{"value"=>"<p>This subseries documents George Avakian's recording productions, his working and personal relationships with musicians, his history with several record labels, his innovations in presenting recorded music, and important events in which he played a key role. These events include the Newport Jazz Festivals of the late 1950s and early 1960s; significant tours by Benny Goodman and Charles Lloyd; and his record and concert productions meant to further artistic exchange between the United States and the Soviet Union. Files in this subseries consist of correspondence, internal company memos, writings, notes, awards, contracts, business records, concert programs, promotional material, clippings, photographs, posters, and scores.</p> <p>Recording artists and composers documented include Louis Armstrong, Cannonball Adderley, Dave Brubeck, John Cage, Eddie Condon, Miles Davis, Wild Bill Davison, Paul Desmond, Eric Dolphy, Armen Donelian, John Eaton, Duke Ellington, Gil Evans, the Everly Brothers, Erroll Garner, Benny Goodman, Billie Holiday, Datevik Hovenasian, Alan Hovhaness, Dick Hyman, Mahalia Jackson, Keith Jarrett, Aram Khachaturian, Lotte Lenya, Charles Lloyd, Oleg Lundstrem, William Masselos, Johnny Mathis, Helen Merrill, Turk Murphy, Bob Newhart, Orchestra U.S.A., Sonny Rollins, and Ravi Shankar.</p> <p>Among the more documented artists are Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, Keith Jarrett, and Charles Lloyd.</p> <p>The Louis Armstrong files, mostly dating from the 1990s and early 2000s, contain correspondence, notes, and annotations regarding the Sony Legacy reissues of the Armstrong albums Avakian produced in the 1950s: <span class=\"title\">Louis Armstrong Plays W.C. Handy</span>, <span class=\"title\">Ambassador Satch</span>, <span class=\"title\">Satch Plays Fats</span>, and <span class=\"title\">Satchmo The Great</span>. Other notable Armstrong content includes contemporary documentation of the \"Mack The Knife\" single; correspondence regarding Avakian's discovery of unrecorded Armstrong compositions at the Library of Congress (see The Rediscovered Louis and Bix); and copies of correspondence between Avakian and Joe Glaser, Armstrong's manager, dating from 1955 to 1956.</p> <p>Files on Miles Davis primarily document the 1997 Sony Legacy boxed set reissue of the albums Davis recorded with Gil Evans for Columbia Records, particularly <span class=\"title\">Miles Ahead</span>. A copy of Davis's 1955 contract with Columbia is located in box 69, folder 21.</p> <p>The Keith Jarrett files include letters from Jarrett regarding recording, contract, touring, and publishing issues; correspondence with ABC/Impulse, Atlantic, CBS, and ECM Records; recording notes or marketing plans for various albums; touring files; and lead sheets of Jarrett's music submitted to Fontelle Music for copyright purposes (Avakian founded the publishing company to provide a home for Jarrett's and Charles Lloyd's music).</p> <p>Files on Charles Lloyd document Avakian's management of the saxophonist during his period of greatest commercial success in the mid- to late-1960s. Avakian acted as agent and tour manager for Lloyd's quartet and as advisor in Lloyd's dealings with record companies. He also established Fontelle Music. The Lloyd files are in two divisions: management and touring.</p> <p>Management files, arranged chronologically, date from 1962 to 1981. They are composed of correspondence, clippings, and promotional literature. Correspondents include Lloyd, Atlantic Records, Columbia Records, the William Morris Agency, publishers, and Broadcast Music, Inc.</p> <p>The Lloyd touring files are mostly arranged chronologically, with folders for each engagement as well as folders of correspondence and documentation regarding overall tour finances. They hold correspondence with local presenters, hotels, and airlines; Avakian's notes; itineraries; concert programs; clippings; promotional literature; posters; and financial statements. Files for the 1966 tours are partially arranged alphabetically by country.</p> <p>Other subjects in this subseries include Avakian's 20-year career history with Columbia Records, as well as the history of the company; his careers at World Pacific, Warner Brothers, and RCA Records; the trumpeter Bix Beiderbecke; the composer Bill Russell; the Voice of America jazz DJ Willis Conover; the Music For Moderns concert series; the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences; the 1965 Off-Broadway production of <span class=\"title\">The Cradle Will Rock</span>; jazz in the Soviet Union, Soviet jazz musicians, and jazz festivals in the country; the development of the long-playing record and its role in expanding the record business; the film <span class=\"title\">Jazz On A Summer's Day</span>; the Newport Jazz Festivals from 1956 to 1963; the musician and writer Mike Zwerin; concerts Avakian helped organize to benefit the Armenian Children's Fund; Avakian Brothers, the family Persian rug importing business for which Avakian worked in the 1970s; and the producers Hank O'Neal, Vartan Tonoian, and Phil Schaap.</p> <p>See notes in the container list for further details on all contents of this subseries.</p>"}