Author and medical doctor Cuthbert O. Simpkins (b. 1947) wrote the first biography of jazz saxophonist and composer John Coltrane (1926-1967), titled Coltrane: A Biography (Perth Amboy, NJ: Herndon House Publishers, 1975). The collection contains audio recordings of interviews Simpkins conducted with various family members, friends, and colleagues of Coltrane between 1971-1974 as a part of his research.

The Cuthbert Simpkins Interviews on John Coltrane comprises 65 audio cassettes of interviews conducted by Simpkins between 1971-1974 while researching his 1975 biography of Coltrane. Simpkins interviewed family members, friends, musicians, and other associates from throughout Coltrane's career. The interviews address such topics as: Coltrane's family history, his childhood in North Carolina, the development of his musical style, his influence on other musicians, and his personality. Many also contain personal anecdotes related to Coltrane from throughout his life. The materials include multiple interviews with Calvin Massey, Jimmy Garrison, Larry Young (Khalid Yasin), Ornette Coleman, and others. The audiocassettes have been digitized for patron access, and portions of some interviews have been transcribed, with the transcriptions included in the collection.

Author David Tegnell (b. 1946) has conducted significant research on the family history of jazz saxophonist and composer John Coltrane (1926-1967). As a part of this research, Tegnell has interviewed over fifteen relatives and associates of Coltrane; two of whom - Betty and Tim Jackson - are represented in the collection.

As a part of his research into Coltrane's family history, Tegnell has interviewed over fifteen relatives and associates of Coltrane. The collection currently comprises two interviews with Betty and Tim Jackson, who were childhood friends and classmates of Coltrane's, conducted on March 3 and 7, 2003. Topics include the social life and church history of High Point as well as anecdotes related to Coltrane's life and musical career. The interviews were originally recorded on two microcassettes, which are closed to patron use. CD use copies of the interviews are available for patron use.

Frances Klein (b. October 19, 1915) is a female jazz musician who began her career in the early 1930s. She played trumpet in a number of jazz bands, most notably the all-female bands led by Irene Vermillion and Ina Ray Hutton. The collection contains materials compiled by Klein from throughout her musical career, consisting of clippings, posters, programs, and photographs of Klein and many other contemporary musicians.

The Frances Klein Papers contains materials compiled by Klein that relate to her career as a jazz trumpet player. The collection contains newspaper clippings, concert programs, and other promotional materials related to Klein's musical career from 1933 to 2002, including items from her time with bands led by Irene Vermillion and Ina Ray Hutton along with advertisements for Klein's own bands. Additionally, the collection includes photographs and images primarily related to Klein's musical career. These photographs include candid images and a large number of publicity shots from contemporary colleagues of Klein, including Irene Vermillion and Ina Ray Hutton.

Frank B. Foster III is a saxophonist, flautist, big band leader, educator, and Grammy Award-winning jazz composer and arranger, professionally active in music since the 1940s. The Frank Foster Papers consist chiefly of scores and parts composed or arranged by Foster for big bands and other large jazz ensembles from the 1950s through 2009. Also present are personal files consisting of correspondence, photographs, business records, publicity, reviews, and news clippings; and subject files on musical collaborations, music teaching, organizations and individuals, and family history.

The Frank Foster Papers span the dates 1930 to 2013, with the bulk of the materials dating from the 1950s to 2009. The papers consist chiefly of scores and parts composed or arranged by Foster for big bands and other large jazz ensembles, including works written for the Count Basie Orchestra in the 1950s-1960s and again in the 1980s-1990s, as well as works for The Loud Minority, and numerous other bands and organizations for which Foster was commissioned to compose. The collection is arranged in the following series: Compositions by Frank Foster, Compositions by Others, Personal Files, and Audio and Moving Image Materials. The compositions series are organized into Letter-Sized, Legal-Sized and Oversized subseries. The personal files consist of autobiographical writings, correspondence, photographs, business records, publicity, reviews, and news clippings; and subject files on musical collaborations, music teaching, organizations and individuals, and family history. Audio and moving image materials are primarily concert recordings featuring Foster from the 1970s through the 1990s. Acquired as part of the Jazz Archive at Duke University.

The Jazz and Big Band Reference Collection contains clippings, promotional material, records, correspondence, and other material about the history of jazz at Duke University. Topics include information on Duke's various student jazz ensembles and big bands, visiting musicians who performed at Duke, the Mary Lou Williams Jazz Festival, the North Carolina International Jazz Festival, and the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz. This collection was compiled from a variety of sources by the University Archives for use in reference and research.

The Jazz Loft Project Records consist of the research and administrative records of author Sam Stephenson's Jazz Loft Project, which documented the events and inhabitants -- including W. Eugene Smith, Hall Overton, and David X. Young -- of 821 6th Avenue, New York City, in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The records include the tapes of an extensive oral history project conducted by Stephenson from 1998 to 2010, general research and administrative notes, logs describing the content of the audio recordings W. Eugene Smith made at the loft, and original audio recordings of Hall Overton's compositions.

The Jazz Loft Project Records include administrative documents, audio and video recordings, and collected research associated with key participants and events in the history of the Jazz Loft building, located at 821 Sixth Avenue in New York City. The collection includes significant documentation of the jazz music scene in New York from 1955-1971, and the life and work of photographer W. Eugene Smith, composer Hall F. Overton, and jazz musician Thelonious Monk. Also of note are materials that document the collection of oral histories, the design and implementation of exhibitions, and conservation reports on audio recordings all related to the Jazz Loft Project. Items in the collection range from 1950 to 2012, with the bulk being created between 2002 and 2009.

A majority of materials in this collection consist of the project's financial and logistical documentation, oral history interviews in print, audio, and video formats, audio reel analysis notes, and biographical/historical articles. Examples of these types of documentation include correspondence, book drafts, promotional materials for exhibitions and events, research notes, and interview transcripts.

The collection contains 824 audiovisual items, including microcassettes, audiocassettes, VHS videocassettes, ¼-inch audio reels, DVDs, CDs, mini-DV videocassettes, and digital audio tapes (DAT). The bulk of this media is associated with oral history interviews, events and exhibitions, and research related to the Jazz Loft Project, but there are also items tangentially related to the Project, such as commercial music recordings, recordings of concerts and performances, original recordings of Hall Overton's opera Huck Finn, and published documentary footage related to W. Eugene Smith and other artists.

Jazz @ was initially created in 2003 as a weekly jam session at the Mary Lou Williams Center for Black Culture, and it is now run by a committee of students as part of the Duke University Union's (DUU's) weekly jazz programming committee. The records include: emails; sign-up lists; event and meeting information; flyers; playlists; and financial and administrative materials.The records represented in the collection are from 2017-2018, when Duke student Philip Moss served as president of the Jazz @ committee. Some of the events covered in the collection include: Jazz @ The Coffeehouse; Jazz Brunch; and Latin Jazz Night.

Collection includes: emails; sign-up lists; event and meeting information; flyers; playlists; and financial and administrative materials. The records represented in the collection are from 2017-2018, when Duke student Philip Moss served as president of the Jazz @ committee. Some of the events covered in the collection include: Jazz @ The Coffeehouse; Jazz Brunch; and Latin Jazz Night.

John Hicks was a jazz pianist, composer, and educator professionally active in music since the 1960s. The John Hicks Papers consist of compositions composed, arranged, or performed by John Hicks; a variety of personal files documenting his history in music; and a large collection of audio and moving image materials containing concerts, rehearsals, interviews, and piano lessons with Hicks.

The John Hicks Papers span the dates of 1950 through 2015, with the bulk of the materials dating from the 1980s and 1990s. The papers consist of compositions composed, arranged, or performed by John Hicks or Elise Wood; and personal files, including business records, press materials, photographs and correspondence. Also included is a large collection of audio and moving image materials, consisting chiefly of concert recordings of Hicks from the 1980s through the 2000s, but also containing rehearsals, interviews, and piano lessons with Hicks. There are audio and moving image materials in audio cassette, LP, CD, VHS, Betamax, and DVD formats.

Author Linda Dahl wrote the first full-length biography of jazz pianist, arranger, composer, and educator Mary Lou Williams (1910-1981), titled Morning Glory: A Biography of Mary Lou Williams (1999). The Linda Dahl Collection on Mary Lou Williams contains materials compiled by Dahl in researching the Williams biography, including newspaper and magazine clippings, correspondence, photographs and transparency strips, concert programs, and a variety of financial and foundation records.

The Linda Dahl Collection on Mary Lou Williams contains materials compiled by Dahl in researching her 1999 biography of Williams. The collection features newspaper and magazine clippings on Williams; letters from Williams to her friend Joyce Breach regarding Williams's concert tours and other travels, Roman Catholicism, the business of jazz, and Williams's medical ailments; as well as letters to Breach from other of Williams's associates. One folder of miscellaneous correspondence by Williams primarily relates to the planning of jazz concerts and to Williams's work with the Bel Canto Foundation and the Charlie Parker Memorial Fund. The collection also contains a selection of records related to the Mary Lou Williams Foundation; thirteen photographs and four transparency strips of Williams; a folder of concert programs featuring Williams or her compositions; and six miscellaneous publications, primarily on music, from throughout Williams's lifetime.

Paul Jeffrey was a saxophonist who performed as a member of Thelonious Monk's band from 1970 to 1976. The collection contains audio recordings of Monk's concerts from the 1970s made by saxophonist Paul Jeffrey.

In March 1970, Monk hired saxophonist Paul Jeffrey to join his working band for a six-day run at the Frog and Nightgown club in Raleigh, N.C. Jeffrey continued performing and touring with Monk through 1976, when Monk ceased his public appearances. Jeffrey made personal open reel audio recordings of many of the concerts, and fourteen of the surviving reels comprise this collection.