Paradise Valley Jazz Party Button: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This button is from the Paradise Valley Jazz Party in Scottsdale, Arizona, in 1986. It has a red background with white printing covered with a clear film, on a round two-piece metal button with a pin back. There is an image of jazz trumpeter, Joe Newman (?), in the center of the button. These buttons were given to all Jazz Party goers as admission tickets and to simplify the billing for food and beverages. The button is printed:

The Paradise Jazz Party was founded by Don Z. and Sue Miller, owners of a finance company and a motorcycle dealership, in 1978. Denver businessman Dick Gibson, of the Colorado Jazz Parties, helped the Millers start a similar event in Arizona.

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: 1986
• user: Levin, Floyd
• Object Name: button
• Physical Description: metal (overall material)
• Physical Description: paper (overall material)
• Physical Description: ink (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 1/4 in x 1 3/4 in; x .635 cm x 4.445 cm
• place made: United States: Arizona, Scottsdale
• ID Number: 2011.3086.027
• nonaccession number: 2011.3086
• catalog number: 2011.3086.027
• 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.