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"My first try at handling a real recording session seems to me to be a great success"

Early correspondence of jazz producer Nesuhi Ertegun with a fellow jazz maniac.

Various places, 1942-1946 and undated
27 items: 13 letters signed by Nesuhi Ertegun to Bill Riddle, 4 letters from Marili Morden Ertegun to Riddle, and 10 retained carbons
of letters from Riddle to the Ertegun brothers or Morden; minimal wear.

  • Notes: Nesuhi Ertegun (1917-1989) was raised in Turkey and came to the United States when his father was appointed as ambassador. He promoted jazz concerts while living with his father at the embassy, and then in 1944 moved to Hollywood, CA and married Marili Morden, owner of the Jazz Man Record Shop. He released 8 records on his short-lived but influential traditionalist jazz label Crescent Records from 1944 to 1946. His younger brother Ahmet Ertegun was the founder of Atlantic Records and also a legendary figure in the music business; Nesuhi joined Atlantic as a producer and head of its jazz operations in 1955; He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991.

    This correspondence is with Beale Edwin "Bill" Riddle (1918-1984), a Baltimore jazz historian and drummer. The first 5 letters are on Turkish Embassy letterhead, reflecting a growing friendship between two young jazz purists. On 19 February [1942?], Ertegun apologizes for a concert Riddle attended: "The firemen were on the verge of stopping the session, and the bookshop president was almost arrested" but he praises some of the performers and invites Riddle over to listen to some old Kid Ory records. On 20 April 1942 he describes a panel discussion in New York with some "incurable modern jive fans, people like Leonard Feather. . . . Both sides took superior attitudes and insults were thrown." 

    On 14 September 1944 Ertegun writes from Hollywood on Jazz Man Record Shop letterhead. He discusses a proposal to release an old Jelly Roll Morton recording: "We'll have to pay royalties to his estate anyway. . . . We must be absolutely positive that these are not copies of the records he made for the Library of Congress. We'd have a lawsuit on our hands." He also discusses his debut as a recording engineer: "My first try at handling a real recording session seems to me to be a great success. . . . It would have been impossible to miss with the men I had. . . . Simeon and Mutt were both great. With Ory, playing like a genius is just a matter of course." 

    Ahmet Ertegun is mentioned in some of the correspondence, and one partial carbon of a letter from Riddle to Ahmet is included, filled (like the rest of this correspondence) with warm discussion of jazzmen old and new.
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November 20, 2025 10:30 AM EST
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