Creed Taylor

Creed Taylor was best known for running his CTI label of the 1970s, but he was important in the jazz recording industry for quite some time. He played trumpet early on before becoming the head of A&R at Bethlehem Records in 1954. Taylor was at Bethlehem during its two most significant years, recording such artists as Chris Connor, Oscar Pettiford, Ruby Braff, Carmen McRae, Charles Mingus, Herbie Mann, and the J.J. Johnson-Kai Winding Quintet. In 1956, Taylor switched to ABC-Paramount, and in 1960 founded its Impulse subsidiary. Although he signed John Coltrane for Impulse in 1...