Harlem Blues and Jazz Band founder Albert A. Vollmer has died.

Albert A. “Al” Vollmer, founder of the Harlem Blues and Jazz Band and a tireless advocate for classic jazz, died July 3, 2026, at 97. Born in London to Swedish parents and raised near Stockholm, he came of age during the traditional-jazz revival that swept Europe in the 1940s and quickly became an avid jazz fan and record collector. His brother later recalled helping preserve Vollmer’s prized 78s by fashioning needles from bamboo and hawthorn rather than using steel.

In 1973, together with Clyde Bernhardt, Vollmer founded the Harlem Blues and Jazz Band, shaping it as a home for important sidemen of the classic and swing eras who might otherwise have been overlooked. Over the years the band featured such players as Doc Cheatham, Eddie Durham, Charlie Holmes, George Kelly, Ram Ramirez, Al Casey, and Johnny Williams, while Vollmer kept organizing dates for later editions of the group into his nineties.

He occasionally sat in with the band on curved soprano saxophone and can be heard on some recordings. But his larger contribution came as organizer, sponsor, and preservationist, helping veteran musicians find work, attention, and respect.

Vollmer also extended that work into books, film, and exhibits. He co-authored Swingin’ the Blues: Eddie Durham and co-produced the documentaries The Last of the First and We Will See Tomorrow, all rooted in his determination to document older musicians while they were still here to tell their stories. In 2025, he and Michael Dawson created The Trilogy of Jazz exhibit at the Suffolk County Historical Society. He was one of those indispensable figures behind the scenes who helped keep early jazz in public memory long after its first generation had passed from the spotlight.