[Dixielandjazz] Gene Norman R.I.P. - Downbeat, November 6, 2015

[Robert Ringwald]

Broadcaster Gene Norman Dies at 93


by Kirk Silsbee

Downbeat, November 6, 2015


Gene Norman, a high-profile Los Angeles broadcaster who became a remarkably successful jazz impresario, has died. He passed away peacefully at his home in the Hollywood Hills on Nov. 2. He was 93.


During his long, multifaceted career, Norman wore many hats, including disc jockey, TV host, record label executive, venue owner and concert promoter.


He leveraged his status as a popular DJ on radio station KFWB by producing jazz and R&B concerts for a decade. He founded GNP Records, an important independent label that issued albums of live sets recorded at his concerts and at The Crescendo, his Hollywood nightclub. Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Art Tatum, Earl “Fatha” Hines and Mel Torme are just a few of the artists in the GNP catalog.


Norman produced Los Angeles’ first remote live jazz television broadcast with the Nat “King” Cole Trio, and his TV show Campus Club anticipated MTV with its liberal use of the filmed performances called Snader Telescriptions.


Born in Brooklyn as Gene Nabatoff, he became a jazz fan early, often visiting the Apollo Theater during his youth.


At age 18, the University of Wisconsin graduate landed his first radio jobs in central and northern California before he made his way to Los Angeles in the early ’40s. Though he broadcast a pop music show over KFWB, Norman always emphasized jazz.


His star rose concurrently with the fortunes of the fledgling Capitol Records, also based in L.A. Producer Dave Dexter invited Norman to many of the label’s now-classic jazz sessions. Dexter nicknamed him “Stuffy” and lent the title to a Coleman Hawkins cut. It remained Norman’s theme song for years, and Count Basie recorded “Normania” in his honor.


Norman had a classic announcer’s voice -- erudite, yet warm and informal. He spoke to his audience as he would to one person.


In 1947, Benny Goodman, Peggy Lee and Benny Carter headlined Norman’s first concert -- under the banner of “Just Jazz.” Following Norman Granz’s lead, his presentations were all-star mixes of new and established players. His concert recordings with the Gillespie Big Band and Charlie Ventura began a run of important jazz documentation for GNP Records, which opened its doors in ’54.


Many jazz artists benefited from Norman’s celebrity and business acumen. He opened the short-lived Hollywood Empire Room in ’48, booking Armstrong, Ellington, Tatum, Woody Herman, Louis Jordan and Billy Eckstine. A consistent patron of tenor saxophonist Wardell Gray, Norman included him on many early concerts.


In 1952 Norman moved to KLAC and was a major on-air proponent of the developing West Coast jazz sounds. He recorded the Gerry Mulligan-Chet Baker band early on and named Shorty Rogers’ Giants. Norman offered a concert and record deal to drummer Max Roach, who used the opportunity to form the Max Roach-Clifford Brown Band.


In 1954 Norman opened The Crescendo, which became the most prestigious and longest-tenured showcase for jazz on the Sunset Strip. It was a supper club in the style of Hollywood A-list rooms like the Mocambo. Among the headliners there were Ellington, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Erroll Garner, Johnny Mathis and Herb Alpert. One 1959 bill featured the Count Basie Band with Lambert, Hendricks & Ross.


The smaller Interlude room occupied the venue’s second story. A diverse array of singers and piano trios worked there, including Jeri Southern and Paul Bley.


In both spaces, Norman frequently paired a musical headliner with a standup comic: Lenny Bruce, Mort Sahl, Lord Buckley, Shelley Berman, Woody Allen, Don Rickles and Bob Newhart received important bookings there. When Dick Gregory left in the middle of an engagement to take part in a civil rights action, Norman accommodated him.


Norman sold the club in 1962 as Hollywood nightlife was changing. The GNP-Crescendo label gave the early ’60s folk boom the potent duo Joe and Eddie (Joe Gilbert and Eddie Brown) and their gospel-infused “There’s A Meetin’ Here Tonight.”


As rock music asserted itself onto The Strip, Norman signed The Seeds, L.A.’s prototypical garage rock band. The band’s 1967 single “Pushin’ Too Hard” became a nationwide hit and the unofficial national anthem of L.A. rock radio.


Additionally, Norman achieved commercial success with in the polka-grounded group The Moms and Dads, as well zydeco accordionist-vocalist Queen Ida.


GNP-Crescendo became a dominant force in the world of science fiction movie and TV music with its Star Trek soundtracks and spin-offs.

  Norman was respected in the music industry, serving as one of the first trustees of the Recording Industry Association of America. Among his accolades was a 1991 induction into the American Association of Independent Music Hall of Fame. -30-


Bob Ringwald piano, Solo, Duo, Trio, Quartet, Quintet 
Fulton Street Jazz Band (Dixieland/Swing)
916/ 806-9551
Amateur (ham) Radio Station K6YBV

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