Mort Fega has died!

[sheldonm]

I see that record producer and host Mort Fega died on 1/21. I don't recall seeing anything on the board about this and don't know much about Mort other than I've seen him on some of the old broadcasts I have. He was 83!

Mark

[7/4]

RIP...

[Chuck Nessa]

Sorry to hear the news.

In addition to his record, radio and notes reputation, he seemed to be a really fine guy. At some time in my "internet life" he sent me an email saying I was the only name he recognized online. We had a short exchange, but I found him to be one of the "good guys".

[Michael Fitzgerald]

I had some correspondence with him at various points and he also contributed to the Gryce book.

Here are three obits - I had not known about his extraordinary military experience.

=====================

Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel

Jennifer Peltz Staff Writer

Mort Fega walked into a New York City-area radio station one

day in 1955 with an opinion. He walked out with a job.

During the next nearly 35 years, the former rope-products

salesman built his personal interest in jazz into a career.

He was host of radio shows in South Florida and elsewhere,

produced records and emceed concerts.

Mr. Fega, who lived west of Delray Beach since 1986, died

Friday of complications from surgery. He was 83.

Mr. Fega grew up listening to Benny Goodman, Harry James and

other big-band giants in New Rochelle, N.Y., said his wife,

Muriel.

But when he told a local radio station it needed a jazz

show, his only credential was interest.

Nonetheless, the station manager allotted him an hour on

Saturday afternoons. It grew into three hours. Then into a

six-night-a-week show on a New York station, WEVD.

Mr. Fega's Jazz Unlimited was defiantly eclectic. A typical

show might include big bands and bebop, comedy and spoken

word, said one of his sons, Roger.

"He was very strict about guarding his reputation as being

someone who played what he wanted to play," Roger Fega said.

As Mr. Fega's career took him to other stations in New York,

Phoenix and Hartford, it also took him backstage and into

the studio. He started a record label, Focus Records, and

produced albums by singer-pianist Bobby Dorough and vocalist

Carmen McRae, among others.

Meanwhile, he produced and was host at concerts at some of

music's most revered venues, including the prominent Newport

Jazz Festival, Harlem's Apollo Theater and Carnegie Hall,

Roger Fega said.

Even after retiring in Florida, Mr. Fega could be found on

the air. His Focus on Jazz was broadcast from 1987 to 1989

on WXEL-90.7 FM, the Boynton Beach-based public radio

station.

"He was someone who turned a passion into his life for a

while and made it happen," Roger Fega said.

In addition to his wife and son Roger, Mr. Fega is survived

by three other sons, Russell, Douglas and Kenneth, and eight

grandchildren. The family is planning an April memorial

service for Mr. Vega, who flew 29 missions over Europe as a

B-17 captain during World War II, at Arlington National

Cemetery.

Jennifer Peltz can be reached at jpeltz@sun-sentinel.com or

561-243-6636.

========================

Mort Fega, 83, Jazz Radio Broadcaster

All About Jazz, January 27, 2005

Mort Fega, radio broadcaster, jazz record producer, journalist and

teacher, died Friday, January 21 at Hospice of Palm Beach in Bethesda

Memorial Hospital, Boyton Beach, Florida.

According to the family, the cause of death was complications

following surgery. Mr. Fega was born on July 4, 1921 in New Rochelle,

NY. He began his career in broadcasting in his hometown at radio

station WNRC, where his Saturday afternoon jazz program garnered a

loyal following.

In 1962, he moved to WEVD, the radio voice of The Forward Newspaper,

where he broadcast his program of modern jazz and spoken word six

evenings a week. At the time, radio stations were permitted to

broadcast the same content on both AM and FM frequencies.

Consequently, Fega had listeners as far north as Canada and

throughout New England. The show was called "Jazz Unlimited" and was

one of the few radio programs that featured modern jazz. A typical

show included big bands and bebop, comedy and the word jazz of Lord

Buckley and Ken Nordine and vocalists like Blossom Dearie and Joe

Williams. He produced and emceed concerts at Newport, Carnegie Hall,

Randall's Island and the Apollo Theatre.

After leaving WEVD, he continued broadcasting jazz from WBAI, WRFM,

and WTFM in New York City, and then on KXIV in Phoenix and WWUH in

Hartford.

He retired to Florida where he had a five-hour Saturday evening

program at NPR station WXEL and taught a History of Jazz course at

Palm Beach Community College. In addition, he wrote a weekly column

for the Palm Beach Post.

Fega began Focus Records to recognize under-appreciated talents like

guitarist Chuck Wayne and singer/pianist Bob Dorough, and to record

musicians he favored such as Carmen McRae and Earl "Fatha" Hines.

During World War II, Mr. Fega captained a B-17 Flying Fortress. He

and his crew flew 29 missions over Germany and occupied France and

were part of the first daylight bombings of Berlin. He was awarded

the Distinguished Flying Cross for his efforts.

Mort Fega is survived by his wife of 60 years, Muriel (Praete), and

four sons, Russell of Altadena, CA, Douglas of Carefree, AZ, Kenneth

of Sedona, AZ, and Roger of Amherst, MA, and 8 grandchildren.

==========================================

New York Radio Host, Palm Beach Post Columnist

by Pilar Ulibarri

Palm Beach Post, January 28, 2005

Mort Fega's incredible ear for music led him to emcee several

concerts at such places as Harlem's Apollo Theater, New York City's

Carnegie Hall and Rhode Island's Newport Jazz Festival.

Mr. Fega, former New York radio personality, Palm Beach Post jazz

columnist, local host of "Focus on Jazz" on WXEL-FM 90.7 and Palm

Beach Community College jazz history appreciation professor, died

last Friday of complications from back surgery. He was 83.

His radio career began in 1955 in his hometown of New Rochelle, N.Y.

"He couldn't take listening to the bad music on the radio anymore,"

his wife of 60 years, Muriel Fega, said Thursday from home in

suburban Delray Beach. "So he walked over to the local radio station

and told the station manager, 'Your music is just horrible.'"

That landed him his first on-air job: a one-hour Saturday show that

soon became a three-hour show and later turned into a full-time gig

in New York City.

But his career in music really began in the 1930s when he first heard

Benny Goodman's music and "just fell in love," said Muriel Fega, the

other love of his life and sweetheart since ninth grade.

And it wasn't just his ear for music, but his listening skills that

made him popular with jazz greats such as Miles Davis, Billie Holiday

and Carmen McRae, who he produced an album with when he owned Focus

Records. Dizzy Gillespie would eat dinners at the Fegas' and buy them

presents when overseas.

"I was friendly with most of the giants in jazz," Mr. Fega said in

1994. "I've had a most fortunate life experience in theater and on

stage."

He also touched everyday people, who he'd make CDs and tapes for from

his 20,000 recordings, one of which was always playing in one or

another room in his house.

"He loved sharing his knowledge with everyone, especially with young

people," said Muriel Fega, noting a week-old letter written to her

husband by his cousin's grandson, Paul Daniel, who lives in Maryland:

"Although you may not realize this, you are the single most

influential person in my life.... Music has saved my life on more

than one occasion as well as enriched it from the time you taught me

about it.... I cannot begin to tell you how much you have influenced

my personality, political views, sense of spirit and worldview....

You are a diamond in this rough world."

Besides Muriel, Mr. Fega is survived by his four sons, Roger, Russ,

Kenneth and Douglas; and eight grandchildren. An April memorial

service will be held in Arlington National Cemetery for Mr. Fega, who

flew combat missions over Europe in World War II, participating in

the first daylight raid of Berlin.

Edited January 31, 2005 by Michael Fitzgerald