Our core team

We are the core team of the National Jazz Archive and are available to assist you in your jazz research.

As part-time staff of the Archive, we manage the day-to-day work of the Archive and its volunteers. The full-team, including our volunteers and Trustees, enjoy meeting regularly at the Archive in Loughton, Essex.

We are available to help any visitors to the Archive, or to assist with queries received by email or phone. Please contact us if you have a query, or are interested in discovering more about jazz and the Archive.

 

Our Research Archivist David NathanDavid Nathan

I was appointed research archivist for the National Jazz Archive by Essex County Council in May 1997. This followed 37 years working in insurance with Commercial Union (now Aviva), and ending as development manager for the City of London region.

My role involves me working with researchers and jazz enthusiasts to help them get the most out of our fabulous collection.  This can range from assisting writers with finding source material, to using our rare journals to assist a researcher, or assisting students find information for their dissertations.

From the help we provide at the Archive we have acknowledgements in more than 100 books.

My earliest recollection of seeing jazz was when as a teenager I went to the Hackney Empire for a special jazz evening when the bill included Tubby Hayes and Ronnie Scott, and the Ivor and Basil Kirchin Band – and I loved it!

Away from the Archive my other interests include being a Leyton Orient season-ticket holder.  I'm also a member of the MCC and an avid collector of jazz CDs.

Our Project Manager Angela DaviesAngela Davies

I have worked with the National Jazz Archive since 2008 and have been project manager for both of the Archive’s National Lottery Heritage Fund projects.  This included successfully delivering The Story of British Jazz project and The Intergenerational Jazz Reminiscence project. 

I run all our volunteer projects, working closely with our volunteers and Trustees to deliver the aims of the Archive.

Following a background in archives and records management, I became involved in large-scale fine-art digitisation projects, specialising in the creation and management of metadata – this was through the development of image cataloguing databases, controlled vocabulary, and key-wording infrastructures.

Since 2001 I have also held the position of Director of Content at Heritage Image Partnership Ltd, representing the collections of prestigious heritage institutions through the Heritage Images online historical image library.

Some of our National Jazz Archive collections are now available for commercial licensing and print-on-demand products through Heritage Images.

Our IT specialist Thomas KuglinThomas Kuglin

As the Archive's IT specialist, I provide many facets of ongoing support, and have been working behind the scenes at the charity since 2011.

This has encompassed all manner of tasks and activities from compiling reports and designing promotional materials to fixing computers and setting up our networks. Particular highlights have been helping in the production of our exhibitions including Say it with Music in 2017 and Women in Jazz in 2018. This has included the in-house development of a bespoke listening-post app, which we believe to be unique in the archive sector.

I studied music at university and earned a master's degree in acoustic composition, but have long had an affinity for computers and have continuously kept myself immersed in the latest changes to the technological landscape - You may well have encountered me elsewhere as a moderator or administrator of a company web forum, or chat channel.

As one of my hobbies is photography, it also makes me well placed to appreciate – and help digitise – the wonderful photographs that form an increasingly significant part of the National Jazz Archive's collections.

Find our more about the National Jazz Archive