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Originally published 2.06.23 Legend: Dett was enrolled at the Conservatoire Américain de Fontainebleau, France. Status: Untrue. There are no records establishing his enrollment there. In early January 2023, I corresponded with Joe Kerr, current Program Director of the Conservatoire Américain de Fontainebleau. Without any prompting from me, or even knowing what I was actually seeking, Joe wrote me the following: “It would be very exciting for us if R. Nathaniel Dett studied at Fontainebleau, but I have yet to see his name show up on the student lists I have scanned … It was not unusual, however, for students to study privately with Nadia Boulanger orRead More →

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Originally published 12.28.22 If you read about R. Nathaniel Dett, you are bound to encounter conflicting information. This is not anyone’s fault, really, but it still results in a lot of unnecessary confusion. So, here we go: 1. The Name. The first thing we need to do is get his name right. “R. Nathaniel Dett” was how he signed his name. The “R.” stands for Robert, which was his father’s name: Robert Tue Dett. However, Dett did not have a great relationship with his father, who divorced his mother and essentially estranged himself from Dett and his brother Samuel as well. Further, Robert Tue Dett wasRead More →