NEW YORK - U.S. PBS channel will broadcast a documentary film about Turkish producer Ahmet Ertegun who passed away in 2006.
The documentary movie titled "Atlantic Records: The House that Ahmet Built", which was shot under the channel`s "American Masters" series, will be broadcast on May 2nd.
The documentary tells four years of Ertegun`s life as well as the interviews with him.
Ahmet Ertegun, founder of Atlantic Records, died in December 2006. The prominent producer of Turkish descent lost his life at the age of 83 after he slipped and fell at a Rolling Stones concert at the Beacon Theatre on October 29th 2006. Ertegun suffered a severe brain injury and passed away in December 2006.
-AHMET ERTEGUN-
Ertegun was born in Istanbul, Turkey on July 31st, 1923. The son of the Turkish Ambassador to the United States, he was raised and educated in Switzerland, Paris, London, and Washington, D.C.
A passionate music fan and collector, Ertegun borrowed 10,000 USD from his dentist and founded Atlantic Records in New York City in the fall of 1947. He signed artists, produced records, wrote songs, and supervised the fledgling label.
Under Ertegun`s direction, Atlantic evolved from a groundbreaking, independent R&B and jazz label into one of the world`s preeminent music companies. The artists he discovered and the music he pioneered led a revolution in R&B, soul, and rock music that reshaped the modern cultural landscape forming a legacy that includes such seminal artists as Ray Charles, Big Joe Turner, Ruth Brown, LaVern Baker, The Clovers, The Drifters, John Coltrane, Ben E. King, Bobby Darin, Sonny & Cher, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Solomon Burke, Wilson Pickett, Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, The Rolling Stones, Bette Midler, Roberta Flack, Phil Collins, and many others.
In 1991, Ertegun received an honorary doctorate in music from the Berklee College of Music in Boston, and in 1993 he was presented with a Trustees Award from the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences. In 2000, he was honored as a "Living Legend" by the United States Library of Congress, on the occasion of the Library`s Bicentennial.
In June 2006, he was honored with the opening night concert at the 40th Montreux Jazz Festival.
Ertegun never retired and remained active at Atlantic until his death, serving as founding chairman of the company he started six decades ago.