Wednesday, November 22, 2017

George Avakian

One of America's great music producers -- via the New York Times. He produced the first jazz album, in 1939 (78 r.p.m. records were bound into book-like "albums" at the time, hence the name). He was key in introducing the 33 1/3 r.p.m. "long-playing" record as the industry standard in 1948. He was an erudite music writer, who pioneered the creation of "liner notes" and preserving vast stretches of jazz history that might otherwise have been lost forever. Just some of the artists he assisted: Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Benny Goodman, Dave Brubeck, Eddie Condon, Keith Jarrett, Sonny Rollins, Bob Newhart, Ravi Shankar, John Cage, Alan Hovhaness, Ernst Krenek, Elliott Carter, Mahalia Jackson, Lotte Lenya, Gerry Mulligan, Tony Bennett, Edith Piaf, Bill Haley & the Comets, the Everly Brothers, and Johnny Mathis.