1. Orrin Keepnews was an American jazz writer and record producer known for founding Riverside Records and Milestone Records, for freelance work, and for his work at other labels.
18 Facts About Orrin Keepnews
1. 2.
Orrin Keepnews's mother was a public school teacher and his father worked for the Department of Welfare.
3.
Orrin Keepnews graduated from Columbia University with a degree in English in 1943.
4.
Orrin Keepnews wrote one of the earliest profiles of Thelonious Monk, then little known, for the publication.
5.
In 1954 and 1955 Grauer and Orrin Keepnews produced a series of reissues on RCA Victor's X label.
6.
In 1953, Grauer and Orrin Keepnews founded Riverside Records, which was initially devoted to reissue projects in the traditional and swing jazz idioms.
7.
In 1961, Orrin Keepnews produced the highly regarded live jazz recordings of the first Bill Evans Trio, Sunday at the Village Vanguard and Waltz for Debby.
8.
In mid-December 1963, Grauer died following a sudden heart attack, and Orrin Keepnews was unable to save the company from the bankruptcy that followed in mid-1964.
9.
Milestone was bought by Fantasy in the same year, and signed Sonny Rollins, whom Orrin Keepnews had worked with at Riverside.
10.
At Fantasy, Orrin Keepnews oversaw the repackaging of the company's holdings in the idiom as "twofer"s, including many albums he had produced at Riverside.
11.
Bill Evans, whose 1962 song "Re: Person I Knew" is a tribute to Orrin Keepnews, joined Fantasy at this time, reuniting their previous partnership; however his manager, Helen Keane, later a successful producer in her own right, took charge of Evans's recording projects.
12.
In 1985, Orrin Keepnews founded Landmark Records, whose catalog included albums recorded by the Kronos Quartet of music by Bill Evans and Monk, as well as straight jazz albums.
13.
Orrin Keepnews won several Recording Academy Grammy Awards in the 1980s: Best Album Notes for The "Interplay" Sessions performed by Bill Evans in 1984 and Best Historical Album and Best Album Notes for Thelonious Monk: The Complete Riverside Recordings in 1988.
14.
In 2004, Orrin Keepnews was given a Trustees Award for Lifetime Achievement by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
15.
In June 2010, Orrin Keepnews received a 2011 NEA Jazz Masters lifetime achievement award from the National Endowment for the Arts in the field of jazz, including a stipend of $25,000.
16.
Orrin Keepnews died at the age of 91 on March 1,2015, a day before his 92nd birthday, at his home in El Cerrito, California.
17.
Orrin Keepnews was married to the former Lucile Kaufman from 1948 until her death in 1989.
18.
Orrin Keepnews was survived by his second wife, a clothing designer, Martha Egan, and by his two sons, Peter Keepnews, an editor at The New York Times and a writer on jazz subjects; and David Keepnews, a nurse, attorney and policy analyst who is Executive Director of the Washington State Nurses Association.