Steven L. Isoardi, Interviewer, UCLA Oral History Program. B.A. , Government, University of San Francisco; M.A., Government, University of San Francisco; M.A. , Political Science, UCLA; Ph.D., Political Science, UCLA.
Metropolitan Hotel, Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood, California .
November 22, 1991 (44 minutes); November 23, 1991 (108).
2.5
Farmer and Isoardi.
This interview is one in a series designed to preserve the spoken memories of individuals, primarily musicians, who were raised near and/or performed on Los Angeles's Central Avenue, especially from the late 1920s to the mid-1950s. Musician and teacher William Green, his student Steven Isoardi, and early project interviewee Buddy Collette provided major inspiration for the UCLA Oral History Program's inaugurating the Central Avenue Sounds Oral History Project.
In preparing for the interview, Isoardi consulted jazz histories, autobiographies, oral histories, relevant jazz periodicals, documentary films, and back issues of the California Eagle and the Los Angeles Sentinel .
The interview is organized chronologically, covering Farmer's life through the early 1950s, with emphasis on his early life in Phoenix, Arizona, the Central Avenue jazz scene, his year at Jefferson High School in Los Angeles, and his early career as a musician.
Alex Cline, editor, edited the interview. He checked the verbatim transcript of the interview against the original tape recordings, edited for punctuation, paragraphing, and spelling, and verified proper names. Whenever possible, Cline checked the proper names of nightclubs against articles and advertisements in back issues of the California Eagle . Words and phrases inserted by the editor have been bracketed.
Farmer reviewed the transcript. He verified proper names and made minor corrections and additions.
Betsy A. Ryan, editor, prepared the table of contents, biographical summary, and interview history. Lisa Magee, editorial assistant, compiled the index.
The original tape recordings of the interview are in the university archives and are available under the regulations governing the use of permanent noncurrent records of the university. Records relating to the interview are located in the office of the UCLA Oral History Program.