Gene Norman obit

Gene Norman, Music Producer With an Ear for Jazz, Dies at 93

 

He was not on the list.

Gene Norman, a promoter, club owner and record producer who helped introduce many legends of jazz to the West Coast, died Nov. 2 in Los Angeles at the age of 93.

Norman got his start as a disc jockey and founded the label GNP Crescendo.

He began promoting jazz concerts in Los Angeles venues and eventually opened Crescendo on the Sunset Strip, where artists and comedians including Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, Johnny Mathis, Lenny Bruce, Bob Newhart, Don Rickles, and Woody Allen took the stage before the venue was sold in the 1960s.

Born Eugene Nabatoff on January 30, 1922, he moved to San Francisco and then to Los Angeles after his studies. In the 1940s, he was a host for radio stations in the City of Angels including KLAC and KFWB. Particularly passionate about jazz, he organized concerts and opened his own club, the Crescendo, in 1945, and at the same time launched the record label mentioned above. At his initiative, renowned jazz artists – Dinah Washington, Ella Fitzgerald, Benny Goodman, Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Armstrong… – performed in major clubs in the region such as the Shrine, the Pasadena Civic Auditorium and the Hollywood Bowl. But he was also interested in the blues and was a pioneer by programming his Dixieland and Blues Jubilees from the 1950s, where Jimmy Witherspoon, Helen Humes and Big Joe Turner appeared. In addition to numerous jazz recordings for his GNP Crescendo brand, he discovered the singer and accordionist Queen Ida (who won a Grammy Award in 1982 for her album “Queen Ida And The Bon Temps Zydeco Band On Tour” recorded on her label), and collaborates with other musicians or groups related to the blues including John Mayall, Savoy Brown and Clifton Chenier. Very active in all areas of music, he is also the originator of numerous film soundtracks, including those for Godzilla and several episodes of the Star Trek series . Finally, Gene Norman was entered into the Hall of Fame of the American Association of Independent Music in 1991.