George Avakian produced jazz greats

George Avakian, a Russian-born jazz scholar and architect of the American music industry who produced essential recordings by Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis and other stars, has died at age 98.

Avakian, an executive at Columbia Records and Warner Bros. among other labels, helped popularize such consumer standards as liner notes, the long-playing album and the live album.

Through the artists he promoted and the breakthroughs he championed, Avakian helped shape the music we listen to and the way we listen to it.

He produced the classic Louis Armstrong Plays W.C. Handy and one of Dave Brubeck’s most popular albums, Dave Digs Disney. He also signed up Davis for Columbia and co-produced Miles Ahead, the 1957 album that established him as among the first jazz superstars of the post-Second World War era.

In the 1950s, Avakian supervised two historic live recordings: Benny Goodman Live at Carnegie Hall 1938 and Ellington at Newport. The Goodman concert, released in 1950, was among jazz’s first double albums, first live albums and first to sell a million copies.

Avakian’s other achievements ranged from producing Bob Newhart’s Grammy-winning debut The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart and Sonny Rollins’ comeback album The Bridge to managing Keith Jarrett and teaching, at Columbia University, one of the first courses on jazz.