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Teo Macero

Teo Macero is an amazing man of music; he has worked intimately with some of the greatest figures in the history of jazz as, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck, and Thelonius Monk, in the creation of some of their most enduring works. Attilio Joseph Macero was born and raised in Glens Falls, New York. After serving in the United States Navy, he moved to New York City in 1948 to attend the Juilliard School of Music. He studied composition, and graduated from Juilliard in 1953 with Bachelor's and Master's degrees. In 1953, Macero co-founded Charles Mingus' Jazz Composers Workshop, and became a major contributor to the New York City avant garde jazz scene.He performed live, and recorded several albums with Mingus and the other Workshop members over the next three years, including “Jazzical Moods” (1954) and “Jazz Composers Workshop” ( 1955).During this time frame, in 1954 Macero also recorded “Explorations.” While he had contributed compositions to other albums, this was the first full album of his own compositions, and Macero's first album as a leader. He joined Columbia in 1957 in the capacity of producer, and produced hundreds of records while at the label. Macero worked with dozens of artists at Columbia including Mingus, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Thelonious Monk, Johnny Mathis, Count Basie, Dave Brubeck, Tony Bennett, Charlie Byrd, and Stan Getz. He was also responsible for signing Mingus, Monk, and Byrd to Columbia. Macero produced the seminal Dave Brubeck Quartet album “Time Out,” and Thelonious Monk's first Columbia recording, “Monk's Dream,” as well as “Underground.” He also produced Mingus' first Columbia album, “Mingus Ah Um.” While Macero produced many artists' albums, he had an especially long and prolific relationship with Miles Davis. He produced most of Davis' Columbia catalog, including the classics “Kind of Blue,” “Sketches of Spain,” and “Someday My Prince Will Come.” Davis' later forays into electric fusion, such as “In a Silent Way,” “Bitches Brew,” and “A Tribute to Jack Johnson,” were highlighted by Macero's innovative mixing and editing techniques. In 1975, Macero left Columbia and formed his own production company. However, he continued to work with Davis until 1983, and still continues to produce records for Columbia. As a top flight composer in his own right, Macero has also composed for, conducted, and performed with Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Salt Lake Symphony, the Kansas City Symphony, and The Juilliard School.

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345
Album Review

Teo Macero Presents The Inner World Band: Study in Contrast

Read "Study in Contrast" reviewed by Ivana Ng


Teo Macero, who while at Columbia Records produced many Miles Davis records from Kind of Blue (1959) to Bitches Brew (1969), as well as other seminal discs like Dave Brubeck's Time Out (1959) and Ellington's Blues in Orbit (1958), passed away in February at age 82. Study in Contrast, recorded in 2007 with the NYU Steinhardt Jazz Orchestra--which he called “The Inner World Band"--is full of boundless energy and reveals just how youthful Macero was as both composer and producer. ...

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50

Interview

My Friend Teo

My Friend Teo

Source: Jazz Online By Joseph Vella

Contributed by guest blogger Dr. Dave Schroeder, Director of Jazz Studies at NYU Steinhardt I actually organized this interview session with Teo along with John Snyder from Artists House Music and was present at the session to direct traffic. I had gotten to know Teo Macero back in 2003 when I became director of Jazz Studies at NYU. Chico Hamilton, one of my friends and colleagues at the New School, was also a close friend of Teo's and suggested that ...

203

Music Industry

Memorial Service for Legendary Jazz Producer Teo Macero, May 18 at NYU's Loewe Theatre

Memorial Service for Legendary Jazz Producer Teo Macero, May 18 at NYU's Loewe Theatre

Source: All About Jazz

Teo Macero, the legendary jazz saxophonist, composer, and record producer who died on February 19, will be remembered at a memorial service on Sunday, May 18 at New York University's Frederick Loewe Theatre, 35 West 4th Street, from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. The memorial service is open to the public.

The NYU Jazz Orchestra will perform a selection of Macero's music with special guest soloists. Macero played an important role in helping to develop the NYU Jazz Program over ...

124

Obituary

Teo Macero, Man Behind Electric Miles and More: Rip

Teo Macero, Man Behind Electric Miles and More: Rip

Source: All About Jazz


165

Obituary

Teo Macero, 82, Record Producer, Dies

Teo Macero, 82, Record Producer, Dies

Source: Michael Ricci

Teo Macero, a record producer, composer and saxophonist most famous for his role in producing a series of albums by Miles Davis in the late 1960s and early 1970s, including editing that almost amounted to creating compositions after the recordings, died on Tuesday in Riverhead, N.Y. He was 82 and lived in Quogue, N.Y. His death followed a long illness, his stepdaughter, Suzie Lightbourn, said. Helping to build Miles Davis albums like Bitches Brew, In a Silent Way and Get ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Study in Contrast

Teo Productions Inc.
2008

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Acoustical Suspension

American Clavé
1985

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Fusion

American Clavé
1984

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Impressions Of...

American Clavé
1983

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Virus (Original...

American Clavé
1980

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