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Columbia Records Executive's Archive Headed to New York Public Library
The New York Times
ArtsBeat Blog: The Culture at Large
March 31, 2014
By Allan Kozinn
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, at Lincoln
Center, has acquired the personal archives of George Avakian, a record
executive and producer who, during his years at Columbia Records,
oversaw some of the 20th century's most important jazz recordings, and
his wife, the violinist Anahid Ajemian, a founding member of the
Composers String Quartet. The acquisition, which the library announced
on Monday, includes more than 160 linear feet of papers, including
correspondence with musicians and composers, and recordings of concert
performances and studio sessions, including many that have never been
released commercially.
Mr. Avakian began working for Columbia Records while he was still a
student at Yale in 1940, putting together the `Hot Jazz Classics'
reissue series, which included some previously unknown recordings of
Louis Armstrong from the late 1920s, and when Columbia introduced the
LP, he produced the first 100 pop and jazz releases for the new
format. He also oversaw the 1950 LP release of Benny Goodman's 1938
Carnegie Hall concert, and produced live recordings at the Newport
Jazz Festival.
In the 1950s, Mr. Avakian signed Miles Davis and Dave Brubeck to
Columbia before moving on to RCA, where he signed Sonny Rollins, and
Warner Brothers, where his signings included the Everly Brothers, Bill
Haley and His Comets and the comedian Bob Newhart. In the early 1970s
he managed the career of the jazz pianist and composer Keith Jarrett.
A spokeswoman for the library said that the collections were not yet
fully cataloged. But among the highlights of Mr. Avakian's materials
are unreleased recordings of the Count Basie Orchestra with the tenor
saxophonist Lester Young (including an alternate take of `Lady Be
Good' from Young's first session, in 1936); complete recording
sessions by Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Sonny Rollins, Bing
Crosby, Johnny Mathis, Peggy Lee, Keith Jarrett, Chet Baker, Dave
Brubeck and Ravi Shankar, and interviews with many of the musicians.
Mr. Avakian's files include correspondence with Mr. Newhart, James
Earl Jones, Woody Allen and many of the jazz musicians he produced, as
well as photographs, lecture notes and oral histories, including
interviews in which Mr. Avakian discusses his career.
Ms. Ajemian's collection includes unreleased recordings of composers
performing their works, among them Béla Bartók, John Cage, Henry
Cowell, Lou Harrison, Alan Hovhaness, Charles Ives, Aram Khachaturian,
Yehudi Menuhin, Kurt Weill and Carlos Surinach, as well as
performances by Ms. Ajemian and her sister, the pianist Maro
Ajemian. Included as well is correspondence with Cage, Hovhaness,
Cowell, Ernst Krenek and Edgard Varčse, among others, and scripts,
notes, programs and contracts from Ms. Ajemian's career.
`The wealth of information and rare materials contained in the Avakian
and Ajemian Archives is truly remarkable,' Jacqueline Z. Davis, the
library's executive director, said in a statement. `George and
Anahid's collections not only tell the stories of their incredible
careers, but also shed light on the important relationship between
producer and artist, and performer and composer.'
A version of this article appears in print on 04/03/2014, on page C3
of the New York edition with the headline: Public Library Receives
Recordings in Archives.
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/03/31/columbia-records-executives-archive-headed-to-new-york-public-library/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=1
The New York Times
ArtsBeat Blog: The Culture at Large
March 31, 2014
By Allan Kozinn
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, at Lincoln
Center, has acquired the personal archives of George Avakian, a record
executive and producer who, during his years at Columbia Records,
oversaw some of the 20th century's most important jazz recordings, and
his wife, the violinist Anahid Ajemian, a founding member of the
Composers String Quartet. The acquisition, which the library announced
on Monday, includes more than 160 linear feet of papers, including
correspondence with musicians and composers, and recordings of concert
performances and studio sessions, including many that have never been
released commercially.
Mr. Avakian began working for Columbia Records while he was still a
student at Yale in 1940, putting together the `Hot Jazz Classics'
reissue series, which included some previously unknown recordings of
Louis Armstrong from the late 1920s, and when Columbia introduced the
LP, he produced the first 100 pop and jazz releases for the new
format. He also oversaw the 1950 LP release of Benny Goodman's 1938
Carnegie Hall concert, and produced live recordings at the Newport
Jazz Festival.
In the 1950s, Mr. Avakian signed Miles Davis and Dave Brubeck to
Columbia before moving on to RCA, where he signed Sonny Rollins, and
Warner Brothers, where his signings included the Everly Brothers, Bill
Haley and His Comets and the comedian Bob Newhart. In the early 1970s
he managed the career of the jazz pianist and composer Keith Jarrett.
A spokeswoman for the library said that the collections were not yet
fully cataloged. But among the highlights of Mr. Avakian's materials
are unreleased recordings of the Count Basie Orchestra with the tenor
saxophonist Lester Young (including an alternate take of `Lady Be
Good' from Young's first session, in 1936); complete recording
sessions by Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Sonny Rollins, Bing
Crosby, Johnny Mathis, Peggy Lee, Keith Jarrett, Chet Baker, Dave
Brubeck and Ravi Shankar, and interviews with many of the musicians.
Mr. Avakian's files include correspondence with Mr. Newhart, James
Earl Jones, Woody Allen and many of the jazz musicians he produced, as
well as photographs, lecture notes and oral histories, including
interviews in which Mr. Avakian discusses his career.
Ms. Ajemian's collection includes unreleased recordings of composers
performing their works, among them Béla Bartók, John Cage, Henry
Cowell, Lou Harrison, Alan Hovhaness, Charles Ives, Aram Khachaturian,
Yehudi Menuhin, Kurt Weill and Carlos Surinach, as well as
performances by Ms. Ajemian and her sister, the pianist Maro
Ajemian. Included as well is correspondence with Cage, Hovhaness,
Cowell, Ernst Krenek and Edgard Varčse, among others, and scripts,
notes, programs and contracts from Ms. Ajemian's career.
`The wealth of information and rare materials contained in the Avakian
and Ajemian Archives is truly remarkable,' Jacqueline Z. Davis, the
library's executive director, said in a statement. `George and
Anahid's collections not only tell the stories of their incredible
careers, but also shed light on the important relationship between
producer and artist, and performer and composer.'
A version of this article appears in print on 04/03/2014, on page C3
of the New York edition with the headline: Public Library Receives
Recordings in Archives.
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/03/31/columbia-records-executives-archive-headed-to-new-york-public-library/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=1