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Arif Mardin (March 15, 1932 - June 25, 2006) was a renowned Turkish-American music producer, who worked with a wide range of artists, across many different styles and genres of music. He was born in Istanbul, Turkey.
Early lifeHe grew up listening to the likes of Bing Crosby and Glenn Miller. He met his sister's friend bassist and Jazz critic Cuneyt Sermet, his mentor, and started listening to Jazz. After graduating from Marmara University in Economics and Commerce, Arif Mardin studied at the London School of Economics. He was influenced by his sister's music records and became a self-professed jazz fanatic, as well as an accomplished orchestrator and arranger, but he never intended to pursue a career in music. However, his fate changed in 1956 after meeting the American jazz musicians Dizzy Gillespie and Quincy Jones at a concert in Istanbul. He sent 3 demo compositions to his friend Tahir Sur who worked at a radio station in the USA. Sur took these compositions to Quincy Jones and he became the first recipient of the Quincy Jones Scholarship at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. In 1958 he and his fiancé Latife moved from Istanbul to Boston. After graduating in 1961, he taught at Berklee for one year and went to New York City to try his luck. Arif Mardin was later made a trustee of the school and awarded an honorary doctorate. CareerMardin began his career at Atlantic Records in 1963 as an assistant to fellow Turkish emigré Nesuhi Ertegun, the brother of the company's co-founder and a legendary jazz enthusiast, whom he met at the Newport Jazz Festival. He rose through the ranks quickly, becoming studio manager, label house producer and arranger. In 1969, he became a vice president and later served as senior vice president until 2001. He worked closely on many projects with co-founder Ahmet Ertegun and Jerry Wexler, two legends who were responsible for establishing the "Atlantic Sound". Arif Mardin retired from Atlantic Records in May 2001 and re-activated his label Manhattan Records. He maintained ties to the Turkish music industry. He produced countless hits artists including Howard Jones, Carly Simon, The Young Rascals, Bette Midler, Barbra Streisand, Diana Ross, Patti Labelle, Average White Band, Anita Baker, the Bee Gees, Judy Collins, Phil Collins, Culture Club, Roberta Flack, Aretha Franklin, Hall & Oates, Donny Hathaway, Norah Jones, Chaka Khan, George Benson, Melissa Manchester, The Manhattan Transfer, Modern Jazz Quartet, Willie Nelson, John Prine, Scritti Politti, Queen, Dusty Springfield, David Bowie, Jewel and Ringo Starr.
In his career of more than 40 years, he collected over 40 gold and platinum albums, over 15 Grammy nominations and 12 Grammy Awards. In 1990, Arif Mardin was inducted into the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame. Mardin died at his home in New York on June 25, 2006 following a lengthy battle with pancreatic cancer. He was buried in Istanbul on July 5, 2006. Arif’s widow Latife is a playwright. Their son Joe, also a Berklee graduate, is a producer and arranger while the daughter Julie is an avant-garde artist-photographer. Awards
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