Teddy Reig

Teddy Reig
William P. Gottlieb · Public domain · source
Name	Theodore "Teddy" Reig
Birth date	April 19, 1918
Birth place	New York City, United States
Death date	April 23, 1984
Death place	New York City, United States
Occupation	Record producer, talent scout, A&R executive, promoter
Years active	1930s–1970s
Labels	Savoy, Royal Roost, Roost Records, Roulette, Sittin' In With

Teddy Reig

Teddy Reig was an American record producer, talent scout, and A&R executive influential in mid-20th century jazz, rhythm and blues, and early rock and roll. He worked with leading performers and labels, helping shape recordings by bebop pioneers, swing veterans, and emerging R&B stars. Reig's career intersected with venues, studios, and industry figures that defined the recording business from the 1930s through the 1970s.

Early life and education

Born in New York City, Reig grew up amid the Harlem jazz scene and the Bronx music culture that connected him to figures such as Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, Coleman Hawkins, and Louis Armstrong. His informal education included exposure to clubs like the Savoy Ballroom, the Cotton Club, the Apollo Theater, and the Minton's Playhouse, where he encountered artists including Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Billy Eckstine, and Roy Eldridge. Reig's early contacts extended to promoters and impresarios like Irving Mills, John Hammond, Billy Berg, and Moe Gale, situating him within networks of labels such as Blue Note Records, Decca Records, Columbia Records, and Victor Talking Machine Company.

Career beginnings and record production

Reig began producing sessions during the swing era, working with bands linked to Count Basie Orchestra, Chick Webb, Jimmie Lunceford, Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy Dorsey, and soloists from the Savoy Records roster like Charlie Parker and Cannonball Adderley. He operated in recording studios such as RCA Victor Studios, Columbia Records' Studio A, Mills Studio, and independent facilities used by Savoy Records and Prestige Records, collaborating with engineers influenced by techniques from Les Paul, Ampex, and RCA. Reig produced sessions featuring arrangers and composers associated with Sy Oliver, Eddie Sauter, Billy Strayhorn, Tadd Dameron, and Quincy Jones early in their careers.

Role as talent scout and A&R

As a talent scout and A&R man, Reig discovered, signed, or championed artists who later recorded for labels including Savoy Records, Roost Records, Roulette Records, EmArcy Records, and Capitol Records. He worked with musicians linked to the bebop movement—Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell—and with vocalists and bands tied to Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Washington, Joe Williams, Nat King Cole, and Frank Sinatra contemporaries. Reig's A&R activity intersected with executives like Milt Gabler, Ahmet Ertegun, Jerry Wexler, Moses Asch, George Avakian, and Art Rupe, and with agencies such as William Morris Agency and General Artists Corporation.

Notable recordings and collaborations

Reig produced or supervised sessions including early bebop recordings with Charlie Parker and ensembles featuring Dizzy Gillespie, Fats Navarro, Max Roach, Gillespie's big band, and Roy Haynes. He worked with swing and blues artists connected to Count Basie, Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins, Johnny Hodges, and Ben Webster. In R&B and crossover pop he collaborated with performers associated with Big Joe Turner, LaVern Baker, Billy Ward, Earl Bostic, and Louis Jordan. Reig also produced sessions involving musicians who later recorded for Atlantic Records and Mercury Records, and he coordinated dates that included sidemen from bands led by Art Blakey, Horace Silver, Stan Getz, and Gerry Mulligan.

Business ventures and record labels

Reig co-founded and ran labels and imprints such as Royal Roost, Roost Records, and worked closely with Savoy Records and Roulette Records executives, interfacing with industry players like Morris Levy, Teddy Reig associates, George Wein, and entrepreneurs active at venues including Birdland and The Village Vanguard. His business activities brought him into contact with pressing plants and distributors serving RCA, United Artists, Decca, and independent distributors servicing jukebox networks and radio stations like WOR (AM), WNEW-FM, WMCA (AM), and WABC (AM). Reig negotiated with publishers and rights organizations such as ASCAP, BMI, Harry Fox Agency, and publishers linked to Irving Berlin and Cole Porter repertoires.

Later career and legacy

In later decades Reig continued producing and advising sessions that bridged jazz, R&B, and pop, influencing careers of artists who recorded later for Verve Records, Columbia Records, Blue Note Records, Prestige Records, and independent imprints. His legacy is reflected in reissues and anthologies released by RCA Victor, Mosaic Records, Concord Records, GRP Records, and archival projects by The Smithsonian Institution and Library of Congress initiatives documenting jazz history. Reig's role is acknowledged by historians and authors associated with Ken Burns, Gary Giddins, Scott Yanow, Dan Morgenstern, and institutions such as Institute of Jazz Studies and National Endowment for the Arts programs.

Personal life and death

Reig lived in New York City amid scenes involving venues like The Savoy Ballroom, Minton's Playhouse, Birdland, The Village Vanguard, and social circles including agents and musicians tied to William Morris Agency, General Artists Corporation, Irving "Kid" Ory", and contemporaries such as Norman Granz. He died in New York City in April 1984, leaving a discography and archival footprint involving sessions preserved by Smithsonian Folkways, The Library of Congress, Institute of Jazz Studies, and collectors associated with Blue Note reissues and Savoy reissues.

Category:American record producers Category:People from New York City