The VJC Archives: Moving Forward, Appreciating the Past
For over forty years, VJC has preserved performances of historically significant jazz artists. Founding director Attila Zoller was keenly aware of the importance of his place in the fabric of the jazz lineage. In his collection of reel-to-reel tapes, one finds recordings of him making music with jazz legends such as Joe Chambers, Pat Metheny, Paul Bley, Al Haig, Wilber Little, Charlie Haden, Fred Hersch, Scott LaFaro, and Ornette Coleman.
The VJC continues Zoller’s tradition of recognizing that events of historical significance are taking place in our venue on a regular basis. Using the best technology we can afford, we have filmed, recorded and digitally stored hundreds of concerts. We have also been the recipients of CDs and books including collections from the estates of Dr. Howard Brofsky and Lou Kannenstine (collector and CEO of Boxholder Records).
There are two things that need to happen with these recordings, videos and ephemera:
- Preserve them
- Make them accessible
The VJC has developed a plan to digitally preserve and make our collection available to scholars and jazz lovers. We have hired an archivist and are working with a leading expert in the field from the Vermont State Archives. We are working with the Center for Black Music Research at Columbia College, the Jazz History Database at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, the Wikimedia Foundation and the Digital Public Library of America to assure that the collections are easily available to both scholars and aficionados.
The anticipated cost of this project will be over $250,000 to fully implement.