Alfred Lion (1908–1987) was a German-born American record executive and producer best known as the founder of Blue Note Records. Born Alfred Löw in Berlin on April 21, 1908, Lion developed a passion for jazz as a teenager after hearing Sam Wooding’s Orchestra. He moved to the United States and spent much of his free time listening to jazz in Harlem and collecting records. After returning to Europe for several years, he emigrated to the United States in the 1930s.
Inspired by the 1938 From Spirituals to Swing concert at Carnegie Hall, Lion decided to make his own recordings. In January 1939, he recorded boogie-woogie pianists Albert Ammons and Meade “Lux” Lewis, establishing the foundation for Blue Note Records. His childhood friend Francis Wolff joined the company later that year, becoming his longtime business partner and collaborator.
Lion became known for his hands-on approach to recording and his willingness to give musicians greater freedom during sessions. Blue Note initially recorded traditional jazz, swing, and boogie-woogie before Lion increasingly embraced bebop, hard bop, and modern jazz. He recorded and supported artists including Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell, Miles Davis, Art Blakey, Horace Silver, John Coltrane, Lee Morgan, and Herbie Hancock. By the time Lion retired, Blue Note had produced hundreds of recordings.
Lion sold Blue Note to Liberty Records* in the mid-1960s and retired from the record business in 1967. He died in California in 1987 at age 78.
*the 1950s Hollywood/Los Angeles Liberty, the company associated with the Chipmunks, not the 1942 Liberty that became Capitol.
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[…] Note Records was founded in New York City in 1939 by Alfred Lion, a German-born jazz enthusiast who had immigrated to the United States. The label’s first […]