NEW YORK, NY.- On June 25,
Doyle New York will auction a remarkable collection of original album cover art, rare photography and related ephemera assembled by Bruce Lundvall, longtime president of the renowned Jazz label, Blue Note Records. During his half-century in the music industry at record labels Columbia, CBS, Elektra, Manhattan (EMI) and finally Blue Note, Bruce Lundvall discovered and signed a number of Jazz legends.
The Bruce Lundvall Collection comprises thirty lots documenting the history of Jazz. Featured items include the original artwork for Thelonious Monks groundbreaking album, Straight, No Chaser (Colombia: 1966) and Charlie Parkers Bird with Strings: Live at the Apollo, Carnegie Hall and Birdland (CBS: 1977), as well as a rare 1972 photograph (printed in 1982) of Miles Davis that captures the mercurial genius in a boxing ring at a San Francisco gym. Additional highlights include original album artwork for a number of jazz legends, among them Art Tatum, Woody Shaw, Bessie Smith, Lester Young, Bud Powell and others.
The Bruce Lundvall Collection will be offered as a featured section (lots 109 - 138) in the Doyle at Home auction on Wednesday, June 25 at 10am. The public is invited to the exhibition on view from June 21 through 24. Doyle New York is located at 175 East 87th Street in Manhattan.
Most people outside of the music industry can list names of popular artists, like country singer Willie Nelson, pop stars James Taylor and Norah Jones, or Jazz greats, Dexter Gordon, Herbie hancock and Stan Getz. But inside the music industry, all would know the name of the man who signed each one of these stars, and supported and nurtured their creative visions. Bruce Lundval is a giant in the music business, and his contributions to the 20th/21st century of Amercian recordings is monumental.
Bruce Lundval started his career at Columbia Records, in the marketing division. He eventually climbed to the role of President of the domestic division of CBS records. While in this position he built the largest jazz section of any label.
In 1982 Bruce became president of Elektra Records. Two years later he was approached by EMI and asked to create and run Manhattan, a subsidiary label, and to revive the renowned jazz label, Blue Note. Blue note, under Lundvals direction re-issued many great recordings from the labels past, as well as striking out into new territory to create new works of lasting musical excellence. In 2012 Bruce was named Chairman Emeritus of Blue Note.
The career of Bruce Lundval is a great American story. It is also an essential element in the American music idiom. His contributions are vital threads in the tapestry of American musical culture that we know today.