RIP Teo

When I first started really getting into jazz, it seemed like every record I was buying was either from Blue Note's Rudy Van Gelder series, or Columbia, with Teo's name on it. Not just all the Miles stuff, but as Phil Freeman mentions, the Monk albums as well. Live at the It Club is still my favourite document of Monk. And to think of the sonic collages made with Miles, production can be more heavy-handed now with Pro Tools machinery and zooming in on waveforms than Teo was with a razor blade, tape and most importantly, keen ears. More from James Hale, DJA and Kyle Gann.

Controversies aside, Macero and the Ertegun brothers were heroes of jazz at major labels, spokesmen for the music that we no longer have. They will all be missed dearly.