Michael Brooks (music archivist and consultant)

Michael Brooks is a music historian, archivist, consultant, and producer. Brooks began his music career in 1971, assisting and producing records with John Hammond, noted Columbia Records scout whose discoveries include amongst others, Billie Holiday, Count Basie, Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen. This collaboration resulted in many reissues of jazz, pop, big band, and country music artifacts, currently on the Legacy Recordings label.

Brooks has been nominated for Grammy awards 16 times. Brooks Grammy awards wins include:

2001: Historical Reissue: Billie Holiday

2001: Engineer/Historical Reissue: Louis Armstrong

1981: Historical Reissue: Hoagy Carmichael

1979: Historical Reissue: Billie Holiday

1978: Historical Reissue: Lester Young

1978: Liner Notes: Bing Crosby

Various Projects

Brooks credits on many various projects include the following:

Producer:

Duke Ellington: The Essential Duke Ellington

Duke Ellington: Piano in the Background

Duke Ellington: Festival Session

Duke Ellington: Masterpieces by Ellington (Bonus Tracks)

Duke Ellington: OKeh Ellington

Duke Ellington: Blues in Orbit (Bonus Tracks)

Duke Ellington: Piano in the Foreground (Bonus Tracks)
Louis Armstrong: Essential Louis Armstrong

Louis Armstrong: Hot Fives, Vol. 1

Louis Armstrong: Hot Fives & Hot Sevens, Vol. 2

Billie Holiday: Billie Holiday Collection, Vol. 1

Billie Holiday: Billie Holiday Collection, Vol. 2

Billie Holiday: Billie Holiday Collection, Vol. 4

Billie Holiday: Love Songs, Vol. 2

Billie Holiday: Blue Billie (Columbia)

Billie Holiday: Lady Day Swings!

Cab Calloway: Cab Calloway (Featuring Chu Berry)

Bix Beiderbecke: Vol. 1: Singin' the Blues

Charlie Christian: Genius of the Electric Guitar (Columbia Box Set)

Benny Goodman: The Essential Benny Goodman (Bluebird/Legacy)

Tommy Dorsey: The Sentimental Gentleman of Swing: Centennial Collection

Various Artists: PROGRESSIONS: 100 Years Of Jazz Guitars

Various Artists: Art Deco: The Crooners

Various Artists: Real Kansas City

Various Artists: Now That's Chicago!

Various Artists: Stars of the Apollo

Liner Notes:

Billie Holiday: Billie Holiday Collection, Vol. 1

Billie Holiday: Billie Holiday Collection, Vol. 2

Billie Holiday: Billie Holiday Collection, Vol. 3

Billie Holiday: Billie Holiday Collection, Vol. 4

Bix Beiderbecke: Vol. 1: Singin' the Blues

Various Artists: Art Deco: The Crooners

Various Artists: This Is Art Deco

Various Artists: Now That's Chicago!

Various Artists: Swing Time! The Fabulous Big Band Era 1925-1955

Brooks world music projects include the Sony Legacy reissue "Cuban Music: 1909-1951" and the Yiddish compilation "From Avenue A to the Great White Way." Brooks also specializes in identifying obscure pre-1950 recordings and served as the project manager on the 19-hour PBS Ken Burns Presents Jazz compilation series of 22 single-discs, as well as a five-disc box set historical summary.

Michael Brooks currently works at SonyBMG as a consultant.

References

http://www.grammy.com

http://www.legacyrecordings.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammy_Award_for_Best_Historical_Album

http://www.legacyrecordings.com/Billie-Holiday/Lady-Day-The-Complete-Billie-Holiday-On-Columbia-1933-1944.aspx

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/artists/jhammond.htm

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/news.php?id=1488

http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=11283