Arif Mardin
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Arif Mardin (March 15, 1932 - June 25, 2006) was a renowned Turkish-American music producer, who worked with a wide range of artists, across many different styles and genres of music. He was born in Istanbul, Turkey.
Arif Mardin was born into a renowned family that brought up statesmen, diplomats and leaders in the civic, military and business sectors of the Ottoman Empire and the Turkish Republic. His father was partner in a petroleum gas station chain. His sister, Betül Mardin is the "grande dame of public relations" today.
Early Life
He grew up listening to the likes of Bing Crosby and Glenn Miller. He met his sister's friend bassist and Jazz critic Cuneyt Sermet, his mentor, and started listening to Jazz. After graduating from Istanbul University in Economics and Commerce, Arif Mardin studied at the London School of Economics. He was influenced by his sister's music records and became a self-professed jazz fanatic, as well as an accomplished orchestrator and arranger, but he never intended to pursue a career in music. However, his fate changed in 1956 after meeting the American jazz musicians Dizzy Gillespie and Quincy Jones at a concert in Istanbul. He sent 3 demo compositions to his friend Tahir Sur who worked at a radio station in the USA. Sur took these compositions to Quincy Jones and he 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 went to New York City to try his luck. Arif Mardin was later made a trustee of the school and awarded an honorary doctorate.Career
He produced countless hits artists including Howard Jones, Carly Simon, The Young Rascals, Bette Midler, Barbra Streisand, Diana Ross, Patti Labelle, Average White Band, Anita Baker, the Bee Gees, Judy Collins, Phil Collins, Culture Club, Roberta Flack, Aretha Franklin, Hall & Oates, Donny Hathaway, Norah Jones, Chaka Khan, Melissa Manchester, Manhattan Transfer, Modern Jazz Quartet, Willie Nelson, John Prine, Scritti Politti, Queen, Dusty Springfield, David Bowie, Jewel and Ringo Starr.
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.
Mardin died at his home in New York on June 25, 2006 following a lengthy battle with pancreatic cancer. He is buried in Istanbul, Turkey(July 5, 2006).
Arif’s widow Latife is a playwright. Their son Joe, also a Berklee graduate, is a producer and arranger while the daughter Julie is an avant-garde artist-photographer.
Awards
- Grammy Awards
- * Album of the Year 1979, 2003
- * Best Album Notes 1993
- * Best Jazz Vocal Album 2004
- * Best Musical Show Album 1996
- * Best Pop Vocal Album 2003
- * Best Vocal Arrangement for Two or More Voices 1984 (with Chaka Khan)
- * Producer of the Year, Non-Classical 1976, 2003
- * Record of the Year 1990, 2003
- * Trustees Award 2002
- Trustee Award for a Lifetime of Achievement in Music by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) 2001
- "Man of the Year" by the Nordoff-Robbins Music Foundation 2001
- Ertegun Impact Award
External links
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