Norman Granz (Los Angeles, USA, August 6, 1918 - Geneva, Switzerland, November 22, 2001), was an American jazz music impresario and producer. Nickname: City of Angels Official website: http://www. ... August 6 is the 218th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (219th in leap years), with 147 days remaining. ... 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... Geneva (pronunciation //; French: Genève //, German: (help· info) //, Italian: Ginevra) is the second most populous city in Switzerland, situated where Lake Geneva (French Lac Léman) flows into the Rhône River. ... November 22 is the 326th day (327th on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... Jazz is an original American musical art form originating around the early 1920s in New Orleans, rooted in Western music technique and theory, and is marked by the profound cultural contributions of African Americans. ... Music is a human activity which involves structured and audible sounds, which is used for artistic or aesthetic, entertainment, or ceremonial purposes. ... An impresario is a manager or producer in one of the entertainment industries, usually Music or Theatre. ...

Born in Los Angeles, of a Ukrainian-Jewish ancestry, Granz is a fundamental figure in American jazz music, especially of the 1950s and the 1960s. While not a musician, he was one of the most important contributors to modern music. // Events and trends This map shows two essential global spheres during the Cold War in 1959. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1960 to 1969, inclusive. ...

He first emerged into the public view with a memorable concert in Los Angeles' Philharmonic Auditorium under the heading of "Jazz at the Philharmonic" (JATP), from which he produced perhaps the first live jam-session recording to be distributed to a wide market; until then this kind of music was generally considered to be either an avant-garde style or, less charitably, a cacophony. The group which performed at that concert, featuring Ray Brown, Coleman Hawkins, Charlie Parker ("The Bird"), Sonny Criss, Nat King Cole (as a pianist, not as a singer), Hank Jones, Shelley Mann, Fats Navarro, Flip Phillips and Tommy Turk, then had two yearly tours from 1946 to 1949; annual JATP tours continued until 1957, and were briefly revived in 1967. As is common in the genre, many legends now accompany the person: about this production, it is said that the title of the concert had been shortened by the printer of the advertising supplements, and that Granz had organised it with about $200 of borrowed money. Nickname: City of Angels Official website: http://www. ... Jazz at the Philharmonic (JATP) was the title of a series of concerts and recordings produced by Norman Granz. ... Raymond Matthews (Ray) Brown (October 13, 1926 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania– July 2, 2002) was an American jazz bassist. ... Coleman Hawkins Coleman Randolph Hawkins, nicknamed Hawk and sometimes Bean, (November 21, 1901 or 1904 - May 19, 1969) was a prominent jazz tenor saxophone musician. ... Charlie Parker Charles Christopher Bird Parker, Jr. ... William Sonny Criss (October 23, 1927 - November 19, 1977) was an American jazz musician. ... For other uses, see King Cole (disambiguation). ... A pianist is a person who plays the piano. ... Born July 31, 1918 in Vicksburg, Mississippi, Hank Jones grew up in Pontiac, Michigan, where he studied piano at an early age and came under the influence of Earl Hines, Fats Waller, Teddy Wilson, and Art Tatum. ... Theodore (Fats) Navarro (24 September 1923 – 6 July 1950) was an American jazz trumpet player. ... Flip Phillips (February 26, 1915-August 17, 2001) was a jazz tenor saxophone and clarinet player. ... 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... 1949 (MCMXLIX) is a common year starting on Saturday. ... 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ...

Granz signed an agreement with Mercury Records for the promotion and the distribution of the JATP and other records. This agreement expired in 1953, and Granz created his first independent label (Clef Records) to follow the JATP project. He also created Norgran Records and Down Home Records, meant to be reserved for traditional jazz works. Mercury Records was a record label founded in Chicago, Illinois in 1945 by Irving Green, Berle Adams and Arthur Talmadge. ... 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link is to a full 1953 calendar). ...

Most of the names that made history in jazz signed with one of his labels, including Cannonball Adderley, Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Louie Bellson, Benny Carter, Buck Clayton, Buddy DeFranco, Tal Farlow, Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Roy Eldridge, Billie Holiday, Illinois Jacquet, Barney Kessel, Gene Krupa, Howard McGhee, Thelonious Monk, Gerry Mulligan, Charlie Parker, Joe Pass, Oscar Peterson, Flip Phillips, Bud Powell, Sonny Stitt, Ben Webster and Lester Young. Julian Edwin Cannonball Adderley (September 15, 1928 - August 8, 1975), originally from Tampa, Florida was a jazz saxophonist of the small combo era of the 1950s and 1960s. ... Louis Armstrongs stage personality matched his flashy trumpet as captured in this photo by William P. Gottlieb. ... William Count Basie (August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was a jazz pianist, organist, and bandleader. ... Luigi Paulino Alfredo Francesco Antonio Balassoni (born in Rock Falls, Illinois 1924), who performs as Louie Bellson, is an American jazz drummer. ... Bennett Lester Carter (August 8, 1907 – July 12, 2003) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader. ... Buck Clayton (born Wilbur Dorsey Clayton in Parsons, Kansas on November 12, 1911-died in New York City on December 8, 1991) was a American jazz trumpet player, fondly remembered for being a leading member of Count Basie’s Old Testmant orchestra and leader of mainstream orientated jam session recordings... Buddy DeFranco (born 1923) is a jazz clarinet player. ... Tal Farlow was a talented jazz guitarist. ... Stan Getz Stanley Getz, better known as Stan Getz (February 2, 1927 – June 6, 1991) was an American jazz musician. ... Dizzy Gillespie in 1955 John Birks Dizzy Gillespie (October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was born in Cheraw, South Carolina. ... Lionel Hampton with George W. Bush Lionel Hampton (April 20, 1908 – August 31, 2002), was a bandleader, jazz percussionist and vibraphone virtuoso. ... Roy David Eldridge (January 30, 1911 – February 6, 1989) was a jazz trumpet player in the Swing era. ... Billie Holiday photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1949 For the Canadian broadcaster, see Billie Holiday (broadcaster). ... Jean-Baptiste Illinois Jacquet (October 31, 1922 - July 22, 2004) was a jazz tenor saxophonist most famous for his solo on Flying Home. He is better known simply as Illinois Jacquet. ... Barney Kessel (17 October 1923 - 6 May 2004) was an American jazz guitarist. ... Gene Krupa Gene Krupa (January 15, 1909 – October 16, 1973) was a famous and influential Polish-American jazz and big band drummer, known for his highly energetic and flamboyant style. ... Howard McGhee (b March 6, 1918 Tulsa, OK - d July 17, 1987 NYC) Bebob jazz trumpeter known for lightening fast fingers and very high notes. ... Thelonious Monk, as featured on the cover of his 1956 album, Brilliant Corners (1958 reissue cover shown) Thelonious Sphere Monk (October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was a jazz pianist and composer. ... Gerry Muligan Gerald Joseph Gerry Mulligan (April 6, 1927 – January 20, 1996) was an American jazz musician, composer and arranger best known for his baritone saxophone playing, but also played the piano and the clarinet. ... Charlie Parker Charles Christopher Bird Parker, Jr. ... Joe Pass (born Joseph Anthony Passalaqua, January 13, 1929, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA, died May 23, 1994, Los Angeles, California), was a virtuoso jazz guitarist. ... Oscar Peterson Oscar Emmanuel Peterson, CC, CQ, O.Ont. ... Flip Phillips (February 26, 1915-August 17, 2001) was a jazz tenor saxophone and clarinet player. ... Earl Rudolph Bud Powell (September 27, 1924 - July 31, 1966) is widely regarded as one of the most technically gifted and influential pianists in the history of jazz. ... Sonny Stitt, a quintessential bop saxophonist. ... Benjamin Francis Webster (March 27, 1909–September 20, 1973) was an influential American jazz tenor saxophonist. ... Lester Willis Young, nicknamed Prez (August 27, 1909 – March 15, 1959) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and clarinetist. ...

It was in 1956 that Ella Fitzgerald finally joined Granz's "community", after her long-term contract with Decca Records expired, and Granz unified his activities under the common label of Verve Records. The memorable series of "songbooks" (most important of which are those dedicated to George Gershwin and Cole Porter), together with the duet series (notably Armstrong-Peterson, Fitzgerald-Basie, Fitzgerald-Pass and Getz-Peterson) achieved a wide popularity and brought acclaim to the label and to the artists. 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917 – June 15, 1996), also known as Lady Ella (the First Lady of Song), was an American singer, considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th Century. ... It has been suggested that Decca Music Group be merged into this article or section. ... Verve Records is an American Jazz record label, founded by Norman Granz in 1956, which absorbed the catalogues of his earlier labels: Norgran Records and Clef Records (founded 1953). ... George Gershwin photograph by Edward Steichen in 1927. ... Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter from Indiana. ...

In 1960 Verve Records was sold to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Granz retired to Switzerland, where he founded his last label (Pablo Records) in 1973. 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar). ... Verve Records is an American Jazz record label, founded by Norman Granz in 1956, which absorbed the catalogues of his earlier labels: Norgran Records and Clef Records (founded 1953). ... For alternate meanings of MGM, see MGM (disambiguation). ... Pablo Records was a record label founded by Norman Granz in 1973. ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ...

He died of cancer in 2001. When normal cells are damaged beyond repair, they are eliminated by apoptosis. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ...

Norman Granz is generally remembered also for his notable anti-racist position and for the battles he consequently fought for his artists (many of whom were black, perhaps the majority), in times and places where skin color was the cause of open discrimination. In 1955, in Houston, Texas, he personally removed the labels "White" and "Negro" that would have separated the audience in the auditorium where two concerts were to be performed by (among others) Ella Fitzgerald and Dizzy Gillespie; between the two shows they were found playing cards in the dressing room and arrested by local police, but after some nervous negotiations allowed to perform the second show, and only formally released after that. Oscar Peterson recounted how Granz once continued to insist that white cabdrivers take his black artists as customers even while a policeman was pointing a loaded pistol at his stomach from close range (Granz won). Granz also was among the first to pay white and black artists the same salary and to give them equal treatment even in minor details, like dressing rooms. An African-American man drinks out of the colored only water cooler at a racially segregated streetcar terminal in the United States in 1939. ... 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Houston redirects here. ... Oscar Peterson Oscar Emmanuel Peterson, CC, CQ, O.Ont. ...

Beloved by his artists (in part because he paid more than average), he had three main goals, as he repeatedly and frankly declared: to fight against racism, to give listeners a good product, and to earn money from good music.

The most famous of his labels, Verve, is today a synonym of high-quality recordings and musical content or, shortly, for Norman Granz.

External links

• Norman Granz Biography

See also: List of record producers This is a list of record producers: Contents: Top - 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A Mark Abramson producer for Judy Collins, Love, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band. ...