The museum Collection section “Music records” enumerates more than twenty thousand exhibits. It includes practically all kinds of music media of the past: from ancient phonograph cylinders and paper rolls, on which pieces of music were perforated, to early 20th century gramophone records with the first live recordings for gramophones. The collection starkly illustrates the abundant history of music media and their evolution.

The museum Sound Library  features rare tunes and authentic sound of multifarious exhibits. Today, on VINIL RECORDS DAY, we open a new column "Jazz Stars". The collection section "Gramophone Records", which is constantly updated with new exhibits, features vinyl records recorded during the lifetime of legendary performers and jazz pioneers, talented musicians and improvisers.

In the "Jazz Stars" column, we will publish brief background information on outstanding and talented jazz stars, illustrated by music compilations made up of digitized jazz tracks on vinyl records, performed by these remarkable pioneering musicians. Jazz as a phenomenon first emerged in the early 20th century in the southern United States and spread rapidly throughout the developed countries. As a multi-cultural phenomenon, jazz was enriched by diverse regional musical influences. Being continuously transformed, it passed through several distinctive stages of development, and reached the level of high art. During the 1920s and 1930s-1940s large jazz bands of up to 20-40 musicians played swing at dancing evenings. Smaller bands developed experimental, improvisational jazz and bebop. The modern meaning of the term appeared in the 1950s when jazz of different styles merged into a musical genre. Most varieties of the genre are characterized by swing, vocal expression, improvisation, reliance on riffs*, and the use of harmonies with blue notes. Gradually, jazz moved closer to the realm of high art, retaining its contradictory identity as both popular and academic music. The legacy of jazz is widely known and it continues to influence world music culture.

Jerry Mulligan, American jazz saxophonist, arranger and composer, begins a new column, Jazz Stars. Most famous baritone saxophonist. One of the founders of cool jazz. Mulligan started on piano, then studied clarinet and various types of saxophone. He gained a reputation as an excellent harmonist. In the 40s, he made orchestrations for radio. Occasionally played alto saxophone in big bands. Jerry Mulligan, first played baritone saxophone while recording “The Birth of the Cool" in Miles Davis' nonet (1948-1950). The most renowned and presumably the greatest baritone player of all time, Gerry Milligan is indisputably one of the pillars of jazz - he managed to equal the importance of a baritone saxophone with other types of saxophones existing in jazz music. Gorgeous soloist, willing to improvise with anyone from traditional Dixieland players to avant-garde beboppers, Mulligan brought a degree of revolutionary ease to the sound of his heavy instrument, playing with the speed and dexterity of an alto saxophonist. In the late 60s, he played with the Dave Brubeck Quartet.

Jelly Roll Morton (20 October 1890 - 10 July 1941) was one of America's distinguished pianists and composers, innovator and brilliant experimentalist. Jelly was clever at music. Being an infant prodigy, he was a guitar virtuoso at the age of seven. Jelly then began to study playing the piano, violin, trombone and drum kit. He studied the instrument at once and after a few months was playing the most complicated pieces. Growing up, the musician toured through various American cities and for a time he led a vagabond lifestyle. His first success came to Morton in the early 20s in Chicago. At the time, jazz music was just gathering pace. Jelly was a virtuoso jazz player, and as time went on, became one of the best jazz musicians in the country. He was primarily a member of the Jelly Roll Morton and His Red Hot Peppers orchestra. He carefully selected orchestrations, trying to make his works sound perfect, reflecting as much as possible the mood conceived by the author. The musician worked hard on his technique and become a true professional. Jelly Morton came down in jazz history as one of the pioneers, innovators and finest performers in the world.

The Boogie Kings ("The Fabulous Kings"). The band formed in Eunice, Louisiana in 1955 consisting of teenaged members Doug Ardoin, Skip Morris, Bert Miller and Harris Miller. In the mid-1960s, the band expanded to include Ned Theall (1938-2010), a trumpeter from Abbeville, who became the group's leader. Because of Theall, and his musical arrangement skills, the band changed its style of music from swamp pop, to a more successful, blue-eyed soul sound of music. In early 1965, the band released its first self-titled album on the Jin label. Totally, The Boogie Kings released twelve studio albums, three compilations and one double compilation, including one studio album. All albums were recorded on the Jin label. The Boogie Kings have established themselves as one of the most enduring bands of all time - they have performed for over 55 years. It was due to Ned Theall that this legendary band has survived this long. Ned was Louisiana's greatest musician, the Boogie King.
The Boogie Kings have had different members throughout the decades. Names such as Doug Ardoin, Skip Morris, Norris Badeaux, Bryan Leger, Mike Pollard, Ned Theall, Dan Silas, Duane Yates, G.G. Shin, Tommy Joe Richard, Christian Romero, Jerry "Count Jackson" Lacroix, Jon Smith, Bert and Harris Miller, Gary Walker, Willie Tee Trahan, Jerry Henderson, Tommie Joe Richard, Nick Farkas, Sed Sedlak, Gregg Martinez, Ted Broussard, Allen Wayne, Clint West, Ronnie Crowley, Alex Melton, David Hyde, Tommy "Bubba" Robin, Steve Morrow, Bubba Boudreaux, Shayne Whitmore, Mike Ritter, and Jeffrey J Fournet, and friends like Paul and Tony Field, Dale Gothia and many more influences.

Sidney Bechet was one of the jazz pioneers and an apologist for the New Orleans style. He was the first to introduce the soprano saxophone into jazz. In 1924, Bechet was named the best wind instruments player in the world, Armstrong coming in second. In the USA in 1923, Bechet made his first recording with Clarence Williams. Over the next two years, he appeared occasionally on blues singer recordings with Louis Armstrong, sometimes performing solos. Recordings were released under various titles: Clarence William's Blue Five and Red Onion Jazz Babies. The recordings were the birth of New Orleans jazz. In 1947, he moved permanently to Paris. In the following years, he toured sporadically throughout Europe and the USA. Like most New Orleans jazz pioneers, Sidney Bechet often prepared his musical figures in advance and rarely changed them once he began playing, but his music was nonetheless imbued with feeling, movement and swing. In the fast tempo, his soprano saxophone sound swiftly broke into the orchestral melody, in the slow tempo his playing flowed in ascending and descending arpeggios throughout the instrument's range. Since Bechet was an individualist by nature his influence on jazz musicians was not direct, Duke Ellington was his guide, Johnny Hodges and clarinetist Buster Bailey, as well as the generation of younger performers of traditional jazz, including Bob Wilber and Kenny Daven, who were involved in the revival and spread of the New Orleans style in the US and Europe. Being the leading musician in American jazz in the 1920s, Sidney Bechet was named Brass Player of the Year in 1924 (eclipsing Armstrong). With his prodigious creativity and daring innovations, he was at the forefront of jazz in the 1920s, alongside Jelly Roll Morton, King Oliver, Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington. Bechet also held a special position among the initiators and leaders of the 1940s traditional jazz revival movement. Unlike other jazz veterans, he remained largely active and highly professional, setting a standard for excellence and authenticity of style. Sidney Bechet never betrayed his jazz ideals, even while working with commercial orchestras, and was very demanding towards himself and the musicians around him. He never betrayed his jazz ideals even while working with commercial orchestras, and was very demanding towards himself and the musicians around him. He was one of the first to introduce jazz to European audiences.

Earl Bostic was born on April 25, 1913, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The musician is one of the prominent rhythm and blues performers of the mid-20th century, with dozens of top-notch hits to his credit. Along with Louis Jordan and Johnny Ray, he was a forerunner of rock 'n' roll, and you only have to listen to his most "fast" stuff to be convinced of that. Famous drummer Art Blakey once said: "Nobody knows more about the saxophone than Bostic...” As a kid, Earl Bostic played guitar and trumpet, and then attended university in New Orleans. Since his 18th birthday, he has bewitched many diverse musicians with his saxophone charms: Lionel Hampton, Teddy Wilson, as well as drummer Sid Catlett, guitarist Charlie Christian, trumpeter Red Allen, saxophonist Arnett Cobb, pianist Thelonious Monk and many others. However, he became famous not due to his cooperation with greats of this world, but only after he has written several successful orchestrations for Paul Whiteman, Gene Krupa (hit song 'Let Me Off Uptown') and Louis Prima (hit song 'Brooklyn Boogie') orchestras. The management of his own orchestra and creation of several small ensembles also went to his credit. In the big band of Lionel Hampton band, he was the saxophone section leader. By that time, Earl Bostic was renowned as a brilliant rhythm and blues performer; his arrangements of characteristic riffs and bright, rich in overtones sound became personification of temperamental music of American metropolises black suburbs. Earl Bostic greatest hits are 'Temptation', 'Sleep', 'Flamingo', 'You Go to My Head', 'Cherokee', 'Let Me Off Uptown' with wonderful vocals by Anita O'Day and improvisations by Roy Eldridge, as well as 'Brooklyn Boogie' with Louis Prima. After suffering a heart attack, Earl concentrated on writing orchestrations and appeared only in the studio. He opened his own R&B club in Los Angeles known as “The Flying Fox”. Earl Bostic did not live a very long life - only 52 years old.

Dizzy Gillespie (21 October 1917, South Carolina - 6 January 1993, Englewood, New Jersey) was a jazz virtuoso trumpeter, vocalist, composer, arranger, band and orchestra leader, founder of modern improvisational jazz (he co-founded the bebop style with Charlie Parker).

Cult figure in jazz history, known worldwide not only to fans of the genre, but also to fans of other styles. A musician recognisable by his oversized cheeks and trademark 45 degree bent trumpet sound.

In the early 40s, Dizzy Gillespie played evening jam sessions in New York jazz clubs with Parker and Monk. The trio pioneered a new branch of jazz - bebop.

Over the course of his career, Dizzy Gillespie has recorded more than 60 albums as a bandleader and about a dozen in collaboration with Charles Mingus, Quincy Jones and several other jazz celebrities. Not only was Gillespie the father of bebop, the musician was integral to the birth of fusion and the infiltration of Afro-Cuban rhythms into jazz in the 40s. Dizzy Gillespie died on January 6, 1993, at the age of 75.

Dizzy Gillespie was one of the greatest trumpet players of the 20th century. He played the trumpet with virtuosity and excelled at improvising. At the age of 75, he managed to do just that: together with saxophonist Charlie Parker, he revolutionized jazz in the 40s, creating a new style, bebop, which became the basis of jazz language in the second half of the century; recorded hundreds of landmark pieces and albums that were inscribed in to the golden fund of jazz; created several small bands and big orchestras, each of which would be enough to mark a place for in the history books. For many decades, Gillespie embodied the collective image of the "dizzying" jazzman, was unattainable as a jazz virtuoso, and managed to influence many musicians of later generations (not just trumpet players). Gillespie managed to win popular acclaim as a showman, was one of the masters of scat singing, a trendsetter (extravagant costumes and headdresses replaced the typical swing-era tailcoats), a witty entertainer and often shocked the public with his pranks.

* Riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music; it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or accompaniment of a musical composition. Riffs are most often found in rock music, heavy metal music, Latin, funk, and jazz.