Arif Mardin
Songwriter · died at 74
Profile
| Age | died at 74 |
|---|---|
| Birth date | March 15, 1932 |
| Birthplace | İstanbul |
| Died | June 25, 2006 |
| Profession | Songwriter, Record producer, Composer, Musician |
| Zodiac sign | Pisces |
Arif Mardin — Biography
Mehmet Arif Mardin (15 March 1932 – 25 June 2006) was a Turkish-American record producer whose Ottoman-rooted family included his sister, writer Betül Mardin; he himself was married to the writer Latife Mardin. After studying business at the London School of Economics, he trained in music at Berklee College of Music, where a Quincy Jones scholarship brought him to the United States.
Mardin joined Atlantic Records in 1963 under Nesuhi Ertegün and rose to vice president by 1969, becoming, alongside Ahmet Ertegün and Jerry Wexler, one of the architects of the label's signature sound. Over more than three decades there he produced and arranged for hundreds of artists spanning jazz, rock, soul, disco and country, including Aretha Franklin, the Bee Gees, Bette Midler, Chaka Khan, Phil Collins and Barbra Streisand.
After leaving Atlantic in 2001 to become vice president and general manager of Manhattan/EMI Records, he helped launch Norah Jones to stardom. Winner of 12 Grammy Awards and dozens of gold and platinum records over his career, Mardin died of cancer in New York on 25 June 2006.
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