Editing Commodore Records (section)

==History==
[[File:Commodore-Music-Shop-1947.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Milt Gabler, Herbie Hill, Lou Blum and Jack Crystal at the Commodore Music Shop, New York City (1947)]]
Commodore Records was founded in the spring of 1938 by [[Milt Gabler]],<ref name="New Grove">{{cite book |last1=Rye |first1=Howard |editor1-last=Kernfeld |editor1-first=Barry |title=The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz |date=2002 |publisher=Grove's Dictionaries |location=New York |isbn=1-56159-284-6 |page=498 |volume=1 |edition=2nd }}</ref> a native of Harlem who founded the Commodore Music Shop in 1926 in Manhattan at 136 East [[42nd Street (Manhattan)|42nd Street]] (diagonally across the street from the [[Grand Hyatt New York|Commodore Hotel]]), and from 1938–1941 with a branch at 46 West [[52nd Street (Manhattan)|52nd Street]],<ref name="Guinness">{{cite book|last1=Clayton|first1=Peter|last2=Gammond|first2=Peter|title=The Guinness Jazz Companion|date=1989|publisher=Guinness Publishing |location=Enfield |page=65 |edition=2nd }}</ref>

Commodore's albums included dixieland music ([[Eddie Condon]], [[Bill Davison|Wild Bill Davison]]) and swing ([[Coleman Hawkins]], [[Earl Hines]]).<ref name=discography>{{cite web |url=http://www.78discography.com/Commodore.htm |title=Commodore Numerical Listings |date=June 3, 2015 |website=The Online Discographical Project |access-date=February 27, 2018}}</ref> Commodore's biggest hit was "[[Strange Fruit]]" (backed with "[[Fine and Mellow (song)|Fine and Mellow]]") by Billie Holiday, which reached No. 16 on the charts on July 22, 1939.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pophistorydig.com/topics/strange-fruit-1939/ |title="Strange Fruit" 1939 |last=Doyle|first=Jack |date=March 7, 2011 |website=PopHistoryDig.com |access-date=February 27, 2018}}</ref> The label was most active from 1939 to 1946.<ref name="All Music">{{cite book|last1=Yanow|first1=Scott|editor1-last=Erlewine|editor1-first=Michael|editor2-last=Bogdanov|editor2-first=Vladimir |editor3-last=Woodstra |editor3-first=Chris |editor4-last=Yanow |editor4-first=Scott |title=[[All Music Guide to Jazz]]|date=1998|publisher=Miller Freeman Books|location=San Francisco |isbn=0-87930-530-4 |page=1334 |edition=3rd|chapter=Labels}}</ref> The roster included [[Bud Freeman]], [[Bobby Hackett]], [[Edmond Hall]], [[Hot Lips Page]], [[Pee Wee Russell]], [[Willie "The Lion" Smith]], [[Muggsy Spanier]], [[Art Tatum]], [[Fats Waller]], [[Lee Wiley]], and [[Lester Young]].<ref name="riverwalk">{{cite web |last1=Moos Pick |first1=Margaret |title=Riverwalk Jazz - Stanford University Libraries |url=http://riverwalkjazz.stanford.edu/program/milt-gabler-and-commodore-records-story |website=riverwalkjazz.stanford.edu |accessdate=1 August 2019}}</ref>

Gabler arranged for recording and pressing to be done by the American Record Corporation ([[American Record Corporation|ARC]]),<ref name="New Grove" /> then Reeves Transcription Services and [[Decca Records|Decca]]. In the early 1960s, a series of Commodore albums was compiled by Gabler and released by [[Mainstream Records|Mainstream]].<ref name="New Grove" />  In the late 1980s, [[Mosaic Records|Mosaic]] issued Commodore's complete recordings in three box-sets (LP).<ref name="All Music" /><ref name="New Grove" />

[[Billy Crystal]], Gabler's nephew, compiled an album of songs dedicated to his uncle titled ''Billy Crystal Presents: The Milt Gabler Story''.<ref name="NPR1">{{cite web |title=Billy Crystal: My Uncle Milt |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4601031 |website=NPR.org |accessdate=1 August 2019 |date=15 April 2005}}</ref>