News from the National Jazz Archive, August 2022

News from the National Jazz Archive

Newsletter 7/2022, August 2022

Welcome

Welcome to the August newsletter from the National Jazz Archive, with news of our upcoming fundraising concerts, summer book sale, with more than 75 books at special sale prices, an appeal for help with a project on the Jazz Book Club, and other news from the Archive.

Nigel Price Organ Trio + Vasilis Xenopoulos – The music of Wes Montgomery – 31 August

The Nigel Price Organ Trio + Vasilis Xenopoulos present the next fundraising concert for the Archive on Wednesday 31 August, beginning at 7.30pm.

The concert will feature “Wes: Re-imagined…& more”, a tribute to the great guitarist Wes Montgomery, whose unusual technique gave him such a distinctive sound. His early recordings were oriented towards hard bop, soul jazz and post-bop, and he also recorded with an organ trio. Around 1965 he began recording albums that found mainstream success and his later guitar style influenced jazz fusion and smooth jazz.

In a tribute to his major influence, award-winning guitarist Nigel Price brings his Organ Trio (Ross Stanley, B3 Hammond organ, and Joel Barford, drums) plus guest artist Vasilis Xenopoulous on tenor sax to perform “Wes: Re-imagined”.

Come and enjoy an evening of exciting interplay, virtuosic, blues-drenched soloing and a few laughs too!

The concert is at Loughton Methodist Church, Essex, close to the Archive’s home. Tickets cost £20 and may be ordered by telephone from the Archive between 10am and 1pm (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday) on 020 8502 4701, and online here with a small booking fee.

Chris Ingham Quartet
Stardust Memories – 5 November

Chris Ingham’s Stardust Memories is packed with the songs and stories of one of America’s most enduring and endearing songwriters. Wry, wise, sentimental, down-home and sophisticated, Hoagy Carmichael’s songs are beloved for their warmth, wit and melodic beauty. This joyful, edifying and heartfelt salute to the Old Music Master features many engaging anecdotes and insights along with tracks from Chris’s acclaimed CD including well-loved hits alongside obscure nuggets and delightful curiosities from Hoagy’s rich and varied songbook.

Chris Ingham formed his jazz quartet in 2013 and has led over 150 performances of his Hoagy Carmichael, Dudley More and Stan Getz projects all over the UK. With Chris will be Paul Higgs on trumpet, Geoff Gascoyne on bass and George Double on drums.

This fundraising concert for the National Jazz Archive will be in Loughton, Essex on Saturday 5 November. Tickets cost £20 and are available at the Archive (020 8502 4701), and on WeGotTickets with a small booking fee.

Jazz books – Summer sale

The Archive is delighted to offer more than 75 great jazz books at special sale prices in this Summer sale.

Thanks to the generous gifts and legacy donations in recent months by Mike Pointon, Brian Mixter, Tony Pearson, Reg Nicholl and Linda Colvill (from her late husband Martin’s collection), our store is full to bursting, so all the books in this sale are being offered at bargain prices to make space for further donations that have been promised.

The books are grouped into topics to make it easy for you to find titles you’re interested in:
•   The world of jazz
•   Jazz in Britain
•   New Orleans
•   Biographies and memoirs
•   Big band and the swing era.

Many thanks to everyone who has supported these sales since June 2020. Nearly 1450 books have been sold, raising over £10,000 for the Archive.

We have limited numbers of copies of these books, so email quickly to check that the ones you want are still available. All these donated books are held in St Albans in Hertfordshire - if you would like to visit to buy books directly, or if you are looking for particular books, please contact Nick Clarke.

Jazz Book Club memories

Were you a member of the Jazz Book Club in the 1950s and 60s? Do you have any material or memories of the JBC?

Jazz writer and photographer Alan John Ainsworth is currently researching the Jazz Book Club and would like to ask NJA friends and supporters for help. The JBC was created in 1955 by Sidgwick & Jackson and ran for 12 years, publishing some 66 numbered volumes during this period. If you were a member of the Club or have any material which might shed light on its activities, Alan would be delighted to hear from you. The Archive has copies of all the JBC books, so Alan is really interested in any memories you or your family might have, ephemera such as newsletters, notices of events or other documentation – in fact, anything that might help flesh out the ways in which members used and valued the JBC. Alan, who will be delighted to acknowledge contributions in any resulting publication, can be contacted at alan@alanainsworth.com.

New chair opportunity: application deadline extended

The National Jazz Archive is seeking to appoint a new Chair of Trustees in 2022. The deadline for applications has been extended to 30 September 2022.

The Archive, formed in 1988, is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO), which aims to safeguard and celebrate the rich cultural heritage of jazz in the UK. The Archive holds the UK’s finest resource of printed and visual jazz-related material, along with an important collection of oral history recordings. It is of national and international importance.

The Board currently comprises 11 trustees. In November 2021 the Board renewed their strong commitment to diversity and inclusivity.

The current Chair has decided to step down, with the aim of refreshing the Board and facilitating the development of a Board which is more diverse and inclusive. The current Chair is committed to giving ongoing support to the Archive and to ensuring a smooth transition.

For more detail, click here.

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The National Jazz Archive was founded by trumpeter Digby Fairweather in 1988 and is supported by Essex County Council and the Heritage Lottery Fund.