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Starr-Gennett Foundation

The Starr-Gennett Foundation aims to promote, preserve, and celebrate the legacy of Gennett Records and its parent organization, the Starr Piano Company.

About Me

The Starr-Gennett Foundation, Inc. was formed as a non-profit organization to preserve and promote the legacy of Gennett Records and its parent organization, the Starr Piano Company. The preservation of this legacy will help save the important American heritage of early popular music.

Gennett Records of Richmond, Indiana, recorded many little-known artists, some for the first time, who would become famous for laying the foundations of jazz, blues, country, gospel, and other forms of popular music still heard today. Richmond, Indiana has been called the “Cradle of Recorded Jazz,” because Gennett Records recorded the talent of Louis Armstrong, King Oliver, Bix Beiderbecke, Hoagy Carmichael, Jelly Roll Morton, Fats Waller, Uncle Dave Macon, Sidney Bechet, Big Bill Broonzy, and many more.

The Starr-Gennett Foundation holds many projects and events each year, most notably the Gennett Records Walk of Fame and Annual Music Festival. The Walk of Fame is an annual event that recognizes Gennett artists who contributed to the Starr and Gennett Legacy. Medallions-- made of mosaic and bronze in the form of a giant 78 rpm phonograph record--are inlayed in the Walk in their honor. The Annual Music Festival features contemporary musicians whose careers continue the legacy. This celebration includes music, food, and activities.

The Foundation also works each year to develop an elementary school curriculum about Richmond's early music history and the influence of Starr and Gennett. Additionally, the Foundation presents a variety of concerts and events through out the year.