Above: Tickets from The Jazz Forum’s 1993 Spring Concert Series. From the Jim Ruffner Live Jazz Audio Collection.

Abstract: The Jim (James) Ruffner Live Jazz Audio Collection contains almost 1,000 cassette tapes chronicling live jazz performances throughout the Metro Detroit area from the late 1980s to early 2000s. Ruffner was a longtime supporter of jazz in Detroit, serving as a board member of the Graystone International Jazz Museum and founding and running The Jazz Forum, which organized live jazz in Detroit throughout the 1990s. The collection documents concerts sponsored by both the Graystone and Jazz Forum, as well as other jazz performances occurring throughout Metro Detroit. Artists who appear in the collection include Pistol Allen, Marcus Belgrave, Kenn Cox, Charlie Gabriel, Teddy Harris, Marion Hayden, Phil Lasley, Don Mayberry, Kate Patterson, Alma Smith, Straight Ahead, Earl Van Riper, Jimmy Wilkins, and many, many more. Venues represented include the Detroit Jazz Festival, RAPA House, Baker’s Keyboard Lounge, and more. Also included is a small physical collection documenting The Jazz Forum’s concerts through flyers and ticket stubs. Around 100 cassette tapes have been digitized and are available for listening, and there is a fairly extensive inventory of artists and events that appear in the collection. If you are interested in finding out if a particular performance is present in the collection please email info@detroitsound.org. 

Donor(s): Trenna Ruffner

Dates: 1981-2009, bulk 1986-2000

Extent: 45 LF, 265 GB (currently) 

Collection Type: Physical, Digital

Subjects: Jazz, Detroit Jazz History, live performance, Graystone International Jazz Museum

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