MAJOR JAZZ ARCHIVE REMAINS IN THE UK

A major collection of early and rare jazz recordings, compiled by one of the great jazz figures of our time, has been saved from the auction house thanks to the determination of his widow and of a group of jazz lovers. Sebastian Scotney, administrator of the jazz audience development trust JazzDev, explains what happened.

Perhaps the most significant collection of early recorded jazz in the world, the life time's work of musician and recording technician John R T Davies - known as Ristic, a childhood nickname - is now safely in York
University's Borthwick Institute for Archives, two years after his death. Chris Webb, Keeper of Archives at the Borthwick says: "It's a fantastic collection, not just for its size, but also stunning quality and range".

At the end of June the collection, including over 17,000 fragile 78rpm records was safely transported from the barn in Burnham Beeches in Buckinghamshire where it grew over more than 50 years, to York, a move funded by a Helen Roll Charity.

The earliest recording is from 1898 but the collection focused mostly on the period between the wars and, unusually, makes no preference for either black or white musicians, so that rare recordings by Bix Beiderbecke, Benny Goodman and Red Nicholls are alongside Duke Ellingtton, Bessie Smith and Count Basie, mostly American but with European and Australian artists too.

Dan Morgenstern of Rutgers University is one of the top authorities on early jazz and was the university's expert evaluator of the collection. "The condition of the records is consistently excellent as John was constantly up-grading and in latter years would only add copies in at least E condition" he says. "Because of this about 20% of the collection would be virtually irreplaceable, and the remaining 80% would take years to find in similar condition."

The background to this story deserves telling. John RT Davies (1927-2004) was a colourful character. A multi-instrumentalist who turned his hand to banjo, trombone, saxophone "and whatever the band requires". He played in the bands of Ken Colyer, Mick Mulligan, Sandy Brown and was a member of The Temperance Seven, the band that almost achieved cult status in the pre-Beatles 60s. But it is as a sound restorer with a deep practical understanding of the music that made his unique, world-class reputation. The Daily Telegraph's obituary said "the large record companies could match neither his scholarship nor his willingness to devote unlimited time to removing clicks, crackles and pops from a single record, to
produce a version that was sometimes better than the original."

Davies died in May 2004. His widow Sue - founder director of the Photographer's Gallery, who bought John his first alto sax - set a time limit of two years to find an institution to which her late husband's singular collection could be donated. After then, if no suitable home could be found, she would proceed to sell
the collection. Sue worked with Ristic's friends and JazzDev to frame a set of objectives, striking the right balance between ensuring safety from damage and accessibility, and we assisted and brokered the process right through to completion. Discussions with a number of counterparties were pursued, but for different reasons didn't progress very far. "York took up the challenge and it was clear to me from the start that they shared the same priorities and that the collection has a safe and accessible home" says Sue Davies.

For York University, the Davies Collection builds on a successful pattern of very worthwhile collaborations between the Music Faculty and the Borthwick Archives, such as their work together on securing Lord
Harewood's personal archive of off-air recordings. York's Music Faculty is rapidly expanding its jazz activity, which is again a good fit with the Davies Collection.

The collection presents challenges to the Borthwick because of its fragility, its weight implying a need for strong shelving and flooring, the challenge of making good single copies, and keeping the right environment to ensure it lasts into the long term. Chris Webb is convinced that the Borthwick will be able to find the right balance between accessibility and preservation, and respect for donors' wishes. York's policy for single person collections is to take them as deposits and keep them whole and separate. There are specific reasons here.

Chris Webb again: "We have the benefit of the hard work and knowledge of a unique man. The collection comes with a fantastic information base and catalogue." York also has longer term plans for the collection and a digitisation project around it. Which will fit in well with the University's plans to develop a Centre for Creative Technologies, according to Philip Morris, who has the role of developing this activity.

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