Norman Granz

Born in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, Granz was the son of Jewish immigrants The title of the concert, "A Jazz Concert at the Philharmonic Auditorium", had been shortened by the printer of the advertising supplements to "Jazz at the Philharmonic". Only one copy of the first concert program is known to exist. Norman Granz had organised the first Jazz at the Philharmonic concert with about $300 of borrowed money. Later known as JATP, the ever-changing group recorded and toured extensively, with Granz producing some of the first live jam session recordings to be distributed to a wide market. Jazz at the Philharmonic ceased touring the United States and Canada after the JATP concerts in the fall of 1957, apart from a North American Tour in 1967. ==Personal life==

Granz married three times. In 1950, he married Loretta (née Snyder) Sullivan from Michigan; they had a daughter together, Stormont Granz, who was disabled due to lack of oxygen during the birth. They separated in 1953 and divorced in 1955. In 1974, he married Grete Lyngby from Denmark. Racial equality efforts Norman Granz opposed racism and fought many battles for his artists, many of whom were black. In 1955, in Houston, he removed signs that previously designated "White" and "Negro" restrooms outside the auditorium where two concerts were to be performed by Ella Fitzgerald and Dizzy Gillespie. Between the two shows, Fitzgerald and Gillespie and Illinois Jacquet were shooting small-stakes dice in the dressing room to kill time, when the local police barged in and arrested them. After some negotiations, the artists were allowed to perform the second show and later were formally released on $50 bail. Granz was incensed by the incident and insisted on fighting the charges in court, which was successful but cost him over $2,000. Granz also spearheaded the fight to desegregate the hotels and casinos in Las Vegas, arguing that it was unfair that black artists could perform on the stages, but could not stay or gamble at the hotels, or even enter through the front doors. ==Recordings==

Many top-flight talents in jazz history recorded for one of Norman Granz's labels, including Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Louie Bellson, Benny Carter, Buck Clayton, Buddy DeFranco, Roy Eldridge, Herb Ellis, Tal Farlow, Ella Fitzgerald, Slim Gaillard, Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Coleman Hawkins, Johnny Hodges, Billie Holiday, Illinois Jacquet, Hank Jones, Gene Krupa, Anita O'Day, Charlie Parker, Joe Pass, Oscar Peterson, Flip Phillips, Bud Powell, Buddy Rich, Mort Sahl, Sonny Stitt, Art Tatum, Ben Webster, and Lester Young. Granz saw to it that his musicians were well paid. In the segregated society of the 1940s, he insisted on equal pay and accommodation for white and Black musicians. He refused to take his hugely popular concerts to places that were segregated, even if he had to cancel concerts, thereby sacrificing considerable sums of money. In 1944, Granz and Gjon Mili produced the jazz film ''Jammin' the Blues'', which starred Lester Young, Illinois Jacquet, Barney Kessel, Harry Edison, Jo Jones, Sidney Catlett, Marlowe Morris, and Marie Bryant, and was nominated for an Academy Award. It was in 1956 that Granz created Verve Records to distribute albums by Ella Fitzgerald, his new client. Granz had recently become her manager, and unified his recording activities including back catalogue of his previous labels Clef and Norgran under the common Verve imprint. Granz would manage Fitzgerald for the rest of her career. Fitzgerald's memorable series of eight Songbooks, together with the duet series (notably Armstrong-Peterson, Fitzgerald-Basie, Fitzgerald-Pass and Getz-Peterson) achieved wide popularity and brought acclaim to the label and to the artists. Granz was also the manager of Oscar Peterson, another lifelong friend. In 1959, Norman Granz moved to Switzerland. In December 1960, Verve Records was sold to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Granz founded his last label, Pablo Records, in 1973. He sold Pablo to Fantasy Records in 1989. ==See also==