Jazz Club of Sarasota Button: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This button is from the Jazz Club of Sarasota, Florida, in 1991. It made of gold-tone plastic with black lettering. There is evidence of a straight-style pin back. The button is printed:

The Jazz Club of Sarasota was founded by retired advertising executive Hal Davis. The club started as a casual get-together of jazz enthusiasts listening to music in the home of Hal and Evelyn Davis. By 1980, the club held its first concert featuring American jazz guitarist John Paul “Bucky” Pizzarelli (1926-2020) and his son John. The Jazz Club continued to expand its scope and reach to include a yearly program of concerts and lectures as well as school residency and scholarship programs.

Floyd Levin (1922-2007) was a Los Angeles textile manufacturer who turned his passion for jazz into a second career as an influential jazz journalist and historian. His numerous reviews, profiles, and articles were published in magazines such as Down Beat, Jazz Journal International, Metronome, and American Rag. He also authored Classic Jazz: A Personal View of the Music and the Musicians. Items in this collection (2011.3086) were acquired from Levin’s attendance at Jazz Festivals, conferences, and other music events.

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: 1991
• user: Levin, Floyd
• Object Name: button
• Physical Description: ink (overall material)
• Physical Description: plastic (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 2 5/8 in; x 6.6675 cm
• place made: United States: Florida, Sarasota
• ID Number: 2011.3086.082
• nonaccession number: 2011.3086
• catalog number: 2011.3086.082
• Credit Line: Gift of Lucille Levin
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.