[Dixielandjazz] George Avakian archives - New York Times blog, March 31, 2014

[Robert Ringwald]

Columbia Records Executive's Archive Headed to New York Public Library
by Allan Kozinn
New York Times blog, March 31, 2014
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 Bela Bartok, 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 Varese, 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."
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-Bob Ringwald K6YBV
www.ringwald.com
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