Vision
Project Jazz Verbatim is intended to preserve, safeguard, and provide access to transcribed and edited copies, both audio and textual, of the 240 original master tapes of interviews that I have personally recorded with some of the world’s jazz greats. The results of this project will 1) fill an integral gap in jazz oral history, 2) contribute to the furtherance of the aesthetic and cultural tradition of jazz, 3) offer recognition of artistic excellence, 4) enhance an understanding, feeling and appreciation of jazz that can be experienced only by listening to the actual voices of the individual artists, and 5) provide an accessible archive of unique resource materials for universities, industry, and independent scholars. In other words, this project will transform my collection of interviews into a resourceful part of our musical heritage, bringing these voices alive, in perpetuity, for this and future generations.

Description of Proposed Activity
A. Tape preservation and transfer
1. Define handling procedures to minimize risks, especially of originals.
2. Define alignment procedures of playback and recording equipment to be used.
3. Play back the original reel-to-reel tape recordings of interviews, each approximately 45 minutes in length, from the Nagra IV-S on which most of these interviews were recorded, transferring simultaneously with digital amplifier to another Nagra IV-S and Digital Workstation.
Play back the original cassette tape recordings of interviews, each approximately 45 minutes in length, from the Nakamichi Dragon, transferring simultaneously with digital amp to a Nagra IV-S and Digital Workstation.
4. Re-box and label originals.
5. 24-bit files are created in ProTools.
6. Program 16-bit audio CDs are in MasterList and 24-bit data CDs created in the “Files and Folders” function of Toast.
7. Burn CDs. Label.
8. Store originals and first-generation copies in a secure, fireproof environment with moderate, steady temperature and humidity.
B. Postproduction
1. Audition and review CD copies for sound and informational content.
2. Take notes, sketch out, and summarize content.
3. Edit and master CD copies for storage or future reference.
4. Transcribe beginning and end cues of clips, time.
5. Box and label.
C. Manuscript Preparation
1. Transcribe CD copies to MS Word.
2. Print hard copy.
3. Proofread and edit.
4. Revise and repeat steps 2 and 3 until final draft.
5. Research and compile comprehensive endnotes.
6. Write preface and brief introduction for each interview.
7. Collect photos of artists to accompany each interview.
8. Discography.
9. Book proposal.
D. Archival Arrangement & Description
1. Adopt numbering system using current archival practices to clearly identify interviews.
2. Labeling and content information.
3. Metadata.
4. Item-level database catalog for the audio recordings and verbatim transcripts.
E. End Products
1. Digital master files for preservation.
2. Service files for public access (online or reference room).
3. Database.
4. Website (downloadable digital files, streaming audio and verbatim transcripts with text search), in perpetuity.
5. Catalog.
6. Textbooks with companion CDs.
7. CD series.
8. Associated documentation (bios, discographies, bibliographies, pro and personal photographs, and personal correspondence).
9. Jazz Verbatim Archive, for cultural and historical preservation.

Website Reference Model
bbc.co.uk/radio3/jazz/interviews.shtml