Macero, Teo, 1925-2008

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Teo (Attilio Joseph) Macero (b Glen Falls, NY, 30 Oct. 1925) was a composer and saxophonist from a young age. He entered the Juilliard School in 1948, where he studied composition with Henry Brant, and graduated with a BS and an MS in 1953; he also won the BMI Student Composer's Award. Macero co-founded the Jazz Composers' Workshop with Charles Mingus the same year and performed and recorded with Mingus through 1956. He also worked with the vibraphonist Teddy Charles and recorded three of his own albums in the mid-1950s. At the same time, Macero was active as a composer, writing in an atonal style, as well as in the "third stream" concept pioneered by Mingus and Gunther Schuller. Through his career, his compositions have included works for film, television, ballets, and orchestras. He won two Guggenheim fellowships (in 1953 and 1954), as well as a National Endowment for the Arts grant in 1974.

In 1956, Columbia Records producer George Avakian hired Macero as a tape editor. Following the departure of Avakian from the label in 1958, and the transfer of producer Irving Townsend to the west coast in 1959, Macero became the label's main producer of jazz and commercial music. His most important clients at Columbia were Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck, Thelonious Monk and Charles Mingus (Macero signed the latter two to the label). He is perhaps most famous for his longterm working relationship with Davis, which stretched from 1959 to 1983. Macero also produced about a dozen other important jazz artists during his Columbia tenure, as well as the New York Philharmonic conductor Andre Kostelanetz, and he oversaw many special projects for the label, including soundtracks for several Broadway musicals.

Macero left Columbia/CBS in 1975 and established his own company, M. Productions, where he continues to produce his own and other artists' music on his Teorecords label.

Sources:

Cope, David: "Macero, Teo [Attilio Joseph]", Grove Music Online. ed. L. Macy (Accessed 14 September, 2004), http://www.grovemusic.com

Gardner, Mark: "Macero, Teo [Attilio Joseph]", Grove Music Online. ed. L. Macy (Accessed 14 September, 2004), http://www.grovemusic.com

Kahn, Ashley. Kind of Blue: The Making of the Miles Davis Masterpiece . New York: Da Capo Press, 2000.

From the guide to the Teo Macero collection, 1949-1992, 1958-1975, (The New York Public Library. Music Division.)

Teo Macero (b. Attilio Joseph Macero) was a composer, arranger, record producer, and jazz saxophonist. He earned his BS and MS at The Juilliard School where he was a student of Henry Brant. A prolific composer for ballet, film, television and the concert hall, Macero was awarded two Guggenheim fellowships (1953-4, 1958), a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (1974), and commissions from the New York Philharmonic and the Juilliard School. He was was best known for his collaboration with Miles Davis while a producer at Columbia Records; Macero was also producer and arranger at Columbia for conductor Andre Kostelanetz.

From the description of Teo Macero Music Collection, 1960?-1969? (The Juilliard School). WorldCat record id: 740815306

Teo Macero, a composer, saxophonist, and music producer worked for Columbia Records from 1959 to 1975, before going on to found his own company, M. Productions.

Born Attilio Joseph Macero in Glen Falls, New York on October 30, 1925, Teo, who had been an accomplished composer and saxophonist from an early age, entered the Juilliard School in 1948. Macero studied composition there with Henry Brant, and graduated with a BS and an MS in 1953. While at Juilliard, he also won the BMI Student Composer's Award. Macero co-founded the Jazz Composers' Workshop with Charles Mingus the same year and performed and recorded with Mingus through 1956. He also worked with the vibraphonist Teddy Charles and recorded three of his own albums in the mid-1950s. At the same time, Macero was active as a composer, writing in an atonal style, as well as in the "third stream" concept pioneered by Mingus and Gunther Schuller. Throughout his career, his compositions have included works for film, television, ballets, and orchestras. Macero won two Guggenheim fellowships (in 1953 and 1954), as well as an NEA grant in 1974.

In 1956, Columbia Records producer George Avakian hired Macero as a tape editor. Following the departure of Avakian from the label in 1958, and the transfer of producer Irving Townsend to the West Coast in 1959, Macero became the label's main producer of jazz and commercial music. His most important clients at Columbia were Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck, Thelonious Monk and Charles Mingus (Macero signed the latter two to the label). He is perhaps most famous for his long-term working relationship with Davis, which stretched from 1959 to 1983. Macero also produced about a dozen other important jazz artists during his Columbia tenure, along with the New York Philharmonic conductor, Andre Kostelanetz. In addition, he oversaw many special projects for the label, including soundtracks for several Broadway musicals. Macero left Columbia in 1975 to form his own company, M. Productions, and established the Teorecords label to produce his own, as well as, the music of other artists.

From the description of Teo Macero collection, 1949-1992, 1958-1975 (bulk). (New York Public Library). WorldCat record id: 83824207

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Macero, Teo, 1925-2008. Teo Macero Music Collection, 1960?-1969? The Juilliard School, Lila Acheson Wallace Library
creatorOf Topaz, Muriel,. Session for six : excerpt from What's new / [Music by] Teo Macero ; choreography by Anna Sokolow ; notated by Muriel Topaz 1965 at Juilliard. Ohio State University Libraries
creatorOf Macero, Teo, 1925-2008. In retrospect. Arizona State University Libraries
referencedIn Duke Ellington recordings collection Eda Kuhn Loeb Music Library, Harvard College Library
creatorOf Teo Macero collection, 1949-1992, 1958-1975 The New York Public Library. Music Division.
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith American Music Collection corporateBody
associatedWith Bennett, Tony, 1926- person
associatedWith Brubeck, Dave person
associatedWith Byrd, Charlie, 1925- person
associatedWith Byrd, Charlie, 1925-1999. person
associatedWith Columbia Records, Inc corporateBody
associatedWith Davis, Miles person
associatedWith Davis, Miles. person
associatedWith Dodge, Joseph Jeffers person
associatedWith Kostelanetz, Andre, 1901-1980 person
associatedWith Mingus, Charles, 1922-1979 person
associatedWith Monk, Thelonious person
associatedWith Romanoff, Ivan. person
associatedWith Townsend, Irving person
Place Name Admin Code Country
United States
Russia
Subject
Arrangers (Musicians)
Ballets
Choruses, Secular (Men's voices) with instrumental ensemble
Composers
Composers
Folk music
Popular music
Operas
Operas
Orchestral music, Arranged
Percussion with brass choir
Saxophonists
Sound recording executives and producers
Occupation
Composers
Saxophonists
Sound recording executives and producers
Activity

Person

Birth 1925-10-30

Death 2008-02-19

Americans

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