The National Jazz Archive was founded by Deed of Trust and was reconstituted as a CIO (Charitable Incorporated Organisation) in April 2023. The Archive benefits from a diverse and enthusiastic board of Trustees with a wide range of relevant skills, knowledge and experience.
The Trustees are all unpaid volunteers and meet regularly through the year. Operating as a team, in addition to leading and working with other volunteers of the Archive, they are responsible for the good governance of the Archive and making sure the aims of its mission are achieved. You can meet our team below.
Mark Kass was appointed as the Executive Chair of Trustees and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Jazz Archive in December 2022. As founder and Creative Director of East London's leading jazz development agency, the London East Jazz Network CIC (a Community Interest Company), Mark is responsible for curating and promoting live jazz and improvised music. This role includes developing cr …
Martin Astell has been a Trustee of the National Jazz Archive since 2021. He is Manager of Essex Record Office and qualified as an archivist in 1997 with a Master’s Degree in Archives and Records Management from University College London. Martin has worked with archives at The National Gallery, Westminster College, Oxford (now merged with Oxford Brookes University) and Essex Record Office. He …
Pedro Cravinho is a Portuguese Birmingham-based researcher and educator with a background as a professional musician. He has a BMus in Musicology and a PhD in Ethnomusicology, and is a Senior Research Fellow at Birmingham Centre for Media and Cultural Research, where he co-leads the Jazz Studies Research Cluster. Pedro is the Keeper of the Archives at the Faculty of Arts, Design and Media, Birmin …
Ruth Fisher has been a trustee of the National Jazz Archive since 2023. She is a leading jazz radio presenter with over 20 years of experience both in the UK and overseas. Joining JazzFM in 2016, Ruth currently curates and presents two weekly programmes Full Circle on Saturday nights and The Performance Series on Monday nights. Ruth comes from a musical family and was one of the first pup …
Ellie Pridgeon has worked in the archive, library and museum sectors since 1998 and holds a PhD from the University of Leicester. She joined the National Jazz Archive as a Trustee in April 2021. Ellie has her own consultancy and has a vast experience of working with many diverse organisations, including leading institutions such as the Science Museum, Imperial War Museum and Saint Paul’s Cathe …
Orphy Robinson MBE is an award winning multi-instrumentalist and one of the few UK musicians to have signed to the USA Jazz label Blue Note. In 2018 he was awarded an MBE for music services. In a 40 year career he has received nominations and numerous prestigious industry awards. This has included the 2022 Paul Hamlyn Award, 2020 Jazz Fm Gold Award and 2017 Live Experience of the Year. He has a …
John Rosie is a Chartered Engineer and passionate jazz music enthusiast. Now retired from full-time work, John has broad commercial and governance experience as a business executive in major multinational organisations. This includes: profit and loss management; organisation design; marketing; change management; and project management within various UK and international Information Technology ( …
Catherine Tackley is Head of the Department of Music at the University of Liverpool. She completed a PhD on early jazz in Britain at City University London and began her academic career at Leeds College of Music, latterly as head of the Centre for Jazz Studies UK. Catherine joined The Open University as Lecturer in Music in 2008, was appointed Senior Lecturer in 2011 and Professor in 2016. A Tr …
Tim Wall is Professor of Radio and Popular Music Studies and Associate Dean for Research in the Faculty of Arts, Design and Media at Birmingham City University. He has been a Trustee of the Archive since 2019. Tim researches into the production and consumption cultures around popular music and radio with a particular interest in Jazz, and work on knowledge exchange projects. He uses political …
