We are heartbroken to learn of Dan's passing. Through the years he curated and advocated for so many artists and releases across our labels. We'd like to share this outtake from Daryl Sherman's Lost In A Crowded Place sessions for Audiophile ACD-357 of a simple duet featuring Dan and Daryl performing I'm Confessin'. Dan attended the sessions at Audiophile Recording Studios in New Orleans, La and wrote the liner notes for the cd release. As recording engineer for the project it was indeed my joy to be in his company that week.
-David Stocker (GHB Jazz Foundation)

Dan Morgenstern, the last of the great authorities on jazz, died of heart disease on September 7, 2024. He had an illustrious career as a jazz journalist and advocate, his preferred term. He was the last editor of Metromome, the first editor of Jazz&Pop, and editor of Down Beat from 1964 to 1973, during which time they published 148 of his record reviews.

Morgenstern was head of the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers University from 1976 to 2012. He followed the pioneering work of Marshall Stearns, and under his guidance it became the largest jazz archive, with 200,000 recordings, 6000 books, and recorded interviews with hundreds of jazz musicians of all generations.

In addition to his work at the Archive, he reviewed live performances for the New York Post, records for the Chicago Sun-Times, and wrote thousands of free-lance articles. He received eight Grammy awards for liner-note writing, and received three Deems Taylor Awards for music journalism.

Born in Germany to a family of distinguished journalists, he was raised in Vienna until his family was forced to flee the Nazis. His mother was Danish and able to
bring him to Copenhagen. He heard his first jazz there, and it made a permanent impression- he was about nine when he heard Fats Waller and Django Reinhardt; he may have been the last remaining person who heard Waller live.

His family reassembled in New York in 1947, and his first mission was to see 52nd Street, then still a lively place with music lasting until three or four in the morning. His father got him a copyboy job at the New York Times, and he took some college courses before he was drafted. When was discharged he attended Brandeis University on the GI Bill. He began writing jazz reviews for the student paper, and produced his first jazz event, a concert by Stan Getz, then appearing in Boston. His first published articles were for Jazz Journal, a venerable English magazine.

He developed close friendships with many of the musicians he wrote about, and was particularly close to Louis Armstrong, Roy Eldridge, Coleman Hawkins, and Oran "Hot Lips" Page, a particular friend of his. He attributed his ability to become close to the musicians to his being from Europe, as he wouldn't be subject to some of the suspicions musicians had about native-born Americans.

One of his most recent activities was a series of short video reminiscences for Michael Steinman, operator of Jazz Lives, an Internet website. His videos cover his memories of many major jazz figure of the last fifty years; they're very interesting and provide a personal prospective on many jazz figures. They're available on You Tube.

Morgenstern is survived by Ellie Schochet, his wife of fifty years, and two sons.

— Paige Van Voorst