In histories of music and audio technologies, and particularly in narratives about jazz, record producers tend to fall by the wayside. They're seldom acknowledged and generally unknown. But without them and their contributions to the art form, we’d have little on record of some of the most important music ever created. This oral history—organizing interviews gathered by music scholar Michael Jarrett—tells the stories behind some of jazz's best-selling and most influential albums. Beginning in the mid-'30s and continuing to the present, it draws together conversations with over fifty producers, ... More

In histories of music and audio technologies, and particularly in narratives about jazz, record producers tend to fall by the wayside. They're seldom acknowledged and generally unknown. But without them and their contributions to the art form, we’d have little on record of some of the most important music ever created. This oral history—organizing interviews gathered by music scholar Michael Jarrett—tells the stories behind some of jazz's best-selling and most influential albums. Beginning in the mid-'30s and continuing to the present, it draws together conversations with over fifty producers, musicians, engineers, and label executives. It shines a light on the world of making jazz record albums by letting producers tell their own stories and share their experiences in creating the American jazz canon. Packed with fascinating stories and fresh perspectives on over 200 albums and artists—including legends such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, and Miles Davis, as well as contemporary artists such as George Benson, Diana Krall, and Norah Jones—Pressed for All Time tells the unknown stories of the men and women who helped to shape the quintessential American sound.