Biography:

Michael Cuscuna (September 20, 1948 – April 19, 2024) was an American jazz record producer and writer. He was the co-founder of Mosaic Records and a discographer of Blue Note Records.

Cuscuna was born on September 20, 1948.^[1] He played drums, saxophone and flute while young, but placed his emphasis on founding his own record label.^[1] He had a jazz show on WXPN and worked for ESP-Disk late in the 1960s, in addition to writing for Jazz & Pop Magazine and Down Beat.^[1] He moved from WXPN to WMMR in 1970, then onto WABC-FM (now WPLJ) as a progressive rock DJ at both stations.^[1] He took a position as a producer with Atlantic Records in the 1970s, recording Dave Brubeck and the Art Ensemble of Chicago.^[1] In the early 1970s, he also produced albums by Bonnie Raitt (Give It Up)^[1] and Chris Smither. He also worked at Motown, ABC (for reissues of Impulse! albums), Arista, Muse, Freedom, Elektra and Novus. From 1975 to 1981, he searched the Blue Note archive for previously unissued sessions which began to be issued during this period.^[2]

In collaboration with business partner Charlie Lourie, he founded Mosaic Records in 1983 specializing in jazz reissue box sets sold by mail order.^[3][1] Artists surveyed include highly visible masters like Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, and Nat “King” Cole, and lesser known artists such as Tina Brooks and Ike Quebec.^[1] Cuscuna won three Grammy Awards for his releases. In 1984, Cuscuna became a special consultant, producer, and reissue director of Blue Note Records.

Cuscuna died of cancer on April 19, 2024, at the age of 75.^[4]

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