The Jazz Museum in Harlem is an incredible developing entity that fully engages the NYC community with a number of free programs and performances. This one is not to be missed. ~jb

Miles Davis & George Avakian


Thursday, February 8, 2007

HARLEM SPEAKS
George Avakian, Record producer
6:30 pm | at the Jazz Museum offices
call 212-348-8300 to RSVP
FREE

On February 8, 2007, Harlem Speaks welcomes legendary producer George Avakian. His contributions to jazz have been huge through the years. A jazz critic as early as 1937, Avakian wrote about jazz for Mademoiselle and Pic during 1946-48, helped revise Charles Delauney’s famous Hot Discography when it was first published in the U.S. in 1948 and contributed to both Down Beat and Metronome. He pioneered both reissues (discovering previously unissued Armstrong items from the 1920’s) and put together one of the first jazz albums (Chicago Jazz) for Decca in 1940. After World War II, he began producing jazz records for Columbia, becoming quite influential in the 1950s when he also ran the popular music department. Among the many artists who he worked closely with were Louis Armstrong, Dave Brubeck, Duke Ellington, and Miles Davis, and he frequently penned insightful liner notes. After leaving Columbia in 1958, Avakian worked for World Pacific, Warner Bros. and RCA, freelanced with many other labels, was an important supporter of the Charles Lloyd Quartet and recently celebrated over 60 years in the jazz business.