Talk:Irvin Mayfield

Comments
Split the Lead into two/three sections. It should not have any citations at all because it should be a succint summary of the article. Move the citations to the end of sentences, as it is easier to read, and gives the whole sentence/paragraph a reference and not just the beginning or middle. egde 07:54, 29 May 2007 (UTC)


 * Sorry to have undone your edit, I had just completed adjusting some things you critiqued when attempting to perform a save. The article, of course, had been changed and the information could not be saved. I placed citations at the end of sentences, as you suggested. I have also removed citations from the opening, and rearranged some material. Of course, I reimplemented the changes you made after doing so. Thanks for your help on this article with me, my aim is to make the biography definitive. I love wikipedia. (Mind meal 08:26, 29 May 2007 (UTC))


 * No problem at all - I mess up stuff all the time! :) egde 11:02, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

Just want to clarify that Mayfield left Dillard and the Institute of Jazz Culture (IOJC) either 2003 or 2004. Mayfield is no longer associated with the Institute of Jazz Culture or Dillard, which is still in operation and under the guidance of Director Edward Anderson. The New Orleans Jazz Orchestra is a 501c3 associated with Tulane University. For information about the IOJC, please refer to www.myspace.com/iojc. The official IOJC website is still in the works, and hopefully will be up soon. Thank you all very much. 12-26-07 Shanna Hudson-Stowe  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 172.137.146.48 (talk) 00:35, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

There are many instances of poor prose in this article, misleading statements, hyperbole, and out of date information. I believe this article should only rate a C quality, and merits major rewriting and fact checking.

For instance: • Mr. Mayfield was not a "Winner of the Downbeat 2003 critic's poll" - he was named towards the bottom of a list of "Talent Deserving Wider Recognition." • This statement "Mayfield was unanimously bestowed with the title of Cultural Ambassador for the City of New Orleans by the United States Senate and other governmental bodies" is unnecessarily grandiose and vague. This honorary title is mentioned many times throughout the article, and is stated to have been granted by a variety of governmental bodies. It would be nice if someone got to the truth and also cut down the number of references sprinkled throughout the article. • "The standing room only premier on November 17, 20005 was hailed as the cultural re-opening of the city after hurricane Katrina" Really? By whom? • The entire paragraph containing the above sentence is a complete jumble. The following two paragraphs also flit about in history. What is the relevance of who's apartment Mr. Mayfield lived in? • Numerous sentences, such as these, need to be reconstructed: "Instead of accepting the scholarship, at the behest of Ellis Marsalis, he decided to attend University of New Orleans instead " and "Mayfield serves as bandleader, and other members have included Evan Christopher, among others" • There are numerous instances of redundant information. • Mayfield may possibly no longer be the Cultural Ambassador. In an article from 2008, He stated he was resigning at the end of the year. • Mayfield is now the head of the New Orleans Jazz Institute at the University of New Orleans, an entity separate from their renowned jazz studies program. • Mayfield holds the title of "Professor, Professional Practice" at the University of New Orleans • Mayfield has licensed his name and image, or otherwise been involved in the ownership of 2 jazz clubs in New Orleans —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.164.110.50 (talk) 21:00, 8 May 2009 (UTC)

This article is full of unsubstantiated claims, inflations of titles and awards, and other claims that are misleading. It cites sources that are non-independent, and perhaps even circular in nature (someone prepared for an article by reading this WIKI, then the WIKI uses the article as a source). It also discusses events in detail that could be considered extra-biographical.

For instance: • "The standing room only premier on November 17, 2005 was hailed as the cultural re-opening of the city after Hurricane Katrina." Not sure how this is germane to the subject and, if it even is, who did the "hailing:" • "acquiring a scholarship to the famous Juilliard School of Music..." Unsubstantiated. The source cited is an interview with the subject. • "Mayfield was made a Cultural Ambassador of the City of New Orleans by state and local governments in September 2003." "Made a Cultural Ambassador of The City of New Orleans by the U.S. Government." Mayfield makes similar claims often. However, research on the internet fails to show that anyone other than former mayor of New Orleans Ray Nagin (who is now in jail for corruption while in office) bestowed that title on Mayfield. The source cited possibly got that information from Mayfield's bio. • "Elysian Trumpet designated a national treasure by the President of the United States." No citation and extra-biographical. • "2010 - Chancellor's Award (highest ranking award given to a professor) University of New Orleans." Hyperbolic at best. This is a $1000 award given by "The Campus Diversity Advisory Committee awarded to a faculty member for outstanding community involvement in teaching, research and/or service." (http://diversity.uno.edu/advisory/programs.cfm) • "2014 - New Orleans Jazz Market ground breaking (first built space for jazz in New Orleans)." Not even close to true. In 100+ years of Jazz history there have been many other buildings that were built or re-purposed for jazz. Furthermore, the Jazz Market is actually a conversion of a pre-existing building. And, this is extra-biographical. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.69.114.61 (talk) 04:30, 4 June 2015 (UTC)

I just want to say that I met him! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.249.70.134 (talk) 19:12, 4 December 2016 (UTC)

Failed "good article" nomination
This article failed good article nomination. This is how the article, as of May 30, 2007, compares against the six good article criteria:

was a little disruptive, as it seemed to indicate that Irvin was a kid during Hurricane Katrina. I would either suggest moving this fact to later on in the article, or (better yet) replace the colon with a semi-colon and start a new statement, like:"The first song Mayfield learned to play was "Just A Closer Walk With Thee"; incidentally, he performed the song at the Higher Ground Hurricane Relief Benefit Concert — one day before he learned that his father had died in the flood after Hurricane Katrina." This sentence "Jason is the son of jazz pianist Ellis Marsalis, and brother to fellow jazz musicians Branford Marsalis, Wynton Marsalis and Delfeayo Marsalis." needs to be trimmed, since it has nothing to do with Irvin. Maybe just say "Jason is the son of jazz pianist Ellis Marsalis, of the famous Marsalis jazz family." The sub-sub-heading "Jazz Festivals" needs to be a regular subheading. The sentence that begins "In addition to his role as Cultural Ambassador..." should not be italicized. The list under "Culural Ambassador" (which is also spelled wrong) should be turned into a regular paragraph (prose). Remove the headings "Thoughts on Mardis Gras" and "Rebuilding New Orleans." One paragraph headings are looked down on, and also are unnecessary in this case. The purpose of the paragraphs are clear under "Cultural ambassador." Change the name of the References section to Notes (see WP:CITE).
 * 1. Well written?: Generally yes. There is some solid prose here, but there are a few nagging little things.  In the bio paragraph, it is better to mention that his father is dead than that his mother is still living, since if she suddenly died (say this afternoon - God forbid), that would be hard to discover and might be incorrect for a while needlessly.  But his father will be deceased forever.  I would simply change it to "the late Irvin Mayfield, Sr." Non-figure numbers, like "5 brothers" and "4th grade" needs to be spelled out (ie - "five").  Only dates and statics (60%, 3,265,125 molecules) should be in numbers. Just A Closer Walk With Thee should be in quotes and not italicized.  This sentence: "which he performed at the Higher Ground Hurricane Relief Benefit Concert—one day before he learned that his father had died in the flood after Hurricane Katrina."
 * 2. Factually accurate?: Good here. Plenty of references. The first paragraph under "Strange Fruit" however, lacks any references.  While it is admiral, I would remove this sentence "This discography section quotes http://www.allmusicguide.com as a source."  Then add it to a new "References" section (under "Notes").  Sentences in the body should be content, not notation.
 * 3. Broad in coverage?: Pretty good. Good articles are for short articles, so this is not a problem.
 * 4. Neutral point of view?: Good here as well.
 * 5. Article stability? This is an extremely young article, and probably really too young to really be nominated. But, yes, it is stable.
 * 6. Images?: Biggest area of failure. First Image:Irvin Mayfield.jpg is a publicity photo (and mistagged), which means that it cannot be used solely for representational purposes. It's a relatively new rule, and a little confusing, but you can find more info here. Image:Irvin Mayfield2.jpg is mistagged, it is also a publicity shot.  Both images should be tagged with publicity.  Image:Strange Fruit (Irvin Mayfield).jpg is mistagged; it is a album cover.  It should be tagged with album cover.

When these issues are addressed, the article can be resubmitted for consideration. If you feel that this review is in error, feel free to take it to a GA review. Thank you for your work so far. — Esprit15d (talk ¤ contribs) 16:41, 30 May 2007 (UTC)


 * Thank you very much for your input, and I am sorry i did not get around to expressing this earlier. The advice you gave me was very educational and I consider the article to still be a work in progress. Thank you again. (Mind meal 18:14, 7 June 2007 (UTC))

Edit warring, photo removal
What is the reason for the removal of the photos of the "New Orleans Jazz Market" from this article (repeatedly)? There is still a section in the article about the New Orleans Jazz Market, so I guess it's not something considered unmentionable. Explanation for the photo removal, please, or were they just thrown out in a blunt hatchet approach to editing? -- Infrogmation (talk) 02:10, 13 September 2015 (UTC)

Edit war, "Library Controversy", etc
Users Wikiwaikikiwiki, MrX, Jeannelacombe, and anon editors: I suggest you please discuss the edit dispute, if possible civilly, on the talk page. (eg one of many: )  Notes: The purpose of Wikipedia pages is to be neither a promotional puff piece nor an attack denunciation. It is to provide factual information. Where the person has been the subject of controversy widely covered in the the media, some discussion can be germane. If there are disputed allegations which are noteworthy, the article should not take sides but rather note who alleges what, in addition to who disputes the allegations and what specifically is being disputed.

Some material was removed with the comment that it was "slanderous" - and slander is certainly something we should make great efforts to avoid. However I'm not sure that quoting a prominent local news source qualifies as slander - has a legal charge of slander been made against WWL TV? If not, why is this called this? IMO, if WWL or someone else is making an allegation, the article should report it as such: Something said by such-and-so of the media. If it is disputed, reference to who disputes it should be included. Other thoughts? -- Infrogmation (talk) 02:27, 13 September 2015 (UTC)
 * I'm not involved in the dispute. It's very simple. A man was accused of a crime in a local news source. It was later reported that he did not commit the crimes. Did you look at the discussion on WP:BLPN? I don't have a stake in this article, but when throwaway accounts  show up to add outdated and factually inaccurate information a living person, it should be removed per WP:BLPCRIME.- MrX 02:43, 13 September 2015 (UTC)

Whether or not a crime was not committed is an inaccurate portrayal of the controversy. The controversy is that Mr. Mayfield and his business partner Mr. Markham unethically transferred $1.2 million from one nonprofit he controlled due to changing its by-laws to allow Mayfield to transferr funds in any amount without a vote of the Library Board, to two nonprofits that he controlled. While this is not against the law, it is considered highly unethical, and there is an active federal investigation into the matter, along with a Louisiana state audit of the NOJO that found several problems. The article that is cited by Mr. X as vindicating Mr. Mayfield in fact is a summary of an audit performed by a company hired by Mr. Mayfield that only focused on the use of the tranferred funds. It does not vindicate Mr. Mayfield of the unethical transferral, but merely states that the money was spent within the parameters of the transferral agreement. The NOJO Board of Directors pledged to repay the money immediately after the first article. Mr. Mayfield and Mr. Markham were asked by the Mayor of New Orleans to step down from their posts. Mr. Mayfield resigned his post from the University of New Orleans, amidst the height of the library foundation controversy when it came to light that he was receiving $63,000 a year for himself and $30,000 for his personal assistant to teach two classes a semester, and in fact he had only taught ONE class in two years.

A new article has just come out by the Washington post. It is fact based, and is well researched and is reports upon the facts of the scandal. I think the easiest way to include this would be to paraphrase the article. I am not the best writer but I will take a stab at it.

"In May 2015 Irvin Mayfield was accused of scandal involving unethical use of Non-Profit funds. It was revealed that Mayfield has used his status as an ambassador and a musician to take control of the New Orleans Library Foundation, a non-profit that was founded to support the local library, to the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, a non-profit that supports a Jazz Ensemble that Irvin Mayfield leads.  1.2 Million dollars was directed from the New Orleans Library Foundation to the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra for various services and projects.  Mayfield and other advisers that assisted with the funneling of funds, resigned from the Library Foundation shortly after this was reported.  In May 2016 the Mayfield and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra reached an agreement to pay $483,000 of that money back to the Library Foundation over a period of 5 years, and NOJO also pledged to raise the rest of the $1.1 million through benefit concerts. But it is questionable whether Mayfield’s drawing power is strong enough to eliminate the deficit and whether he will perform with the group at all since he cut ties with NOJO this month. In July 2016 Mayfield resigned as musical director of the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra but the conflict is ongoing."

20:49, 16 July 2016 (UTC)Michael July 16th, 2016 — Preceding unsigned comment added by Michaelgirardor (talk • contribs)

In January of 2016, citing the audit that Mayfield hired, Mayfield announced he was not going to pay back the Library Foundation. In May of 2016 it was announced by the NOJO Board that a repayment would take place. This controversy is very real, and very much active. Nolagoil (talk) 22:46, 2 June 2016 (UTC)nolagoil https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/in-new-orleans-scandal-tarnishes-a-jazz-star-and-the-libraries-he-was-asked-to-help/2016/07/14/6c443890-444b-11e6-8856-f26de2537a9d_story.html National News Coverage of The Library Scandal

External links modified
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 * Corrected formatting/usage for http://www.cpa.psu.edu/publications/ons-nojo.pdf
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just finished overworking complete article Irvin Mayfield, can someone give me additional help for the external form of references?....thankyouverymuch --Wikiboy2015 (talk) 11:39, 14 December 2017 (UTC)

External links modified
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 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20090122220636/http://www.roadtripnation.com/watch_pbs_2007.php?episode=3 to http://www.roadtripnation.com/watch_pbs_2007.php?episode=3

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