Throughout his career,
Nesuhi Ertegun was responsible for many important jazz dates being recorded and, despite his rise in the record industry, he never lost his love for jazz. The older brother of
Ahmet Ertegun,
Nesuhi, the son of a Turkish diplomat, promoted jazz concerts in Washington D.C. during 1941-44. After moving to Los Angeles he helped organize
Kid Ory's band, founded a trad jazz record company (Crescent) and then operated the Jazzman label (1946-51). Although his 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 work as A&R chief for Atlantic, a label started by his brother
Ahmet. 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,
Eddie Harris and
Hank Crawford among others) during the next 15 years; he remained involved with the label up until his death. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide
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