National Jazz Archive Satellite Collection

The Arts, Design, and Media Archives at Birmingham City University host the first satellite collection of National Jazz Archive’s (NJA), a UK-registered Charitable Incorporated Organisation Charity.

A precursor to the NJA was The British Institute of Jazz Studies (BIJS). The BIJS was established as a charitable organisation in 1965 and was a parallel organisation to the Institute of Jazz Studies in America. It aimed to offer research and education facilities to students, researchers, publishers, and enthusiasts through its collection of jazz-related material. Despite producing its own periodical, Jazz Studies, between 1966-71 and some discographies, a lack of funding and no permanent home resulted in a waning of The BIJS’s initial enthusiasm.

Following the founding of the National Jazz Archive (NJA) in 1988, the BIJS was formally merged with the NJA in 2013. The vision is to safeguard jazz’s rich cultural heritage for future generations of enthusiasts, professionals, and researchers.

To find out more about the NJA follow the link to the National Jazz Archive website.

Dr Pedro Cravinho, a trustee for the NJA since 2016, established the National Jazz Archive Satellite Collection at Birmingham City University in 2018 as a branch of the NJA in the West Midlands. The NJASCWM aims to safeguard the rich cultural heritage of jazz in Britain for future generations of enthusiasts, professionals, and researchers. It was created with the bold ambition to make its holdings more accessible by having a satellite collection in central location.

The National Jazz Archive Satellite Collection is a treasure trove for jazz enthusiasts, professionals, and researchers. It includes runs of more than 800 English and foreign languages journals, approximately 4,000 English-language books on jazz and related subjects, including biographies and autobiographies, reference books, discographies, critical works, histories, and record guides. Moreover, it houses an extensive collection of national and international jazz posters and personal papers from renowned musicians, bandleaders, writers, journalists, and broadcasters, including Charles Fox, Ian Carr, and Kate and Mike Westbrook.