Ira Gitler Lives!

A Lifetime of Jazz

Dexter Gordon and Ira Gitler

The coming Monday marks what would have been the 95th birthday of my friend, Ira Gitler (1928-2019), an influential American jazz critic, author, and historian. He is fondly remembered for his extensive contributions to the world of jazz, both as a writer and as a historian. Gitler began his career in the late 1940s and was deeply involved in the jazz scene throughout his life.

His work included several notable books on jazz, such as "Swing to Bop: An Oral History of the Transition in Jazz in the 1940s" and "Jazz Masters of the '40s." He also co-authored "The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz" with Leonard Feather, which is considered a definitive reference work in the field. You’ll find Ira’s name on hundreds of liner notes for jazz recordings he wrote beginning in the early 1950s.

Ira Gitler's passion for ice hockey prompted him to write several books on the subject. He also wrote for the New York Rangers as well as the National Hockey League in their former magazine, Goal. And, he played the game with his team, Gitler’s Gorillas, at ice rinks in Manhattan over many decades.

Ira was renown for his expertise on bebop, a style of jazz that emerged in the 1940s. He was among the first critics to recognize the importance of bebop and to document its development. His writings often focused on the technical aspects of jazz, providing deep insights into the music's structure and the improvisational skills of the musicians.

In the early 1950s, he worked as a producer of recording sessions for the Prestige label. He is credited with coining the term "sheets of sound" in the late 1950s, to describe the playing of John Coltrane.

Ira also taught jazz history at several institutions. His work earned him respect and admiration from both musicians and jazz aficionados, and he played a crucial role in documenting and preserving the history of jazz music.

After Ira passed in 2019, I put together a documentary using parts of an interview I did with him, and the thoughts of his friends and colleagues: Todd Barkan, Terry Gibbs, Dan Morgenstern, Loren Schoenberg, Howard Mandel, Jeff Levenson, Jim Eigo, Randy Brecker, and Michael Cuscuna.

In this photo: Cannonball Adderley, Ira and Dave Brubeck.