WWOZ has pointed out an incredible collection of early jazz recordings that are currently available for free online. Compiled by jazz enthusiast David W. Niven between 1921 and 1991, the over 1000 hours of jazz tapes includes music from Louis Armstrong, King Oliver, Jelly Roll Morton, Sidney Bechet, Chet Baker, Billie Holiday, Charlies Parker, Django Reinhardt, Duke Ellington, Frank Sinatra and many more.

The recordings were transfered from LPs to cassette tapes in the 80s and early 90s by Niven, who prefaced them with commentary of his own. According to Niven, the purpose of the project was “to put my collection into some kind of compendium form that would attract my children to the music that had been of such significance in my life.”

Niven’s original collection included over 10,000 hours of music, so the 1000 hours that he chose to transfer represent the choice cuts from his trove. While his tastes extended beyond the early years of jazz, he deliberately chose to focus on “the years prior to the BeBop period, i.e., before Gillespie, Bird, Monk, Miles.”

Niven passed away in 1993, but his jazz recordings have since been transferred to a new medium, this time in the digital realm. Head over to Archive.org to give them a listen, and read Niven’s description of his collection.