Norman Granz
| Norman Granz | |
|---|---|
Granz in 1947
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| Background information | |
| Born |
August 6, 1918 Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Died | November 22, 2001 (aged 83) Geneva, Switzerland |
| Genres | Jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Record producer |
| Years active | 1944–2001 |
| Labels | Clef, Norgran, Down Home, Verve, Pablo |
| Associated acts | Ella Fitzgerald, Cannonball Adderley, Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Louie Bellson, Ray Brown, Benny Carter, Buck Clayton, Paulinho da Costa, Buddy DeFranco, Roy Eldridge, Duke Ellington, Herb Ellis, Tal Farlow, Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Bill Harris, Coleman Hawkins, Johnny Hodges, Billie Holiday, Milt Jackson, Illinois Jacquet, Hank Jones, Barney Kessel, Gene Krupa, Howard McGhee, Thelonious Monk, Bill Evans, Gerry Mulligan, Anita O'Day, Charlie Parker, Joe Pass, Oscar Peterson, Flip Phillips, Bud Powell, Buddy Rich, Charlie Shavers, Sonny Stitt, Art Tatum, Ben Webster, Lester Young, among many others. |
Norman Granz (August 6, 1918 – November 22, 2001) was an American jazz music impresario.
Granz was a fundamental figure in American jazz, especially from about 1947 to 1960. He was the founder of five record labels: Clef, Norgran, Down Home, Verve and Pablo. Granz was acknowledged as "the most successful impresario in the history of jazz". Granz is also known for his anti-racist position and for integrating audiences.
Born in Los Angeles, the son of Jewish immigrants from Tiraspol, After school, he began work as a stock clerk on the Los Angeles stock exchange. When America joined the Second World War, he was drafted into the US Army Air Force. Subsequently, he was posted to the Morale branch, the department charged with troops' entertainment". He then emerged into the public view when he organised desegregated jam sessions at the Trouville Club in Los Angeles, which he later expanded when he staged a memorable concert at the Philharmonic Auditorium in Los Angeles on Sunday, July 2, 1944, under the heading of "Jazz at the Philharmonic".
The title of the concert, "A Jazz Concert at the Philharmonic Auditorium", had been shortened by the printer of the advertising supplements to "Jazz at the Philharmonic". Only one copy of the very first concert program is known to exist. Norman Granz had organised the first Jazz at the Philharmonic concert with about $300 of borrowed money.
Later known as JATP, the ever-changing group recorded and toured extensively, with Granz producing some of the first live jam session recordings to be distributed to a wide market.
After several JATP concerts in Los Angeles in 1944 and 1945, Granz began producing JATP concert tours, from late fall of 1945 to 1957 in USA and Canada, and from 1952 in Europe. They featured swing and bop musicians and were among the first high-profile performances to feature racially integrated bands. Granz actually cancelled some bookings rather than have the musicians perform for segregated audiences. He recorded many of the JATP concerts, and from 1945 to 1947 sold/leased the recordings to Asch/Disc/Stinson Records (record producer Moses Asch's labels).
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