Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation Pays Tribute
to Dan Morgenstern:
Long-time Board Member, Jazz Journalist,
Educatorand NEA Jazz Master
October 24, 1929 – September 7, 2024
to Dan Morgenstern:
Long-time Board Member, Jazz Journalist,
Educatorand NEA Jazz Master
October 24, 1929 – September 7, 2024
NEW YORK, NY, October 24, 2024 – Today on what would have been his 95th birthday, the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation (LAEF) pays tribute to long-time board member Dan Morgenstern, who passed away September 7. He was celebrated as a jazz writer uniquely embraced by musicians, using unpretentious prose and a vast knowledge of jazz history to capture the essence of their music.
“Dan Morgenstern was a dear friend and colleague. A member of the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation family, he was a friend of Louis Armstrong and an authority on the jazz great,” said Wynton Marsalis, Chairman of the Board of LAEF, world-renowned trumpeter and Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. “Dan was a highly regarded jazz journalist, teacher, historian, a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master, a multi-Grammy Award winner and a true fan.”
About Dan Morgenstern
Throughout his career, Morgenstern wrote thousands of articles for various publications, served as the last editor-in-chief of Metronome magazine, and became the first editor of Jazz magazine. He reviewed live jazz for The New York Post and albums for The Chicago Sun-Times, and while at DownBeat, he published 148 record reviews and served as chief editor from 1967 to 1973.
Morgenstern’s contributions to jazz writing were widely recognized. He won eight Grammy Awards for his liner notes and was named a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master in 2007. He also received three Deems Taylor Awards for excellence in music writing, two for his books Jazz People (1976) and Living with Jazz (2004). He played a key role in more than a dozen jazz documentaries and, from 1976 to 2011, served as the director of the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers University-Newark, where he helped build the world's largest repository of jazz documents, recordings, and memorabilia.
Morgenstern was born in Munich on October 24, 1929, to Soma Morgenstern, a novelist and journalist, and Ingeborg von Klenau, the daughter of a Danish composer. Growing up in Vienna, his early years were marked by the horrors of the Holocaust. His father escaped Austria after the Anschluss, while Morgenstern and his mother fled to Denmark. When the Nazis reached Copenhagen, they were smuggled to Sweden by the Danish resistance, remaining there until the war ended.
After the war, Morgenstern reunited with his father in New York City in 1947, where he began his career at Time-Life and then as a copy boy at The New York Times. Drafted in 1951, he returned to Munich for his tour of duty, and upon his discharge, he attended Brandeis University on the G.I. Bill. He became deeply involved in the Boston jazz scene and started writing about jazz, eventually finding work at The New York Post, where he covered jazz festivals and befriended many legendary musicians, including tenor saxophonist Coleman Hawkins.
Morgenstern’s deep love for jazz and his genuine connection with its musicians made him a trusted figure in the jazz community. His European background helped him earn the trust of African American musicians during a time when racial tensions were high. He became known as an eyewitness to jazz history, attending jam sessions, recording sessions, and gatherings that were usually off-limits to non-musicians.
He married Elsa Schochet in 1974, and they had two sons, Adam Oran and Joshua Louis. Even after retiring as director of the Institute of Jazz Studies in 2011, Morgenstern continued to write about, listen to, and learn about jazz. In 2024, at his final public appearance at the Jazz Gallery Honors Gala, he received a lifetime achievement award.
Throughout his life, Morgenstern remained devoted to jazz, describing his role more as an advocate for the music than as a critic. He believed his success came from learning about the music directly from the people who created it, rather than from books. "I’ve had a long life," he once said, "and I’ve been able to make a living and a life out of involvement with something that I really loved, and still do."
LAEF misses Dan’s sage advice, countless memories and warm spirit. We offer our condolences to his son Josh and family. May he rest in joy and peace.
About Dan Morgenstern
Throughout his career, Morgenstern wrote thousands of articles for various publications, served as the last editor-in-chief of Metronome magazine, and became the first editor of Jazz magazine. He reviewed live jazz for The New York Post and albums for The Chicago Sun-Times, and while at DownBeat, he published 148 record reviews and served as chief editor from 1967 to 1973.
Morgenstern’s contributions to jazz writing were widely recognized. He won eight Grammy Awards for his liner notes and was named a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master in 2007. He also received three Deems Taylor Awards for excellence in music writing, two for his books Jazz People (1976) and Living with Jazz (2004). He played a key role in more than a dozen jazz documentaries and, from 1976 to 2011, served as the director of the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers University-Newark, where he helped build the world's largest repository of jazz documents, recordings, and memorabilia.
Morgenstern was born in Munich on October 24, 1929, to Soma Morgenstern, a novelist and journalist, and Ingeborg von Klenau, the daughter of a Danish composer. Growing up in Vienna, his early years were marked by the horrors of the Holocaust. His father escaped Austria after the Anschluss, while Morgenstern and his mother fled to Denmark. When the Nazis reached Copenhagen, they were smuggled to Sweden by the Danish resistance, remaining there until the war ended.
After the war, Morgenstern reunited with his father in New York City in 1947, where he began his career at Time-Life and then as a copy boy at The New York Times. Drafted in 1951, he returned to Munich for his tour of duty, and upon his discharge, he attended Brandeis University on the G.I. Bill. He became deeply involved in the Boston jazz scene and started writing about jazz, eventually finding work at The New York Post, where he covered jazz festivals and befriended many legendary musicians, including tenor saxophonist Coleman Hawkins.
Morgenstern’s deep love for jazz and his genuine connection with its musicians made him a trusted figure in the jazz community. His European background helped him earn the trust of African American musicians during a time when racial tensions were high. He became known as an eyewitness to jazz history, attending jam sessions, recording sessions, and gatherings that were usually off-limits to non-musicians.
He married Elsa Schochet in 1974, and they had two sons, Adam Oran and Joshua Louis. Even after retiring as director of the Institute of Jazz Studies in 2011, Morgenstern continued to write about, listen to, and learn about jazz. In 2024, at his final public appearance at the Jazz Gallery Honors Gala, he received a lifetime achievement award.
Throughout his life, Morgenstern remained devoted to jazz, describing his role more as an advocate for the music than as a critic. He believed his success came from learning about the music directly from the people who created it, rather than from books. "I’ve had a long life," he once said, "and I’ve been able to make a living and a life out of involvement with something that I really loved, and still do."
LAEF misses Dan’s sage advice, countless memories and warm spirit. We offer our condolences to his son Josh and family. May he rest in joy and peace.
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