Sep 3, 2025 12:02 PM
Keeping the Flame at Van Gelder Studio
On the last Sunday of 2024, in the control room of Van Gelder Studio, Don and Maureen Sickler, co-owners since Rudy Van…
Joel Dorn, a Grammy Award-winning record producer who first made a name for himself while at Atlantic Records in the late 1960s and early ‘70s, died on Monday from a heart attack in New York City at the age of 65.
Dorn’s discography stretches from the multiplatinum soul sounds of Roberta Flack to the jazz of Rahsaan Roland Kirk. He helped introduce Bette Midler and the funky New Orleans r&b of the Neville Brothers. His name can be found on the back of recordings by Les McCann and Eddie Harris, Mose Allison, Yusef Lateef, Leon Redbone, Peter Allen, Don Mclean, the Allman Brothers Band, David “Fathead” Newman, Donny Hathaway and Mongo Santamaria.
From an early age, Dorn knew he wanted to be in the music business, specifically for Atlantic Records. At 14, he began correspondence with the label’s co-founder Nesuhi Ertegun.
In 1961, Dorn began his career as a disc jockey at the Philadelphia jazz radio station WHAT-FM.
Ertegun offered Dorn the chance to produce one record by an artist of his choice for Atlantic Jazz in 1963. Dorn chose Hubert Laws, a young flutist he had seen in Philly performing with Santamaria’s band. The resulting album, The Laws Of Jazz, would become the first of many production credits to follow.
When Rhino began to reissue the Atlantic jazz catalog in 1993, Dorn spearheaded the campaign, producing and annotating nearly two dozen titles. In addition to his work for Atlantic and Rhino, Dorn released archival recordings on his own labels Night, M, and 32 Records (including the Jazz For A Rainy Afternoon compilations).
At the time of his death, Dorn was completing a five CD box set for Rhino Handmade entitled Homage A Nesuhi, serving as a tribute to his mentor Ertegun and their years together at Atlantic. He was also the voice of Sirius Satellite Radio’s “Pure Jazz” channel.
Don and Maureen Sickler serve as the keepers of engineer Rudy Van Gelder’s flame at Van Gelder Studio, perhaps the most famous recording studio in jazz history.
Sep 3, 2025 12:02 PM
On the last Sunday of 2024, in the control room of Van Gelder Studio, Don and Maureen Sickler, co-owners since Rudy Van…
Jack DeJohnette boasted a musical resume that was as long as it was fearsome.
Oct 28, 2025 10:47 AM
Jack DeJohnette, a bold and resourceful drummer and NEA Jazz Master who forged a unique vocabulary on the kit over his…
Trio aRT with its avalanche of instrumentation: from left, Pheeroan akLaff, Scott Robinson and Julian Thayer.
Sep 3, 2025 12:03 PM
Trio aRT, a working unit since 1988, shockingly released its very first studio recording this summer. Recorded in…
“Think of all the creative people I’m going to meet and a whole other way of thinking about music and a challenge of singing completely different material than I would have sung otherwise to my highest level in dedication to the moment,” Elling says about his Broadway run.
Sep 9, 2025 1:18 PM
Kurt Elling was back at home in Chicago, grabbing some family time in a late-June window between gigs. Sporting a smile…
Pat Metheny will perform with his Side-Eye III ensemble at Big Ears 2026 in Knoxville, Tennessee, next March.
Sep 9, 2025 12:19 PM
Big Ears has announced the lineup for its 2026 festival, which will take place March 26–29 and include 250…
