Jazz Charity Thinks Business with New CEO
The Jazz Centre UK, Britain’s leading charitable organisation for the education, promotion and preservation of the culture of jazz music in all its forms, announces the appointment of Mark Kass as new pro-bono CEO, effective 1st July 2020. Kass joined TJCUK earlier this year where he served as commercial Trustee. He is CEO of The Hive Enterprise Centre (located in the same building as the Jazz Centre) and the founder & festival director of Jazz East, the London East Jazz Network’s one-day live jazz festival in East London.
Kass’ appointment as CEO comes as The Jazz Centre UK’s founder, CEO and internationally renowned jazz trumpeter, recording artist & broadcaster Digby Fairweather transitions into a new advisory role as Creative Director. Fairweather will continue to spearhead creative and cultural development for the organisation across the world of jazz performance, as well as advise on memorabilia curation and heritage. He remains on the Board of Trustees, currently chaired by Gareth Evans.
“I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve all achieved at The Jazz Centre UK since it opened in 2015” says Fairweather. “From our re-launch in 2018 we were making huge headway until the pandemic struck and closed us down. We decided that the lockdown period was a great opportunity to take a step back to review how we’d done so far and think about where we should go moving forward.”
Asked about his new CEO Fairweather says: “Mark Kass comes from an ideal background both in business and in the jazz world and is best primed to lead the organisation in its next chapter of growth and development; he has the vision, the know-how and an extensive network of local, regional and national jazz music industry connections and business contacts to take our exciting charity to the next level.”
“Digby, his Trustees’ Board and our team of dedicated & passionate volunteers have developed The Jazz Centre UK at its base in Southend-on-Sea in Essex into a phenomenal brand with incredible growth potential,” says Kass. “I’m thrilled to be at the helm at such an exciting time and am thankful to the incredible support from the Board of Trustees for their belief in my vision for the future. There is so much more to accomplish with our local and regional communities, and I’m looking forward to making sure we work smarter to build on our aspiration to become THE national centre of excellence for jazz education, outreach and performance in the next couple of years.”
Kass will oversee The Jazz Centre UK’s continued growth through strategic partnerships with major foundations, media organisations and corporate brands, whilst maintaining strict governance and cost disciplines alongside a focus on generating sustainable revenue moving forward.
“Our first priority, however, is our duty-of-care to ensure the safe re-opening of our unique exhibition space in Southend post pandemic lockdown” says Kass. “Thanks to the Covid Emergency Grant we’ve just been allocated by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, we’re now putting all our efforts into re-engaging with our volunteers, introducing sensible social distancing & protective measures, embracing new and utilising existing accessible technologies and making loads of good old-fashioned phone calls to instil the confidence needed to bring people back to the Gallery when we re-open again at the end of the summer.”
On re-opening, Kass will drive The Jazz Centre UK’s re-launch with the ambition of becoming a national lead in the arts, heritage and cultural space partnering with key brands, leading experts and notable personalities to bring a more diverse collection of jazz-themed artworks, rare memorabilia & historic artefacts to its gallery space in the architecturally iconic Beecroft Building in Victoria Avenue, Southend-on-Sea.
Kass continues; “working with Digby, the Board and an eclectic mix of volunteers, donors and our Patrons, we’ll deliver an expanded education program with academics and educationalists to introduce a robust programme of jazz-themed learning & development events. When lockdown lifts, we particularly look forward to re-launching our new extensive, diverse and exciting live jazz music performance programme in our very own “Jazz Café ” in Southend... and we hope, further-a-field”.
END.
8th August 2020
For more information, in the first instance, please contact:
Mark Kass on +44 (0) 1702 416006 / +44 (0) 7930 334277 / londoneastjazznetwork@gmail.com
Website: www.thejazzcentreuk.co.uk
Facebook/Twitter/Instagram @TheJazzCentreUK
For images, further information: enquiries@thejazzcentreuk.co.uk
Jazz Centre Telephone: 01702 215169 (Voicemail during pandemic closure)
EDITOR’S NOTES
THE JAZZ CENTRE UK – Established in 2015 by Digby Fairweather, internationally renowned trumpeter, recording artist and broadcaster, the Jazz Centre is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation Registered with the Charities Commission Registration Number 1167421 and is based in the iconic, Brutalist-style Beecroft Building, The Old Central Library, Victoria Avenue, Southend-on-Sea, Essex SS2 6EX
Its charitable object is to advance the arts for the public benefit by the promotion of jazz music in all its forms. The Centre’s Patrons include Jools Holland, Sir Van Morrison, Dame Cleo Laine, Charlie Watts and Sir Michael Parkinson.
Significant historic artefacts housed at the Centre include the ‘Special’ trumpet of ‘The Shakespeare of Jazz’, Louis Armstrong (1934) ; the original piano of Britain’s first jazz Knight Sir John Dankworth CBE; the complete heritage collection of British jazz icon Humphrey Lyttelton including his writing desk, personal correspondence, lifetime awards and instruments, and Duncan Shoosmith’s portrait of Dame Cleo Laine which won Sky Television’s ‘Portrait Artist of the Year’ competition in 2019.
Alongside its inclusive outreach and education programmes The Jazz Centre UK houses a collection of nearly 7000 vintage jazz albums; hosts regular talks, lectures and discussion groups; a weekly programme of record recitals and film presentations; three designated areas for visual art (including the work of in-house artist Kay Whittaker); a retail outlet for jazz records, books and memorabilia, and weekly live music events hosting a wide range of performances from all across the jazz spectrum.
MARK KASS – PEN PROFILE
Mark's obsession for jazz led him firstly to jazz radio presenting on the internet radio station East London Radio and then to live music event promotion where he is the Founder and Festival Director of the London East Jazz Network's "JazzEast" Jazz Festival in East London. His extensive business portfolio includes a range of community-focussed Non-Executive Directorships and he is CEO of The Enterprise4Good Group, the managers of The Hive Enterprise Centre, The Jazz Centre UK’s neighbours upstairs in the Beecroft Building in Southend-on-Sea.
As a social entrepreneur, Kass is passionate about micro business start-up, survival and growth and he was responsible for the design development & delivery of some of the UK’s most successful business support programmes. His portfolio of Non-Executive Directorships include the Boathouse Barking, an arts & cultural venue in Barking & Dagenham, East London Radio, the internet radio station set up in 2015 in response to East London winning the bid host the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and Blackhorse Workshop, the UK’s leading affordable makerspaces and flexible workspace providers in Walthamstow, East London
Outside of work and apart from Jazz, Mark is an avid scuba diver and has a new-found passion for drawing and painting. He is father of Twins and lives on the borders of East London and Essex in Loughton.