University of Pittsburgh Library System

The University of Pittsburgh Library System (ULS) is pleased to announce the acquisition of the archive of the musicWitness® Project, which is the moniker of visual artist and sculptor Jeff Schlanger (1937-2026), a prolific, multi-media artist who drew over 1,400 live jazz performances at major events in New York City, Canada, France, and Finland.

The project acts as a real-time, visual documentary of live jazz and improvisational music, hence the name “music witness.” Working with both hands, Schlanger utilized a variety of mediums including acrylic paint, ink and pens to match the rhythm and emotional arcs of free jazz and improvised musical performances he experienced. The archive contains over 1400 original paintings, hundreds of 4 x 5 transparencies of his work, sketchbooks, posters, programs, and other materials.

Schlanger drew his first live music sketch at Carnegie Hall in 1955, capturing Pittsburgh native Erroll Garner in concert. In the mid-1970s while serving as the ceramic art lecturer for The Claremont Colleges in California, Schlanger met future cultural critic/then drummer Stanley Crouch, who encouraged him to join his band (Black Music Infinity) in New York where members of the band organized concerts as part emerging “loft scene.”

In a 2004 interview, Schlanger described the effect loft jazz had on him:

“Having personally heard many revolutions in jazz, I could hear that the whole thing was changing again. I could hear this excitement of people developing other approaches together. And that was of course enormously inspiring to the visual work that I was doing in the studio.”

It was at one of these loft performances where Schlanger met saxophonist Julius Hemphill who would inspire him to continue his musicWitness® Project.

Bill Cole, a long-time friend of Jeff’s and jazz musician and educator who donated his archive to the ULS last year, recalled, “Jeff was, for so many years, a presence and indeed fixture in the avant garde jazz scene in New York – always seen at live concerts, creating his magnificent two-handed paintings as the “Music Witness.” He was a serious artist, committed to the power of art and music – to communicate, to further social justice, and to support love and community. Having Jeff's work at the University of Pittsburgh provides an important opportunity for research and connection within the living art form of jazz.”

The musicWitness® Project drawings have been exhibited at 29 Arts for Art Vision Festivals held each June in New York City, as well as at the Tampere Jazz Happenings festival in Finland and the Guelph Jazz Festival in Canada. In 2005, the CUE Art Foundation gallery in NYC hosted a major exhibition of Schlanger’s work, including some of his related ceramic sculptures of musicians. His work has also been featured on the recording covers of over 30 musicians, including Julius Hemphill, Muhal Richard Abrams & Roscoe Mitchell, Charles Gayle, William Parker, Billy Bang and Kidd Jordan.

Over the years Schlanger has drawn thousands of jazz performers, including Julius Hemphill, William Parker, Cecil Taylor, Pharoah Sanders, Max Roach, and four artists whose archives are held by the University of Pittsburgh Library System: Erroll Garner, Sam Rivers, Bill Cole, and Dave Burrell. The musicWitness® Project Archive will join these and other notable jazz collections, including those for Joe Negri and Ahmad Jamal, held within Archives & Special Collections.

“Jeff Schlanger was an invaluable source to the NYC creative jazz community,” says Chad Taylor, Artistic Director of Jazz Studies at Pitt. “I first became aware of Jeff's work through the Vision Festival in NYC where I experienced musicWitness® live. The experience of watching Jeff create live paintings to live music is something that continues to inspire me to this day. I was always impressed by Jeff's humility, patience, and dedication to his craft. It is an honor and privilege for Jeff's archives to have a home here at Pitt.”

The collection will open for research use in late 2026.

Contact: Kathy Haines, Head, Center for American Music