Dan Morgenstern, R.I.P.

[EKE BBB]

From Loren Schoenberg’s page on FB:

”It breaks my heart to write this, with the family's permission.
More thorough obituaries and reminiscences will be sure to follow, sooner rather than later.

Dan Morgenstern  
Born: October 24, 1929, Munich, Germany
Died: September 7, 2024, New York, New York

Dan Morgenstern has left this earthly vale after a lengthy illness. He leaves a void for his family (wife Ellie, sons Adam and Josh) and friends and the untold numbers around the world who valued his words on jazz and life. Dan's footprint on our culture also went way beyond words.
It’s not just musicians who have influenced the ecology of jazz during its century of ascendency.  Although neither a grandstander nor a bandstander, Dan Morgenstern deserves a special place in the history and continuing evolution of this great American art form. 
Dan was at root a mentor and a humanitarian: through his voluminous writing, pioneering leadership of the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers University, and stewardship of major jazz publications, Dan always remained far above the partisan battles that mar what is known as the “critical community”. He championed the cause of so many artists paying no heed to the fads of the day, while never attaching himself like a barnacle to their careers, as so many “critics” have. He sat on innumerable arts foundations panels, always as an advocate for deserving talent and sensitive to the proper respect for the art form.
He saw the glass as far more than half full. 
Dan was not a “jazz critic”, oh no. His purview was far wider. He survived the ascent of Nazism in his native Europe and, by the time he arrived in New York at the age of 18, had the ability to appreciate jazz and its makers for what they truly were. Dan told the harrowing story of those years in his indispensable book LIVING WITH JAZZ.
Legendary trumpeter Hot Lips Page picked up on Dan’s essence right away, and took him under his wing. Under Page’s patronage, the 18 year-old Dan was able to hear/see/meet Art Tatum, Billie Holiday and untold others in the Harlem after-hour spots. Like a moth to the flame, Dan soon wound up in Louis Armstrong’s sphere, where he gradually became a member of the family. His major achievement was to translate the essence of that music and those lives into his life’s work, no matter what professional hat he wore.
Dan’s true peers are the great jazz musicians he has lived among all these years. 
Who else do you know who was beloved by Alban Berg, Louis Armstrong, Randy Weston, and Ornette Coleman, to name just a handful of his friends, and also by so many of us today as mourn his loss?
I find solace in imagining the look on his dear departed friends’ faces as Louis plays a fanfare welcoming Dan into eternity.”

 “

[GA Russell]

RIP Dan Morgenstern!

My earliest memory of him was that when I started to get into jazz in the latter half of the '60s, the liner notes he wrote for Prestige were both the best written and also the most informative of those of the albums I picked up.

[Hardbopjazz]

RIP Dan. 

[colinmce]

a staggering loss, but an incredible life. thankful for all that he gave to this music. 

[mjzee]

Truly a loss.  May his memory be for a blessing.

[John L]

RIP.  I always really appreciated him, and will continue to do so.  

[Chuck Nessa]

Dan was a friend for decades - I was just thinking of him earlier today.Damn!!

[JSngry]

The man was a giant. Much loved here.

RIP and you will be missed.

[Teasing the Korean]

I first learned his name from liner notes for those beloved 70s jazz twofer reissue LPs.  As a Jersey boy, I was happy that he was affiliated with Rutgers.  

[ghost of miles]

I was just reading an article from his Living With Jazz, which should be all but required reading for anybody who’s into the music. His work was (and will continue to be) the gold standard for jazz writers, editors and fans. His spiritual generosity and his love of the art form and its practitioners worked in tandem with a keen and profound appreciation that never betrayed even a hint of b.s. The wealth of essays, interviews, reviews, and liner notes—my God, the liner notes! —that he left to us provides some of the best documentation the music has ever received. The dean of American jazz writers afaic, but I think I’m far from alone in that regard.

[soulpope]

R.I.P   ....

[Niko]

RIP

[hopkins]

I was just listening yesterday to the Keynote Collection, reading his album notes, and listening to some of his interviews posted on YouTube. Sad news.

RIP

Dan Morgenstern, Chronicler and Friend of Jazz, Dies at 94 https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/07/arts/music/dan-morgenstern-dead.html?smid=nytcore-android-share

Here's a nice video of Morgenstern at Rutgers, which was just (re-)posted today:

 

The passing of a generation...

Edited September 8, 2024 by hopkins

[Ken Dryden]

His contributions are too numerous to list and he will be missed.

[mikeweil]

One of the greatest jazz historians ever!

R.I.P.

Edited September 8, 2024 by mikeweil

[Brad]

RIP to a giant. 

[kh1958]

He spoke at the University of Texas at Dallas once, and enlightened me about the Alphonso Trent band. His enthusiasm was infectious.

[John Tapscott]

R.I.P.  I loved the enthusiasm and clarity of Dan’s liner notes. Even in later years they had the all the joy of youthful discovery. He introduced soloists like a baseball announcer introducing say, Cincy’s Big Red Machine. Dan’s love and respect for the musicians always shone forth. Such an asset to the jazz world. 

[JSngry]

Love and respect indeed!

 

[gmonahan]

Like so many, I encountered him in his wonderful, wonderful liner notes to numerous issues and reissues. His work at the Institute has probably done more to preserve the music than practically anyone else. Some of his best writing is in this fine book. What a great life!

 

[sgcim]

So sad to hear. The amount of his knowledge of the music was staggering. RIP

[clifford_thornton]

Wow, what a loss. Condolences to those who knew him. RIP.

[sidewinder]

So sorry to hear this. He was a big part of my jazz education with those sleeve notes and Mosaic booklet essays. His contribution will be missed - RIP.

[ghost of miles]

Nate Chinen: Dan Morgenstern Kept the Faith

NY Times obit

NPR obit

Edited September 10, 2024 by ghost of miles

[clifford_thornton]

On 9/9/2024 at 11:37 AM, sidewinder said:

So sorry to hear this. He was a big part of my jazz education with those sleeve notes and Mosaic booklet essays. His contribution will be missed - RIP.

Absolute ditto here.