Men of Note, and Gail Kennedy of SCRC began recording oral histories with band members for the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History. The interviews focus on recollections of band members and the history of jazz music. The collections also include the personal memorabilia of Byron Romanowitz, noted Lexington architect and jazz musician who anchored the Men of Note beginning in the 1980s until the band's dissolution in 2009.