The Archive is open again, so our great team of volunteers is able to keep working. Current projects include scanning Brian Foskett’s jazz photos, cataloguing the John Chilton collection, sorting and repacking programmes, accessioning new donations and keeping the book and journal collections up to date. Work on a major update to the online catalogue is also progressing.
Visitors are welcome, but as we are limited to a maximum of four people in the Archive at any one time, please make an appointment. Phone and email enquiries continue to be dealt with.
NJA Ambassador Adrian Cox brought a film crew to the Archive in September to record a section for the documentary about Sidney Bechet that he is working on. In preparation for the filming, Adrian and film-maker Darcy O’Connor had visited the Archive to review the material that research archivist David Nathan and our volunteers had put together on Bechet. Read more here.
The jazz book sales we have been running since June have had a terrific response. Along with the wonderful support we have from Rabbit Records, these sales are now the Archive's only regular means of fundraising. We plan to continue them for the next few months – you can download the latest sales leaflet below. Many thanks to book buyers who have generously added a donation when ordering books.
Our fundraising concerts are of course on hold at present, but we hope to resume them some time next year. Without this regular source of funds to cover our running costs (purchasing archive storage materials, professional fees, website hosting, and so on), direct donations are more welcome than ever – if you are able to help, your support (which can be made via our website) will be gratefully received.
Val Wilmer – our newest Patron
We are delighted to welcome Val Wilmer as a Patron of the National Jazz Archive. Val occupies a very special position in our cultural landscape, as both a writer and a photographer.
Val’s writing career began at the age of 17. Her first article, about Jesse Fuller, appeared in Jazz Journal in May 1957. She has gone on to interview hundreds of musicians. Stand-out examples include Thelonious Monk, Joe Harriott and Ornette Coleman. Her extensive writings include books, reviews, criticism and essays and she has contributed to a vast array of publications.
Val’s career as a photographer has been of equal importance. She has taken noted photographs of artists such as Langston Hughes, Louis Armstrong, John Coltrane and Duke Ellington. Her photographs were exhibited at the Victoria and Albert Museum in the 1973 exhibition Jazz Seen: The Face of Black Music, and form part of the V&A’s photographic collection. They are also held in the National Portrait Gallery and overseas collections. She has also written extensively about photography and has interviewed many practitioners. In 1983, together with Maggie Murray, she founded Format, the first all-women photographers’ agency in Britain.
The National Jazz Archive is truly honoured that a figure of such importance has agreed to lend support by adding her name to our list of illustrious patrons.
Thank you again to all who supported our August book sale – since June, nearly 240 books have been sold, raising over £2000 for the Archive. Special thanks to those who bought books, and made an additional donation along with your payment.
Here is this month’s selection of over 60 books, grouped into Big band and swing, Jazz in fiction, Reference books, Biographies and memoirs (running from Albert to Zwerin), 50 years of jazz record guides (the Penguin guide is leading in the ‘thickest jazz book ever’ stakes, at 1760 pages), and Jazz in photographs – a wonderful collection of large format volumes.
These are all from the wonderfully generous gifts and legacy donations made by Geoff Barton, Michael Brocking, Graham Langley, Chris Lowe, Tony Farsky and John Sturgess.
We have only one copy of many of them, so email quickly to check if the ones you are interested in are still available.
Leave a Legacy gift to the Archive in your will
If you are passionate about jazz and want to help preserve its heritage, leaving a gift in your Will to the National Jazz Archive will enable the celebration of jazz to continue for years to come.
“Leaving a Legacy Gift in your Will to the National Jazz Archive enables us make a difference for all future jazz lovers. Legacies left to the charity have allowed us to develop the Archive by adding new material and ensuring the collection is accessible to jazz lovers everywhere via our web site. Legacies will also help us to plan vital research far into the future. Legacy Gifts are essential to the long-term success of the Archive.”
For the Archive to continue and thrive it needs the support from all who plays, promotes and as regular fans, loves jazz. Simply leaving a legacy to the Archive in your Will can make a major contribution to the Archives future. Why not follow NJA Patron Sir Michael Parkinson’s advice. Download our legacy information pack.
October is Free Wills Month!
Free Wills Month enables members of the public aged 55 and over the opportunity to have their simple Wills written or updated free of charge by using participating solicitors in locations across England, Northern Ireland and Wales. For more information and to find your local participating solicitor click here.
A gift in your Will costs you nothing now but can make a big difference to jazz and the NJA for years to come.
Chris Lowe
The Archive is most grateful to Lindsey Lowe, who has donated all the jazz recordings and books collected by her father Chris throughout his life. Chris died in November last year at the age of 92, having been a jazz fan since his teenage years. He can be dimly seen in the photo above, playing trumpet in an amateur band, the Blues Serenaders, in Manchester when he was about 21. He is in the middle of the trumpet section at the back and the sax player in front of him is his best friend Ken Batty. They started collecting records when they were at school (mostly imports of American dance and swing bands), and continued their shared love of jazz throughout their lives.
Chris had a wide-ranging career, starting in the Merchant Navy, and then joining ICI. He next worked for a magazine publisher and exhibitions organiser. One of their titles was the weekly magazine ‘Motorcycling’, which lead to Chris becoming a major figure in motor racing, with an advertising empire including Brands Hatch, Snetterton, Mallory Park and Oulton Park. Chris was the driving force behind the successful televised Anglo-American Transatlantic Match Races. He retired to Benenden in Kent, where he lived for the rest of his life.
He shared his love of jazz, especially Benny Goodman, Woody Herman and Harry James, with his children Simon and Lindsey, and took them to Ronnie Scott’s and other venues.
Chris’s LPs and CDs have been collected by Scott Nicol of Rabbit Records, so a significant sum will be coming to the Archive for these. Some of Chris’s jazz books have also been kept to fill gaps in the Archive’s collection at Loughton, while others will be taken to our satellite collection at Birmingham City University soon. The remaining books are now being offered for sale, with the first batch in the sales leaflet mentioned above.
Social media following keeps growing
We are delighted that the Archive’s target of attracting 1000 followers across Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by the end of this year has already been met. Thanks to all of you who have joined us.
This growth means we can share updates and information about the Archive with more and more people who share our passion for jazz, and are interested in our collections and research facilities.
Our 1000th follower on Instagram was Vincenzo Genovese – an arranger, orchestra director, bandleader and keyboard player from Italy – who is typical of the international followers we are keen to attract. Other new followers include jazz-related museums, archives and libraries, research students, festivals and venues, musicians, singers, collectors and enthusiasts.
Since the update in August's e-newsletter, we’ve promoted the Archive on social media by sharing images and information about great jazz reeds, the singer and the song, six degrees of Louis Armstrong (a variation on the game 'Six degrees of Kevin Bacon'), masters of the six strings, jazz clarinet, US jazz stars at Ronnie Scott’s and Black History Month (UK).
Our most popular social media post so far has been a photo of the great guitarist Joe Pass (above). This was taken in 1982 by Denis Williams, whose wonderful photos can be seen on our website. This single Facebook post was seen by more than 19,000 people and received more than 600 reactions, comments and shares.
You can join up to our social media today using the links below or on our website. We'd love to know what you think, and hope you’ll add your voice to the jazz conversations.
Peter King: goodbye to a star
NJA trustee Roger Cotterrell has written a personal tribute to the great saxophonist Peter King, who died in August, which can be read here. Roger’s piece concludes: “It is our great fortune that despite all the ups and downs, Peter King, who lived to the age of 80, managed to leave a wonderful legacy on record that will gradually gain ever wider appreciation in the international jazz world.”
The photo shows Peter King playing at The Bell, Codicote, Hertfordshire, 28 November 1982. Photo: Denis Williams.
SEEN AND HEARD ELSEWHERE
Ronnie’s
The new documentary ‘Ronnie’s’ – about Ronnie Scott’s jazz club – has just opened at Everyman Cinemas around the UK. David Nathan and Mike Rose helped director Oliver Murray to explore the resources of the Jazz Archive during the preparation of the film.
‘Ronnie’s’ is a celebration of Scott’s legacy and his famous club. Featuring previously unseen and unheard performances as well as interviews with some of the most iconic figures in music, the film explores the club’s 60-year history and shines a light on the uncompromising men and women who built it and who took to its stage. Read more here.
Count Basie: through his own eyes
The Eagle Rock Productions feature film about Count Basie will air on BBC Four on Friday, 23 October at 9pm. This revealing biography, told in Basie’s own words, uncovers the private passions and ambitions that inspired the world-famous bandleader and pianist. Read more here and watch the film here.
Documenting jazz conference, Edinburgh, June 2021
The University of Edinburgh has issued a call for papers for the third Documenting Jazz conference, to be held in Edinburgh from 23 to 26 June 2021. The conference seeks to draw together colleagues with an interest in jazz studies from diverse backgrounds, and welcomes contributions from scholars at all career stages, independent and non-academically affiliated scholars and researchers, critics, archivists and practitioners to foster an atmosphere of rich interdisciplinary discussion and debate. The Archive is developing plans to participate in the event. The call for papers (closing date 16 November) is here.
Documenting Jazz 2021 has announced a partnership with the Edinburgh International Film Festival, and will be intersecting with aspects of the Festival’s 2021 Jazz Retrospective series of films.
What does jazz look like?
Alyn Shipton’s new book ‘The Art of Jazz: A Visual History’ has just been published by Imagine! Publishing. You can listen to an interview with Alyn on the Publishers Weekly LitCast here.
Roy Williams MBE
Congratulations to trombonist Roy Williams, who has been awarded the MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List 2020 for services to jazz. Here Roy is featured soloist in a fine performance of 'Georgia' with the TJ Johnson Band in Sevenoaks, Kent.
The photo was taken by Brian Foskett in Hitchin, Hertfordshire in 1967 and shows Roy with Wild Bill Davison.
Jazz it up at a Jazz Hang for 11-16 year olds
Trinity Laban and Tomorrow’s Warriors are joining forces on an exciting new project for 11 to 16-year-old musicians from a variety of backgrounds who are curious about jazz. Jazz Hang has a series of free taster sessions starting on 1 November, leading into regular sessions of informal and practical jazz learning in 2021. Read more here.
“Leaving a Legacy Gift in your Will to the National Jazz Archive enables us make a difference for all future jazz lovers. Legacies left to the charity have allowed us to develop the Archive by adding new material and ensuring the collection is accessible to jazz lovers everywhere via our web site. Legacies will also help us to plan vital research far into the future. Legacy Gifts are essential to the long-term success of the Archive.” 
