Armenians
THEIR GROUNDBREAKING CONTRIBUTIONS REFLECT A LEGACY OF INNOVATION THAT CONTINUES TO INSPIRE FUTURE GENERATIONS
George Avakian
Record Producer
Bio
George Avakian is a legendary record producer, music-industry executive, and band manager.
Born in 1919 in Armavir, Armenia, Avakian was educated at Yale. At Columbia Records, he was the driving force behind the company’s first reissues of jazz greats, including some previously unissued Louis Armstrong masters. He later produced some of Armstrong’s most important albums.
During his long tenure at Columbia, Avakian introduced the LP record format, created by Columbia engineers, and produced the industry’s first 100 long-playing discs of popular music and jazz. He also produced the first live LP: Benny Goodman‘s 1938 Carnegie Hall concert.
Also while at Columbia, Avakian signed and produced Dave Brubeck, Miles Davis, Johnny Mathis, Rita Reys, and Erroll Garner, among others. In 1959, he was hired as one of the founding A&R managers of the newly established Warner Bros. Records and worked as a producer for RCA Victor. Avakian signed Bob Newhart, producing the first comedy album to win a Best Album Grammy Award.
A founding officer of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (presenters of the Grammy Awards), Avakian has received numerous awards, including the National Endowments for the Arts’ AB Spellman Jazz Advocacy Award. He was also added to the ASCAP Jazz Wall of Fame as a Living Legend Giant of Jazz.