Joel Dorn, renowned for his studio work for Atlantic Records in the ’60s and ’70s with artists from across the spectrum, died yesterday from a heart attack. Though he’s remembered foremost by jazz fans as a producer who worked with titans on the level of Max Roach and Rahsaan Roland Kirk, in the pop realm it was his work with soul and R&B artists like Roberta Flack and the Neville Brothers that earned him well-loved hits and multiple Grammys, including a ’73 “Record Of The Year” nod for Flack’s indellible “Killing Me Softly With His Song.” After parting ways with Atlantic in the mid-’70s, Dorn spent the next 30 years working as a label consultant, a producer for singers like Lou Rawls, and the head of a string of his own imprints; he was currently “working on a five-disc tribute to his mentor,” deceased Atlantic jazz impresario Nesuhi Ertegun. Dorn was 65.
Joel Dorn R.I.P.
December 18th, 2007 // 3 Comments