Bob Thiele

Bob Thiele (July 27, 1922 – January 30, 1996) was an American record producer who worked on countless classic jazz albums and record labels. His wife was the singer Teresa Brewer, whom he met and produced while working for Decca Records in the 1950s. He hosted a jazz radio show when he was 14. He also played clarinet and led a band in the New York area. At 17 he founded the Signature Records label and recorded many jazz greats, including Lester Y... more

Bob Thiele (July 27, 1922 – January 30, 1996) was an American record producer who worked on countless classic jazz albums and record labels. His wife was the singer Teresa Brewer, whom he met and produced while working for Decca Records in the 1950s. He hosted a jazz radio show when he was 14. He also played clarinet and led a band in the New York area. At 17 he founded the Signature Records label and recorded many jazz greats, including Lester Young, Errol Garner and, in 1943, Coleman Hawkins. Signature folded in 1948 and he joined Decca Records in 1952, running its Coral Records subsidiary. He took over as head of Impulse! Records from 1961-69 after founder Creed Taylor went to run Verve Records and signed, and recorded such artists as John Coltrane, Charles Mingus, Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins, Archie Shepp, Albert Ayler and others. Thiele's most successful hit song was with Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World", which he co-wrote with George David Weiss. According to Thiele... less