Editing Chris Albertson

{{short description|Music journalist, writer and record producer}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2014}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name            = Chris Albertson
| image           = Chris Albertson 2006.JPG
| caption         = 2006 photo
| image_size      = <!-- Only for images narrower than 220 pixels -->
| birth_name      = Christiern Gunnar Albertson
| alias           =
| birth_date      = {{Birth date|1931|10|18}}
| death_date      = {{death date and age|2019|4|24|1931|10|18}}
| death_place     = [[Manhattan]], [[New York City]], U.S.
| birth_place     = [[Reykjavík]], [[Iceland]]
| origin          = [[Copenhagen]], [[Denmark]]
| instrument      =
| genre           = Jazz and Blues
| occupation      = Writer, historian, record producer
| years_active    = 1948–2019
| label           =
| associated_acts =
| website         = 
}}
'''Christiern Gunnar Albertson''' (October 18, 1931 – April 24, 2019) was a New York City-based [[jazz]] journalist, writer and record producer.

==Early life==

Albertson was born in [[Reykjavík]], [[Iceland]], on October 18, 1931, but his father left the family before he was a year old. Yvonne, his mother, married three more times.<ref name="Sendomir">{{cite news|last=Sendomir|first=Richard|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/09/obituaries/chris-albertson-dead.html|title=Chris Albertson, Biographer of Bessie Smith, Is Dead at 87|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=May 9, 2019|access-date=May 10, 2019}}</ref> He was educated in Iceland, [[Denmark]] and England before studying commercial art in [[Copenhagen]].

In 1947, while living in Copenhagen, Albertson listened by chance to a [[Bessie Smith]] recording on radio; it led to an abiding interest in [[jazz]] and [[blues]] music. "We found magic in such names as [[Kid Ory]], [[King Oliver]], [[Johnny Dodds]], Bessie Smith and [[Ma Rainey]]," he wrote on his ''Stomp Off'' blog in 2010.<ref name="Sendomir"/>

On his home tape machine, Albertson recorded visiting British [[New Orleans]] [[revivalist artist|revivalists]] [[Ken Colyer]], [[Chris Barber]] and [[Lonnie Donegan]] in 1953. These recordings were subsequently released on the Danish [[Storyville Records]] and British [[Tempo Records (UK)|Tempo Records]] labels.

==Career==

In 1957, after two years as a disc jockey for Armed Forces Radio at [[Keflavík International Airport|Keflavík Air Base]], in Iceland, Albertson migrated to the United States, initially working for radio stations in [[Philadelphia]].<ref name="Sendomir"/> At WCAU (a CBS affiliate) and WHAT-FM, a 24-hour jazz station, he conducted interviews, including one with [[Lester Young]], one of only two extant with the tenor saxophonist.<ref>Included in ''The Complete Lester Young Studio Sessions'' – Verve box set 314 547 087-2 (disc 8).</ref> He was naturalised as an American citizen in 1963.

In 1960–61, Albertson was employed by [[Riverside Records]]' [[Bill Grauer]] as a producer. In this capacity, he arranged and recorded the last sessions of blues singer [[Ida Cox]] (whom he brought out of retirement)<ref>''Blues For Rampart Street'' – Riverside OJCCD-1758-2.</ref> and [[boogie-woogie]] pianist [[Meade Lux Lewis]],<ref>''The Blues Piano Artistry of Meade Lux Lewis'' –  Riverside OJCCD-1759-2.</ref> and supervised the label's 'Living Legends' series of location recordings.<ref name="Sendomir"/> The initial albums in this series were made in [[New Orleans]] and featured such early [[jazz]] musicians as pianist [[Sweet Emma Barrett]],<ref>''Sweet Emma Barrett "The Bell Gal" and Her Dixieland Boys'' – Riverside OJCCD-1832-2</ref> clarinetist [[Louis Cottrell, Jr.]],<ref>''Bourbon Street'' – Riverside OJCCD-1836-2.</ref> trumpeters [[Percy Humphrey]] and [[Kid Thomas Valentine|Kid Thomas]],<ref>''Kid Thomas and His Algiers Stompers'' – Riverside OJCCD-1833-2.</ref> blues duo Billie and [[De de Pierce]], and trombonist [[Jim Robinson (trombonist)|Jim Robinson]]. He continued the series in Chicago, with performances by [[Lil Armstrong]], [[Alberta Hunter]], [[Little Brother Montgomery]],<ref>''Piano, Vocal and Band Blues'' – Riverside OBCCD-525-2.</ref> and [[Earl Hines]].<ref>''A Monday Date'' – Riverside OJCCD-1740-2.</ref>

Albertson subsequently worked as producer for [[Prestige Records]], supervising sessions by, among others, guitarist/singer [[Lonnie Johnson (musician)|Lonnie Johnson]],<ref>''Blues By Lonnie Johnson'' – Prestige OBCCD-502-2.</ref> whom he had pulled from obscurity while working in Philadelphia. He also founded his own production company, supervising sessions with [[Howard McGhee]],<ref>''Sharp Edge'' – Black Lion 6044552.</ref> [[Roy Eldridge]], [[Bud Freeman]],<ref>''Something To Remember You By'' – Black Lion BLCD-760153.</ref> [[Ray Bryant]], and [[Elmer Snowden]].<ref>''Harlem Banjo'' – Riverside OJCCD-1756-2.</ref>

In the mid-1960s, Albertson worked at NYC radio station WNEW, leaving there for [[Pacifica Radio]]'s NY station [[WBAI]], where he eventually became General Manager. In 1967, he worked for the [[BBC]] in London, advising them on how to adapt their radio programs for sale in North America.

In 1971, Albertson co-produced and hosted ''The Jazz Set'', a weekly television program that was aired from coast to coast by [[Public Broadcasting Service]] (PBS) [[Public television]] and featured such guests as [[Charles Mingus]], [[Bill Evans]], [[Randy Weston]], [[Jimmy Heath]], and [[Ray Bryant]].

At this time, he was also producing reissues for [[Columbia Records]], including the complete [[Bessie Smith]] LP sets. His work on these albums won Albertson 1971 two [[Grammy]] awards (one in the [[Grammy Award for Best Album Notes|Best Album Notes]] category for "The World's Greatest Blues Singer" and a [[Grammy Trustees Award]]), a Billboard Trendsetter Award and the [[Montreux Jazz Festival]]'s Grand Prix du Disque.

His standard work, ''Bessie'', a biography of Bessie Smith, first appeared in 1972, with a revised and expanded version published by Yale University Press in 2003.<ref>''Bessie'' – Yale University Press, {{ISBN|0-300-09902-9}} and {{ISBN|0-300-10756-0}}.</ref> The revised biography was inducted into the Blues Foundation's [[Blues Hall of Fame]] in the ''Classic of Blues Literature Hall of Fame'' category in May 2012. In 2015, [[HBO]] premiered a biopic, ''[[Bessie (film)|Bessie]]'', starring [[Queen Latifah]] in the title role, but Albertson's book was not credited as its basis. 

Albertson wrote television documentaries, including ''The Story of Jazz''<ref>''Masters of American Music'' DVD release – BMG 72333 80088-9.</ref> and ''My Castle's Rocking'' (a bio-documentary on [[Alberta Hunter]]),<ref>DVD release on V.I.E.W. Video 2331.</ref> as well as articles and reviews for various publications, including ''Saturday Review'' and ''[[Down Beat]]''. He was a contributing editor for ''[[Stereo Review]]'' magazine for 28 years.

Albertson was found dead in his Manhattan apartment on April 24, 2019.<ref name="Sendomir"/>

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* http://stomp-off.blogspot.com  (Blog)

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Albertson, Chris}}
[[Category:1931 births]]
[[Category:2019 deaths]]
[[Category:American record producers]]
[[Category:Icelandic emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:Grammy Award winners]]
[[Category:People educated at Kent College]]