Ahmet Ertegun Biography & Awards

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Artist Info

Born

July 31, 1923 Istanbul, Turkey

Died

December 14, 2006 New York, NY

Biography

Ahmet Ertegun, along with his brother Nesuhi, plus engineer/producer Tom Dowd, producer Jerry Wexler, and others such as writer Jessie Stone, helped create and hone the Atlantic Records jazz, R&B, and pop empire in the '50s and '60s. The Erteguns arrived in America from Turkey and forged a company to record, distribute and publicize the sounds of Black America, which at that time were largely going ignored. Ahmet Ertegun also made Atlantic a prime label for cabaret recordings, commissioning and issuing albums by Mabel Mercer and Bobby Short. He doubled as a songwriter in the '50s, issuing a number of singles under a slightly revised listing of his name. ~ Ron Wynn, All Music Guide