Browse Items (32 total)

Janice Cleary discussed a few of the pieces of sheet music she shared with History Harvest. Mrs. Cleary brought in several pieces with connections to Omaha, NE, but her entire collection contains nearly 50,000 pieces of American popular music. In…

This is a 1941 publicity photo for Jay McShann and his Big Band, which included Charlie "Yardbird" Parker.

Organ player Michael Andre Lewis was born in Omaha in 1948 and grew up in a musical family. Lewis’s father played saxophone with Count Basie, served as bandleader to Fats Domino and Etta James, and also played locally with Preston Love’s orchestra. …

This is a promotional photo of legendary jazz trumpeter and singer Louis Armstrong, Armstrong addressed the photo to Jimmy Jewell, owner of the Dreamland Ballroom. The inscription reads: My Best wishesTo “Jimmy” A “Fine…

Nat Towles was a prominent big band leader in Omaha during the 1940s and 1950s.

This is a promotional photo for the Nat Towles Orchestra, a well-known territory band that performed throughout the Midwest. In 1934, Nat Towles moved to Omaha and played the Dreamland Ballroom and other local venues through the 1950s. For…

This is a photograph of native Omahan Preston Love, Sr. and his Orchestra in 1954. In 1954 they played backup for the popular jazz band, The Clovers, at The Dreamland Ballroom in North Omaha.

Ruth Brown, a popular jazz , pop and R&B musician, shown here performing at the Dreamland Ballroom, ca. 1949. Ruth Brown was one of many popular musicians to play at the Dreamland Ballroom during the 1940s and 1950s.

The "Savoy Seven," with bandleader Basie Givens, at The Music Box in Omaha, Nebraska.

This is a publicity shot for The Clovers, a popular jazz band who played the Dreamland Ballroom in 1954. Native Omahan, Preston Love, Sr.'s band played backup for The Clovers at the dance that night. For interviews and oral histories of this and…