Alfred Lion

Alfred Lion (April 21, 1908 – February 2, 1987) was a Jewish German-born American record executive who co-founded Blue Note Records in 1939. Blue Note recorded many of the biggest names in jazz throughout the 1940s, '50s, and '60s.

Biography

Alfred Lion, born to a German Jewish family, at Gotenstrasse 7 on the "Rote Insel" in Berlin, (just two minutes' walk away from Marlene Dietrich's birthplace) began his lifelong fascination with jazz at the age of 16 when he saw a concert given by Sam Wooding's Orchestra in his native town. In 1929 Lion migrated to the United States, but a physical attack necessitated hospital treatment, and he was forced to return to Germany. From 1933 Lion was based in South America, working for German import-export companies, only returning to New York in 1938. Lion's presence at one of the concerts given under the From Spirituals to Swing banner at Carnegie Hall inspired him to start his own record label.

In partnership with communist writer Max Margulis (he supplied the start-up capital) Lion founded Blue Note in 1939. In the label's first record session on January 6, Lion recorded two musicians who had impressed him at the earlier concert: the boogie-woogie pianists Albert Ammons and Meade Lux Lewis. The company's first hit, recorded in the same year, was Sidney Bechet's recording of "Summertime". It was notable for being issued on a 12" 78rpm record instead of the then standard 10" owing to its length.