Frank Sinatra Autograph

The Cornell music library is now the proud holder of a Frank Sinatra autographed album. We suspected there were a few hiding in the vast Stasolla gift (for more information see my earlier post on this vast gift of mid-century pop LPs.)

The signature is on a 1961 Reprise demonstration record (interesting in itself) and based on a limited amount of research on Sinatra’s signature, it certainly appears to be genuine. The unusually looped F and S are unmistakable, and it seems unlikely that this is a “secretary signature” (a common phenomenon on Sinatra business documents, often signed by secretaries closely imitating Sinatra, which causes problems on the collector’s market).

We’ll look into scanning this and making it public.

Music Library Association meets in Newport, R.I.

It’s MLA time again, when music librarians from across the country gather in one spot for a few days of, well, doing stuff music librarians do. It’s sort of like lemmings without the cliffs. Jim Alberts will be tending to Bibliographic Control Committee business and Bonna officiating for her term as past president, among other activities.

Bonna has been in Newport, host city for the current convention, since Sunday. Jim will be arriving tomorrow. Both will be returning Monday or Tuesday.

Herbie Hancock takes home Grammy

“Local hero” Herbie Hancock, whose music is one of the major subjects of Cornell professor Steven Pond, took home the Grammy for Album of the Year, Apr. 10, 2008.  An account of last night’s Grammies can be found at CNN.com.