Texas Archival Resources Online

TABLE OF CONTENTS


Descriptive Summary

Biographical Note

Scope and Contents

Arrangement

Restrictions

Index Terms

Related Material

Administrative Information

Description of Series

Oral History Interview

Promotional Materials

Photographs

Recordings

Houston Public Library, Houston Metropolitan Research Center

Art Foxall Collection:

An Inventory of his Records at the Houston Metropolitan Research Center, Houston Public Library



Descriptive Summary

CreatorFoxall, Art
TitleArt Foxall Collection
Inclusive Date1925 to 1990
Bulk Date1940s-1950s
IdentificationMSS 397
Extent.5 lin. ft.: 1doc. box, 2 cassette tapes, 2 cassette oral history interviews, 1 VHS videotape
LanguageMaterials are in English.
RepositoryHouston Metropolitan Research Center, Houston Public Library

Biographical Note

Art Foxall was born in Houston’s Fourth Ward April 21, 1925 after his family moved from Louisiana to Texas. Mr. Foxall’s childhood was spent attending Blackshear Elementary and then Jack Yates High School. Mr. Foxall was one of many luminaries to surface from the music department at Yates. His musical career began with his playing the clarinet in the high school band under the direction of Mr. Abner Jones. After a short while Mr. Foxall decided to play the saxophone exclusively.

Mr. Foxall developed a strong work ethic associated with his music. Throughout his career he never had difficulty securing work in a variety of venues including clubs, festivals and cruise ships; culminating in his goal to play with a symphonic orchestra. He is on record as saying that his primary objective in music is play what makes people happy and that doing this, he knew he would be able to always find work.

Following his service with the United States Navy from 1943 to 1946, Mr. Foxall continued to play professionally and received additional formal training when he attended the Schillinger School of Music, which is now known as the Berklee School of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. Fellow Berklee alumnus, Quincy Jones associated with Mr. Foxall in Bremerton, Washington in their early years.

Mr. Foxall his discussed his style of playing music as the ‘Texas tenor’ sound which remained with him throughout his life. As of 2007 Mr. Foxall continues to bring joy to audiences with his unique style of ‘spirited basic mainstream jazz’.

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Scope and Contents

The material in the Art Foxall Collection chronicles Mr. Foxall's life and his musical career. The collection consists of a comprehensive taped interview OH470 of Mr. Foxall on February 9, 1990. The interview is completely transcribed to 40 pages of text. The oral history interview tape is housed with the Oral History Collection. The collection also includes publicity photographs, Mr. Foxall’s recorded music and a video taped performance.

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Arrangement

The oral history tapes are housed with the Oral History Collection OH 470, separate from MSS 397, the Art Foxall Collection. The materials in the Art Foxall Collection are arranged in four series by format.
Series 1: Oral History Interview
Series 2: Promotional Materials
Series 3: Photographs
Series 4: Recordings

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Restrictions

Access Restrictions

None.

Use Restrictions

Permission to publish or reproduce materials from the Art Foxall Collection must be obtained from the Houston Metropolitan Research Center or the appropriate copyright holder.

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Index Terms

Subjects
Jazz musicians--Texas--Houston
Saxophonists--Texas--Houston
African Americans--Texas
Race discrimination--20th century
Musicians--Texas--Houston
Subjects (Organizations)
Jack Yates High School (Houston, Tex.)
Phyllis Wheatley High School (Houston, Tex.)
Booker T. Washington High School (Houston, Tex.)
Ye Olde College Inn (Houston, Tex.)
Rosedale Pharmacy (Houston, Tex.)
Everett (Wash.) Symphony Orchestra
El Dorado Ballroom (Houston, Tex.)
New England Conservatory of Music (Boston, Mass.)
Berklee College of Music (Boston, Mass.)
United States. Navy
Subjects (Persons)
Foxall, Art
Jones, Abner
Hughes, Howard, 1905-1976
Shaw, Artie, 1910-
Bridgewater, Joseph
Gee, Matthew, 1925-1979
Cobb, Arnett, 1918-1989
Vinson, Eddie
Bostick, Earl
Milburn, Amos
Jacquet, Russell
Smalley, Jr., Isaah H.
Jones, Quincy, 1933-
Johnson, Clarence
Subjects (Places)
Fourth Ward (Houston, Tex.)
Freedman’s Town (Houston, Tex.)

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Related Material

MSS 345 Jimmy Ford Collection

MSS 322 Arnett Cobb Collection

MSS 252 Milton Larkin Collection

MSS 337 Jewel Brown Collection

MSS 442 Herb Brochstein Collection

MSS 390 Campbell Tolbert Collection

MSS 349 I.H. Smalley Collection

MSS 403 Illinois Jacquet Collection

MSS 336 Florence "Bu" Pleasant Collection

MSS 388 Ed Gerlach Collection

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Art Foxall Collection. MSS 397. Houston Metropolitan Research Center, Houston Public Library.

Acquisition Information

Donated by: Art Foxall , February 9, 1990.

Processing Information

Processed by: Charles Stephenson and Tammy Jordan, April 7, 2007. Biographical note contributed by Tammy Jordan, June 25, 2007.

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Detailed Description

 

Oral History Interview

BoxFolder
11Personal interview transcript, 2/9/1990

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Promotional Materials

BoxFolder
12Flyer: Gambits Showcase proudly presents Art Foxall and Overton Berry. no date

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Photographs

BoxFolder
13
Art Foxall publicity photos
MSS 397.001 to MSS 397.004

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Recordings

BoxFolder
14Cassettes (2): Art’s Back in Town
song listing:
  • Art’s Back In Town
  • Flamingo
  • Everybody’s Blues
  • Tell It Like It Is
  • Georgia
  • Tory
  • Art Meets Monk
4VHS videotape: Conway Jazz [19]89. performance of Art Foxall and Arnet Cobb

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