John Norris (publisher)

John Norris ( born June 9, 1934 in West Clandon, Surrey, England; † January 31, 2010 in Toronto ) was a UK born Canadian publishers and music producer and club owner, radio presenter and music organizer, the founder of the music magazine CODA and the jazz label Sackville Records was known.

Life

Norris had led a jazz club in London, and was co- initiator of Bunk Johnson fan club, before moving to Montreal in 1956. There he directed 1956/57, the Montreal Traditional Jazz Society. In 1957 he settled in Toronto, where he led the Traditional Jazz Club of Toronto; later he opened the Galleon Jazz Club and organized concerts. In 1958 he founded the magazine CODA, whose editor in chief, he was until 1976, when this Bill Smith took over and he was co-editor. Originally launched as a newsletter of the Traditional Jazz Club, it appeared in 1959 with the subtitle The Canadian Jazz Magazine; 1976 The Jazz Magazine, and finally in 1984 as The Journal of Jazz and Improvised Music, with which it opened the modern playing styles of jazz.

In 1967 he was asked by New York pianist Red Richards as a producer of recordings with his band Saints & Sinners. From the jazz label Sackville Recordings, the Norris -founded in 1968 with Bill Smith was born. Starting with photographs mainly of swing, mainstream jazz to modern jazz, as published by Ruby Braff, Henri Chaix, Doc Cheatham, Jim Galloway, Abdullah Ibrahim, Keith Ingham, Harold Mabern, Junior Mance, Jay McShann, Ralph Sutton or Jesper Thilo, Norris and Smith later recordings of the jazz avant-garde such as Anthony Braxton, Julius Hemphill, Oliver Lake, Roscoe Mitchell and Archie Shepp.

Norris was also from 1962 to 1968 in a record store Sam the Record Man in the Yonge Street Toronto, the manager of the jazz department, which became one of the most comprehensive collections of jazz recordings. Later, she was part of the shipping business in the Jazz and Blues Centre, which was founded in 1970 by Norris and Smith. In addition to his publishing activities Norris was active as a radio presenter at local radio station CHFI Toronto and CBC. He also taught at the University of Toronto jazz history.

For his life's work, he was awarded the 2008 Canadian GMA Canada Lifetime Achievement Award.