From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Tue Nov 26, 2002  6:18 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Nesuhi Ertegun
 
NESUHI ERTEGUN

Born 26 November 1917, Istanbul, Turkey
Died 15 April 1989, New York City, New York

Turkish-born Nesuhi Ertegun and his younger brother Ahmet moved to
the USA in 1935, when their father was appointed Turkish Ambassador
in Washington, D.C. The brothers fell in love with American music,
especially jazz and blues and built a huge record collection. Nesuhi
promoted jazz concerts in Washington during 1941-44 and moved to
Los Angeles after marrying a California woman. There he helped organize
Kid Ory's band, founded a trad jazz record company (Crescent) and then
operated the Jazzman label (1946-51). Although Ertegun's primary musical
interest was initially New Orleans jazz (which he wrote about while serving
as the editor of Record Changer), Ertegun was also open to more modern
styles. During 1951-54 he taught at UCLA the first history of jazz course
ever given at a college for credit. After working for the Good Time Jazz and
Contemporary labels, Ertegun moved to New York to develop a jazz division
for Atlantic, a label started by his brother Ahmet in 1947. It was largely due
to Nesuhi that many rewarding jazz sessions were recorded for Atlantic (by
such artists as the Modern Jazz Quartet, Charles Mingus, Ornette Coleman
and John Coltrane) during the next 15 years. An important characteristic of
these jazz albums were the informative sleeve notes, supervised by Nesuhi
himself and the artful covers. The jazz heritage of Atlantic is still regarded
as
unique.
Nesuhi also became involved with the labels R&B and blues roster, producing
a 1955 session for the Drifters (Adorable, Steamboat, etc.), albums by LaVern
Baker (Sings Bessie Smith), Joe Turner (Boss of the Blues) and Ray Charles
(The Genius of Ray Charles) and co-producing most of the swing albums by
Bobby Darin. After buying out co-founder Herb Abramson in 1958, the Ertegun
brothers and Jerry Wexler became the three owners of Atlantic, which was sold
in 1967 for $ 17,000,000. However, the Erteguns remained involved with the
label.
Nesuhi Ertegun was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991, two
years after his death.

Further reading: Ahmet Ertegun et al, What'd I Say : The Atlantic Story :
50 Years of Music. New York : Welcome Rain, 2001.