Arif Mardin
Encyclopedia
Arif Mardin was a Turkish
-American
music producer, who worked with hundreds of artists across many different styles of music, including jazz
, rock
, soul
, disco
, and country
. He worked at Atlantic Records
for over 30 years, as both an assistant, producer, arranger, studio manager, and vice president, before moving to EMI
and serving as vice president and general manager of Manhattan Records
. His collaborations include working with Queen
, The Bee Gees, Anita Baker
, Aretha Franklin
, Bette Midler
, Laura Branigan
, Chaka Khan
, Scritti Politti
, Phil Collins
, Daniel Rodriguez
, Norah Jones
, Richard Marx
, Culture Club
and Jewel
. Mardin was awarded 11 Grammy Awards.
into a renowned family that included statesmen, diplomats and leaders in the civic, military and business sectors of the Ottoman Empire
and the Turkish Republic. His father was co-owner in a petroleum gas station chain.
Mardin grew up listening to the likes of Bing Crosby
and Glenn Miller
. Through his sister he met jazz
critic Cuneyt Sermet, who turned him onto this music and eventually became his mentor. After graduating from Istanbul University
in Economics and Commerce, Mardin studied at the London School of Economics
. Influenced by his sister's music records and jazz, he was also an accomplished orchestrator and arranger, but he never intended to pursue a career in music. However, he made two solo albums: Glass Onion, in 1970, and Journey, in 1975. In Journey, he was the composer and arranger, but he also played electric piano and percussion, and was accompanied by many stars of jazz (Randy
and Michael Brecker
, Joe Farrell
, Gary Burton
, Ron Carter
, Steve Gadd
, Billy Cobham
and many others).
However, his fate changed in 1956 after meeting the American jazz musicians Dizzy Gillespie
and Quincy Jones
at a concert in Istanbul. He sent three demo compositions to his friend Tahir Sur who worked at a radio station in America. Sur took these compositions to Quincy Jones and Mardin became the first recipient of the Quincy Jones Scholarship at the Berklee College of Music
in Boston
. In 1958 he and his fiancé Latife moved from Istanbul to Boston. After graduating in 1961, he taught at Berklee for one year and then moved to New York City
to try his luck. Arif Mardin was later made a trustee of Berklee and was awarded an honorary doctorate.
in 1963 as an assistant to Nesuhi Ertegün
. A fellow Turkish émigré, Nesuhi was the brother of Ahmet Ertegün
, Atlantic's co-founder and a jazz enthusiast when they met at the Newport Jazz Festival
. Mardin rose through the ranks quickly, becoming studio manager, label house producer and arranger. In 1969, he became the Vice President and later served as Senior Vice President until 2001. He worked closely on many projects with co-founders Ertegün and Jerry Wexler
, as well as noted recording engineer Tom Dowd
; the three legends (Dowd, Mardin, and Wexler) were responsible for establishing the "Atlantic Sound". Arif Mardin retired from Atlantic Records in May 2001 and re-activated his label Manhattan Records
. He maintained ties to the Turkish music industry.
He produced countless hit artists including Margie Joseph
, The Rascals
, Carly Simon
, Petula Clark
, Bette Midler
, Barbra Streisand
, the Bee Gees
, Diana Ross
, Queen
, Patti Labelle
, Aretha Franklin
, Lulu
, Anita Baker
, Judy Collins
, Phil Collins
, Scritti Politti
, Culture Club
, Roberta Flack
, Average White Band, Hall & Oates
, Donny Hathaway
, Norah Jones
, Daniel Rodriguez
, Chaka Khan
, George Benson
, Melissa Manchester
, Side Show, The Manhattan Transfer
, Modern Jazz Quartet
, Willie Nelson
, John Prine
, Leo Sayer
, Dusty Springfield
, David Bowie
, Jewel
and Ringo Starr
.
Mardin, when producing the Bee Gees' 1975 Main Course
album track "Nights on Broadway
" famously discovered the distinctive falsetto of Barry Gibb
, which became a familiar trademark of the band throughout the disco era.
In his career of more than 40 years, he collected over 40 gold and platinum albums, over 15 Grammy nominations and 12 Grammy Awards. In 1990, Arif Mardin was inducted into the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame.
. His remains were brought to Turkey and were interred at Karacaahmet Cemetery
in Üsküdar
district of Istanbul on July 5, 2006. Bee Gees' soloist Robin Gibb
and his wife Dwina attended also the funeral service among other prominent people.
Arif’s widow Latife is a playwright
. Their son Yusuf "Joe" Muhittin
(aka Joe Mardin), also a Berklee graduate, is a producer and arranger while their daughter Julie is an avant-garde artist-photographer. The other daughter, Nazan Joffre, works along with her brother. Joe Mardin created a documentary about his father called The Greatest Ears in Town: The Arif Mardin Story
which was released on June 15, 2010. The documentary was directed by Doug Biro
. It was premiered at several screenings at different chapters of The Recording Academy
. The first screening took place in New York
on June 15, 2010.
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
-American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
music producer, who worked with hundreds of artists across many different styles of music, including jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
, disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
, and country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
. He worked at Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
for over 30 years, as both an assistant, producer, arranger, studio manager, and vice president, before moving to EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
and serving as vice president and general manager of Manhattan Records
Manhattan Records
Manhattan Records is a United States record label, owned by EMI and operates as a subsidiary of The Blue Note Label Group.-Company history:Manhattan Records was formed in 1984 by Bruce Lundvall, and was later renamed EMI Manhattan Records after absorbing EMI America Records imprint...
. His collaborations include working with Queen
Queen (band)
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...
, The Bee Gees, Anita Baker
Anita Baker
Anita Baker is an American R&B/soul jazz singer-songwriter. To date, Baker has won eight Grammy Awards, and has four platinum albums and two gold albums to her credit....
, Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
, Bette Midler
Bette Midler
Bette Midler is an American singer, actress, and comedian, also known by her informal stage name, The Divine Miss M. She became famous as a cabaret and concert headliner, and went on to star in successful and acclaimed films such as The Rose, Ruthless People, Beaches, and For The Boys...
, Laura Branigan
Laura Branigan
Laura Ann Branigan was an American singer-songwriter and actress of Italian and Irish ancestry. She is best known in the United States for her 1982 Platinum-certified hit "Gloria" and in Europe for the number-one single "Self Control"...
, Chaka Khan
Chaka Khan
Chaka Khan , frequently known as the Queen of Funk, is a 10-time Grammy Award winning American singer-songwriter who gained fame in the 1970s as the frontwoman and focal point of the funk band Rufus. While still a member of the group in 1978, Khan embarked on a successful solo career...
, Scritti Politti
Scritti Politti
Scritti Politti are a British band, originally formed in 1977 in Leeds, Yorkshire, England. Although there have been various changes to the line-up, Cardiff-born singer-songwriter Green Gartside was the founding member of the band and the only member to have remained throughout the group's...
, Phil Collins
Phil Collins
Philip David Charles "Phil" Collins, LVO is an English singer-songwriter, drummer, pianist and actor best known as a drummer and vocalist for British progressive rock group Genesis and as a solo artist....
, Daniel Rodriguez
Daniel Rodriguez
Daniel Rodríguez is an American operatic tenor from New York City. He became known as "The Singing Policeman" in his former work with the New York City Police Department, due to his role as one of the department's designated National Anthem singers...
, Norah Jones
Norah Jones
Norah Jones is an American singer-songwriter and occasional actress.In 2002, she launched her solo music career with the release of the commercially successful and critically acclaimed album Come Away With Me, which was certified a diamond album in 2002, selling over 20 million copies...
, Richard Marx
Richard Marx
Richard Noel Marx is an American adult contemporary and pop/rock singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He had a string of hit singles in the late 1980s and 1990s, including "Endless Summer Nights", "Right Here Waiting", "Now and Forever", and "Hazard"...
, Culture Club
Culture Club
Culture Club are a British rock band who were part of the 1980s New Romantic movement. The original band consisted of Boy George , Mikey Craig , Roy Hay and Jon Moss...
and Jewel
Jewel (singer)
Jewel Kilcher , professionally known as Jewel, is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, actress and poet...
. Mardin was awarded 11 Grammy Awards.
Early life
Arif Mardin was born in IstanbulIstanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
into a renowned family that included statesmen, diplomats and leaders in the civic, military and business sectors of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
and the Turkish Republic. His father was co-owner in a petroleum gas station chain.
Mardin grew up listening to the likes of Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
and Glenn Miller
Glenn Miller
Alton Glenn Miller was an American jazz musician , arranger, composer, and bandleader in the swing era. He was one of the best-selling recording artists from 1939 to 1943, leading one of the best known "Big Bands"...
. Through his sister he met jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
critic Cuneyt Sermet, who turned him onto this music and eventually became his mentor. After graduating from Istanbul University
Istanbul University
Istanbul University is a Turkish university located in Istanbul. The main campus is adjacent to Beyazıt Square.- Synopsis :A madrasa, a religious school, was established sometime in the 15th century after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople. An institution of higher education named the...
in Economics and Commerce, Mardin studied at the London School of Economics
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
. Influenced by his sister's music records and jazz, he was also an accomplished orchestrator and arranger, but he never intended to pursue a career in music. However, he made two solo albums: Glass Onion, in 1970, and Journey, in 1975. In Journey, he was the composer and arranger, but he also played electric piano and percussion, and was accompanied by many stars of jazz (Randy
Randy Brecker
Randal "Randy" Brecker is an American trumpeter and flugelhornist. He is a highly sought after performer in the genres of jazz, rock, and R&B, and has performed or recorded with Stanley Turrentine, Billy Cobham, Bruce Springsteen, Lou Reed, Sandip Burman, Charles Mingus, Blood, Sweat & Tears,...
and Michael Brecker
Michael Brecker
Michael Leonard Brecker was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Acknowledged as "a quiet, gentle musician widely regarded as the most influential tenor saxophonist since John Coltrane," he has been awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer and was inducted into Down Beat Jazz...
, Joe Farrell
Joe Farrell
Joseph Carl Firrantello , known as Joe Farrell, was an American jazz saxophonist and flutist. He is best known for a series of albums under his own name on the CTI record label and for playing in the initial incarnation of Chick Corea's Return to Forever.-Biography:Farrell was born in Chicago...
, Gary Burton
Gary Burton
Gary Burton is an American jazz vibraphonist.A true original on the vibraphone, Burton developed a pianistic style of four-mallet technique as an alternative to the usual two-mallets. This approach caused Burton to be heralded as an innovator and his sound and technique are widely imitated...
, Ron Carter
Ron Carter
Ron Carter is an American jazz double-bassist. His appearances on over 2,500 albums make him one of the most-recorded bassists in jazz history, along with Milt Hinton, Ray Brown and Leroy Vinnegar. Carter is also an acclaimed cellist who has recorded numerous times on that...
, Steve Gadd
Steve Gadd
Steve Gadd is an American session and studio drummer, notable for his work with popular musicians from a wide range of genres.-Biography:...
, Billy Cobham
Billy Cobham
William C. Cobham is a Panamanian American jazz drummer, composer and bandleader, who has called Switzerland home since the late 1970s....
and many others).
However, his fate changed in 1956 after meeting the American jazz musicians Dizzy Gillespie
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
and Quincy Jones
Quincy Jones
Quincy Delightt Jones, Jr. is an American record producer and musician. A conductor, musical arranger, film composer, television producer, and trumpeter. His career spans five decades in the entertainment industry and a record 79 Grammy Award nominations, 27 Grammys, including a Grammy Legend...
at a concert in Istanbul. He sent three demo compositions to his friend Tahir Sur who worked at a radio station in America. Sur took these compositions to Quincy Jones and Mardin became the first recipient of the Quincy Jones Scholarship at the Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music, located in Boston, Massachusetts, is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known primarily as a school for jazz, rock and popular music, it also offers college-level courses in a wide range of contemporary and historic styles, including hip...
in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
. In 1958 he and his fiancé Latife moved from Istanbul to Boston. After graduating in 1961, he taught at Berklee for one year and then moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to try his luck. Arif Mardin was later made a trustee of Berklee and was awarded an honorary doctorate.
Career
Mardin began his career at Atlantic RecordsAtlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
in 1963 as an assistant to Nesuhi Ertegün
Nesuhi Ertegun
Nesuhi Ertegun was a Turkish record producer and executive of Atlantic Records and WEA International.-Background:Born in Istanbul, Turkey, Nesuhi and his family, including younger brother Ahmet, moved to Washington, D.C...
. A fellow Turkish émigré, Nesuhi was the brother of Ahmet Ertegün
Ahmet Ertegun
Ahmet Ertegün was a Turkish American musician and businessman, best known as the founder and president of Atlantic Records. He also wrote classic blues and pop songs and served as Chairman of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and museum...
, Atlantic's co-founder and a jazz enthusiast when they met at the Newport Jazz Festival
Newport Jazz Festival
The Newport Jazz Festival is a music festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island, USA. It was established in 1954 by socialite Elaine Lorillard, who, together with husband Louis Lorillard, financed the festival for many years. The couple hired jazz impresario George Wein to organize the...
. Mardin rose through the ranks quickly, becoming studio manager, label house producer and arranger. In 1969, he became the Vice President and later served as Senior Vice President until 2001. He worked closely on many projects with co-founders Ertegün and Jerry Wexler
Jerry Wexler
Gerald "Jerry" Wexler was a music journalist turned music producer, and was regarded as one of the major record industry players behind music from the 1950s through the 1980s...
, as well as noted recording engineer Tom Dowd
Tom Dowd
Tom Dowd was an American recording engineer and producer for Atlantic Records. He was credited with innovating the multi-track recording method. Dowd worked on a virtual "who's who" of recordings that encompassed blues, jazz, pop, rock and soul records.- Early years :Born in Manhattan, Dowd grew...
; the three legends (Dowd, Mardin, and Wexler) were responsible for establishing the "Atlantic Sound". Arif Mardin retired from Atlantic Records in May 2001 and re-activated his label Manhattan Records
Manhattan Records
Manhattan Records is a United States record label, owned by EMI and operates as a subsidiary of The Blue Note Label Group.-Company history:Manhattan Records was formed in 1984 by Bruce Lundvall, and was later renamed EMI Manhattan Records after absorbing EMI America Records imprint...
. He maintained ties to the Turkish music industry.
He produced countless hit artists including Margie Joseph
Margie Joseph
Margaret Marie "Margie" Joseph is an American R&B, soul and gospel singer. Her greatest success came in the 1970s, with her biggest hits being her version of Paul McCartney's "My Love", her version of The Supremes' "Stop! In the Name of Love" and her duet with Blue Magic...
, The Rascals
The Rascals
The Rascals were an American blue-eyed soul group initially active during the years 1965–72. The band released numerous top ten singles in North America during the mid- and late-1960s, including the U.S. #1 hits "Good Lovin'" , "Groovin'" , and "People Got to Be Free"...
, Carly Simon
Carly Simon
Carly Elisabeth Simon is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and children's author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records, and has since been the recipient of two Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, and a Golden Globe Award for her work...
, Petula Clark
Petula Clark
Petula Clark, CBE is an English singer, actress, and composer whose career has spanned seven decades.Clark's professional career began as an entertainer on BBC Radio during World War II...
, Bette Midler
Bette Midler
Bette Midler is an American singer, actress, and comedian, also known by her informal stage name, The Divine Miss M. She became famous as a cabaret and concert headliner, and went on to star in successful and acclaimed films such as The Rose, Ruthless People, Beaches, and For The Boys...
, Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
, the Bee Gees
Bee Gees
The Bee Gees are a musical group that originally comprised three brothers: Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was successful for most of their 40-plus years of recording music, but they had two distinct periods of exceptional success: as a pop act in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and as a...
, Diana Ross
Diana Ross
Diana Ernestine Earle Ross is an American singer, record producer, and actress. Ross was lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that included successful ventures into film and Broadway...
, Queen
Queen (band)
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...
, Patti Labelle
Patti LaBelle
Patricia Louise Holte-Edwards , better known under the stage name, Patti LaBelle, is a Grammy Award winning American singer, author and actress who has spent over 50 years in the music industry...
, Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
, Lulu
Lulu (singer)
Lulu Kennedy-Cairns, OBE , best known by her stage name Lulu, is a Scottish singer, actress, and television personality who has been successful in the entertainment business from the 1960s through to the present day...
, Anita Baker
Anita Baker
Anita Baker is an American R&B/soul jazz singer-songwriter. To date, Baker has won eight Grammy Awards, and has four platinum albums and two gold albums to her credit....
, Judy Collins
Judy Collins
Judith Marjorie "Judy" Collins is an American singer and songwriter, known for her eclectic tastes in the material she records ; and for her social activism. She is an alumna of the University of Colorado.-Musical career:Collins was born and raised in Seattle, Washington...
, Phil Collins
Phil Collins
Philip David Charles "Phil" Collins, LVO is an English singer-songwriter, drummer, pianist and actor best known as a drummer and vocalist for British progressive rock group Genesis and as a solo artist....
, Scritti Politti
Scritti Politti
Scritti Politti are a British band, originally formed in 1977 in Leeds, Yorkshire, England. Although there have been various changes to the line-up, Cardiff-born singer-songwriter Green Gartside was the founding member of the band and the only member to have remained throughout the group's...
, Culture Club
Culture Club
Culture Club are a British rock band who were part of the 1980s New Romantic movement. The original band consisted of Boy George , Mikey Craig , Roy Hay and Jon Moss...
, Roberta Flack
Roberta Flack
Roberta Flack is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who is notable for jazz, soul, R&B, and folk music...
, Average White Band, Hall & Oates
Hall & Oates
Hall & Oates are an American musical duo composed of Daryl Hall and John Oates. They achieved their greatest fame in the late 1970s and early to mid-1980s. Both sing and play instruments. They specialized in a fusion of rock and roll and rhythm and blues styles, which they dubbed "rock and soul."...
, Donny Hathaway
Donny Hathaway
Donny Edward Hathaway was an American soul singer-songwriter and musician. Hathaway contracted with Atlantic Records in 1969 and with his first single for the Atco label, "The Ghetto, Part I" in early 1970, Rolling Stone magazine "marked him as a major new force in soul music."His collaborations...
, Norah Jones
Norah Jones
Norah Jones is an American singer-songwriter and occasional actress.In 2002, she launched her solo music career with the release of the commercially successful and critically acclaimed album Come Away With Me, which was certified a diamond album in 2002, selling over 20 million copies...
, Daniel Rodriguez
Daniel Rodriguez
Daniel Rodríguez is an American operatic tenor from New York City. He became known as "The Singing Policeman" in his former work with the New York City Police Department, due to his role as one of the department's designated National Anthem singers...
, Chaka Khan
Chaka Khan
Chaka Khan , frequently known as the Queen of Funk, is a 10-time Grammy Award winning American singer-songwriter who gained fame in the 1970s as the frontwoman and focal point of the funk band Rufus. While still a member of the group in 1978, Khan embarked on a successful solo career...
, George Benson
George Benson
George Benson is a ten Grammy Award winning American musician, whose production career began at the age of twenty-one as a jazz guitarist....
, Melissa Manchester
Melissa Manchester
Melissa Manchester is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Beginning in the 1970s, she has recorded generally in the adult contemporary genre. She has also appeared as an actress on television, in films, and on stage....
, Side Show, The Manhattan Transfer
The Manhattan Transfer
The Manhattan Transfer is an American vocal music group. There have been two manifestations of the group, with Tim Hauser being the only person to be part of both...
, Modern Jazz Quartet
Modern Jazz Quartet
The Modern Jazz Quartet was established in 1952 by Milt Jackson , John Lewis , Percy Heath , and Kenny Clarke . Connie Kay replaced Clarke in 1955...
, Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...
, John Prine
John Prine
John Prine is an American country/folk singer-songwriter. He has been active as a recording artist and live performer since the early 1970s.-Biography:...
, Leo Sayer
Leo Sayer
Leo Sayer is a British singer-songwriter, musician, and entertainer whose singing career has spanned four decades. Sayer became a naturalised Australian citizen in 2009. Sayer was a top singles and album act on both sides of the Atlantic in the 1970s...
, Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'BrienSources use both Isabel and Isobel as the spelling of her second name. OBE , known professionally as Dusty Springfield and dubbed The White Queen of Soul, was a British pop singer whose career extended from the late 1950s to the 1990s...
, David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
, Jewel
Jewel (singer)
Jewel Kilcher , professionally known as Jewel, is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, actress and poet...
and Ringo Starr
Ringo Starr
Richard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...
.
Mardin, when producing the Bee Gees' 1975 Main Course
Main course
A main dish is the featured or primary dish in a meal consisting of several courses. It usually follows the entrée course, and the salad course. In North American usage it may in fact be called the "entree"....
album track "Nights on Broadway
Nights on Broadway
"Nights on Broadway" is a song by the Bee Gees for the Main Course album in 1975. The second single release from the album, it immediately followed their number-one hit "Jive Talkin'"....
" famously discovered the distinctive falsetto of Barry Gibb
Barry Gibb
Barry Alan Crompton Gibb, CBE , is a singer, songwriter and producer. He was born in the Isle of Man to English parents. With his brothers Robin and Maurice, he formed The Bee Gees, one of the most successful pop groups of all time. The trio got their start in Australia, and found their major...
, which became a familiar trademark of the band throughout the disco era.
In his career of more than 40 years, he collected over 40 gold and platinum albums, over 15 Grammy nominations and 12 Grammy Awards. In 1990, Arif Mardin was inducted into the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame.
Personal life
Mardin died at his home in New York on June 25, 2006 following a lengthy battle with pancreatic cancerPancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer refers to a malignant neoplasm of the pancreas. The most common type of pancreatic cancer, accounting for 95% of these tumors is adenocarcinoma, which arises within the exocrine component of the pancreas. A minority arises from the islet cells and is classified as a...
. His remains were brought to Turkey and were interred at Karacaahmet Cemetery
Karacaahmet Cemetery
The Karacaahmet Cemetery , located in Üsküdar district, is the oldest in Istanbul and, at , the largest burial ground in Turkey.The cemetery was named after a warrior companion of Orhan I, the second Ottoman sultan and is believed to have been founded in the mid-14th century...
in Üsküdar
Üsküdar
Üsküdar is a large and densely populated municipality of Istanbul, Turkey, on the Anatolian shore of the Bosphorus. It is bordered on the north by Beykoz, on the east by Ümraniye, on the southeast by Ataşehir, on the south by Kadıköy, and on the west by the Bosphorus, with the areas of Beşiktaş,...
district of Istanbul on July 5, 2006. Bee Gees' soloist Robin Gibb
Robin Gibb
Robin Hugh Gibb, CBE is a British singer and songwriter. He is best known as a member of the Bee Gees, co-founded with his twin brother Maurice , and elder brother Barry....
and his wife Dwina attended also the funeral service among other prominent people.
Arif’s widow Latife is a playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
. Their son Yusuf "Joe" Muhittin
Joe Mardin
Joe Mardin is a music producer, arranger and engineer from New York City. He is a Berklee College of Music graduate and is the son of producer Arif Mardin...
(aka Joe Mardin), also a Berklee graduate, is a producer and arranger while their daughter Julie is an avant-garde artist-photographer. The other daughter, Nazan Joffre, works along with her brother. Joe Mardin created a documentary about his father called The Greatest Ears in Town: The Arif Mardin Story
The Greatest Ears in Town: The Arif Mardin Story
The Greatest Ears in Town: The Arif Mardin Story is a 2010 documentary about the Grammy winning music producer Arif Mardin. The documentary was produced by his son Joe Mardin and was directed by Doug Biro. It was made in the years prior to Arif's death in 2006 from pancreatic cancer.-Synopsis:The...
which was released on June 15, 2010. The documentary was directed by Doug Biro
Doug Biro
Doug Biro is an American writer/director/producer at his own company, Hudson River Films.In 2006 he directed and produced “Herbie Hancock: Possibilities”—a feature documentary about collaboration and the creative process...
. It was premiered at several screenings at different chapters of The Recording Academy
National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc., known variously as The Recording Academy or NARAS, is a U.S. organization of musicians, producers, recording engineers and other recording professionals dedicated to improving the quality of life and cultural condition for music and its...
. The first screening took place in New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
on June 15, 2010.
Awards
- Grammy Awards
- Album of the YearGrammy Award for Album of the YearThe Grammy Award for Album of the Year is the most prestigious award category at the Grammys. It has been awarded since 1959 and though it was originally presented to the artist alone, the award is now presented to the artist, the producer, the engineer and/or mixer and the mastering engineer...
1979 (Saturday Night Fever (soundtrack)Saturday Night Fever (soundtrack)Original Vinyl ReleaseSide A:#"Stayin' Alive" performed by Bee Gees, produced by Bee Gees, Albhy Galuten, Karl Richardson – 4:45#"How Deep Is Your Love" performed by Bee Gees, produced by Bee Gees, Albhy Galuten, Karl Richardson – 4:05...
), 2003 (Come Away with MeCome Away with MeCome Away with Me is the debut album of pianist and singer Norah Jones, released February 26, 2002 on Blue Note Records. Recording sessions for the album took place at New York City's Sorcerer Sound Studio and Shokan's Allaire Studios in 2001...
) - Best Female Pop 1982 (You Should Hear How She Talks About You-Melissa Manchester)
- Best Album NotesGrammy Award for Best Album NotesThe Grammy Award for Best Album Notes has been presented since 1964. From 1973 to 1976, a separate award was presented for Best Album Notes - Classical. Those awards are listed under those years below. The award recognizes albums with excellent liner notes...
1993 (Queen of Soul: The Atlantic RecordingsQueen of Soul: The Atlantic RecordingsQueen of Soul: The Atlantic Recordings is an 86-track, four-disc box set detailing Aretha Franklin's Atlantic career, starting in 1967 with the landmark single "I Never Loved a Man " and ending with 1976's "Something He Can Feel"...
) - Best Jazz Vocal AlbumGrammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal AlbumThe Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album has been presented since 1977. Until 2001 this award was titled the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Performance...
2004 (A Little MoonlightA Little MoonlightA Little Moonlight is an album by Dianne Reeves released in 2003.A Little Moonlight won Reeves her third consecutive Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album.- Track listing :#"Loads of Love" – 4:24...
) - Best Musical Show AlbumGrammy Award for Best Musical Show AlbumThe Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album has been awarded since 1959. The award was given only to the album producer, and to the composer and lyricist who wrote at least 51% of the music which had not been recorded previously....
1996 (Smokey Joe's CafeSmokey Joe's CafeSmokey Joe's Cafe is a musical revue showcasing 39 pop standards, including rock and roll, rhythm and blues songs written by songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller...
) - Best Pop Vocal AlbumGrammy Award for Best Pop Vocal AlbumThe Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality pop music albums...
2003 (Come Away with MeCome Away with MeCome Away with Me is the debut album of pianist and singer Norah Jones, released February 26, 2002 on Blue Note Records. Recording sessions for the album took place at New York City's Sorcerer Sound Studio and Shokan's Allaire Studios in 2001...
) - Best Vocal Arrangement for Two or More VoicesGrammy Award for Best Vocal Arrangement for Two or More VoicesThe Grammy Award for Best Vocal Arrangement for Two or More Voices was awarded from 1977 to 1986. From 1977 to 1981 it was called the Grammy Award for Best Arrangement for Voices...
1984 ("Be Bop Medley" with Chaka KhanChaka KhanChaka Khan , frequently known as the Queen of Funk, is a 10-time Grammy Award winning American singer-songwriter who gained fame in the 1970s as the frontwoman and focal point of the funk band Rufus. While still a member of the group in 1978, Khan embarked on a successful solo career...
) - Producer of the Year, Non-ClassicalGrammy Award for Producer of the Year, Non-ClassicalThe Grammy Award for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical has been awarded since 1975. The award had several minor name changes:*from 1975 to 1977, the award was known as Best Producer of the Year...
1976, 2003 (Come Away with MeCome Away with MeCome Away with Me is the debut album of pianist and singer Norah Jones, released February 26, 2002 on Blue Note Records. Recording sessions for the album took place at New York City's Sorcerer Sound Studio and Shokan's Allaire Studios in 2001...
) - Record of the YearGrammy Award for Record of the YearThe Record of the Year is one of the four most prestigious Grammy Awards presented annually. It has been awarded since 1959.-History:The honorees through its history have been:*1959-1965: Artist only.*1966-1998: Artist and producer....
1990 ("Wind Beneath My WingsWind Beneath My Wings"Wind Beneath My Wings" is the title of a song written in 1982 by Jeff Silbar and Larry Henley. They recorded a demo of the song, which they gave to musician Bob Montgomery. Montgomery then recorded his own demo version of the song, changing it from the mid-tempo version he was given to a ballad...
"), 2003 ("Don't Know WhyDon't Know Why"Don't Know Why" is a jazz song written by Jesse Harris which originally appeared on his 1999 album, Jesse Harris & the Ferdinandos. It was the second single by Norah Jones from her breakthrough 2002 album Come Away with Me. Although Jones's version only peaked at number thirty on the U.S...
") - Trustees AwardGrammy Trustees AwardThe Grammy Trustees Award is awarded by the Recording Academy to "individuals who, during their careers in music, have made significant contributions, other than performance, to the field of recording". Through 1983, performers could also receive this award...
2002
- Album of the Year
- Trustee Award for a Lifetime of Achievement in Music by the National Academy of Recording Arts and SciencesNational Academy of Recording Arts and SciencesThe National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc., known variously as The Recording Academy or NARAS, is a U.S. organization of musicians, producers, recording engineers and other recording professionals dedicated to improving the quality of life and cultural condition for music and its...
(NARAS) 2001
- "Man of the Year" by the Nordoff-Robbins Music Foundation 2001
- Ertegün Impact Award