Very excited to have come across this collection of 1000 hours of archived tapes with a specific focus on early jazz. There’s some hard to find Venuti and Ellington in here — looking forward to listening!

https://archive.org/details/davidwnivenjazz

From the archivist:

This is an extraordinary collection. It has been Mr. Niven’s life’s work. It represents the very finest American music of the twentieth century, and because Mr. Niven took the time and care to record these commentaries, he has produced a library that is accessible to everyone from jazz aficionados to jazz novices. For the Foxborough High School Jazz Program, which has enriched the lives of so many students, this remarkable compendium of jazz recordings should similarly enrich the program itself. This is all made even more remarkable by the fact that, had Mr. Niven not had the foresight to contact Steve Massey in 2010, this entire collection may have disappeared. How many collections of jazz like this get junked after estate sales every year? Thank you, David—your devotion to jazz will enrich the musical education of hundreds of students!