Arif Mardin
Born in Istanbul, Turkey, on March 15, 1932, Arif Mardin studied at the Istanbul University and the London School of Economics while pursuing his real love, music, as a hobby. In 1956, however, he met Quincy Jones who was on tour in Turkey with Dizzy Gillespie. Mardin would eventually send Jones three of his compositions scored for big band, which Jones would record with an all-star ensemble for the Voice of America. These recordings led to Mardin being awarded the first Quincy Jones Scholarship at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Having graduated from Berklee in 1961 and expecting to embark on a jazz career, Mardin was hired by Nesuhi Ertegun at Atlantic Records in 1963, a hotbed of the cutting edge Soul and Rhythm and Blues music of the day. Arif´s stock began to rise with the start of a long partnership with the Young Rascals, overseeing hits like Good Lovin' and Groovin&avute;,and the arrival in 1967 of Aretha Franklin on the label roster. In conjunction with the legendary producer Jerry Wexler and engineer/producer Tom Dowd, Mardin set the stage for the singer's artistic and commercial breakthrough, arranging Franklin's landmark classic single Respect. Around this time he also worked on the Dusty Springfield masterpiece Dusty in Memphis. From there, he went on to work with Hall & Oates, Bette Midler, Barbra Streisand, Roberta Flack, Donny Hathaway, Willie Nelson, the Bee Gees, helping create their comeback and new sound with Jive Talkin´, and the Average White Band´s Pick Up the Pieces. The list continues with albums with Judy Collins, George Benson, and Carly Simon, and an extended partnership with Chaka Khan, resulting in her biggest hit, I Feel for You. Arif´s work with Phil Collins on Face Value led to him producing Phil´s first number one single and title song for the Taylor Hackford film, Against All Odds. He also helped bring Bette Midler back to the top of the charts with Wind Beneath My Wings which received the Grammy for Record Of The Year. Mardin also produced the original Broadway cast recordings of the hit musicals Rent in 1997 and for the Grammy winning Smokey Joe's Cafe: The Songs of Leiber & Stoller in 1996.
In May 2001, amid numerous honors for his longevity and enormous legacy (twelve Grammys and counting), Mardin retired as Atlantic's senior vice president. However, he wasn't finished -- he signed on with Manhattan/EMI signing and producing new artists. His first major success with the label was singer/songwriter Norah Jones, whose Blue Note debut album Come Away With Me topped the pop charts in early 2003 and garnered a total of five Grammys including Best Producer.
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As Ahmet Ertegun, the Co-Chairman and co-founder of Atlantic Records, put it, "The difference between everybody else and Arif was he was a musician, and he was a great musician. Because of this he was an irreplaceable member of the Atlantic team, and was more responsible than he has ever been given credit for many of the successes that we´ve had ... Probably more than anyone else, he combined an understanding of American taste, American folk roots and great musical ability ... Arif became one of the greatest producers of the 20th century."
All My Friends Are Here
One of the most atmospheric, challenging and powerful projects of legendary producer and artist Arif Mardin´s storied career, will be released on June 15, 2010. All My Friends Are Here, the final recording produced by the multi-Grammy winner who was responsible for well over 50 million-selling recordings throughout the world, and who is credited with creating sonic imprints for countless superstars including Bette Midler, Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan, The Bee Gees, The Young Rascals, Hall & Oates, Dusty Springfield, Norah Jones, Willie Nelson and Carly Simon to name just a few. Mardin celebrated his final months by assembling many of those very artists to record songs he´d written over the course of his 40-year career, as well as songs written specifically for this album which will finally be released on NuNoise Records.
Though the project has been gestating for years, it was begun in earnest as a response to the pancreatic cancer that claimed Mardin´s life in 2006, and was completed after his death with the invaluable assistance of his son and co-producer, Joe Mardin. A companion documentary, appropriately titled The Greatest Ears in Town, directed by Joe Mardin and Doug Biro (credits include Herbie Hancock: Possibilities) will be released for theatres, broadcast and as a DVD later this year.
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