George Mesrop Avakian (Armenian: Գևորգ Ավագյան; Russian: Геворк Авакян; March 15, 1919 – November 22, 2017) was an American record producer, artist manager, writer, educator and executive. He was best known for his work from 1939 to the early-1960s at Decca Records, Columbia Records, Warner Bros. Records, and RCA Records. He was born in Armavir, Russia.

Avakian worked with artists such as Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Dave Brubeck, Eddie Condon, Keith Jarrett, Erroll Garner, Buck Clayton, Sonny Rollins, Paul Desmond, Edith Piaf, Bob Newhart, Johnny Mathis, John Cage, Ravi Shankar, and many other notable jazz musicians and composers.^[1]

Avakian died on November 22, 2017, aged 98, at his home in Manhattan, New York.^[2]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to George Avakian.

• Article about Avakian Archived 2016-08-09 at the Wayback Machine
• Interview with Avakian in 5 parts
• George Avakian and Anahid Ajemian papers, 1908-2013 Music Division, The New York Public Library.
• Interview with George Avakian, December 2009
• George Avakian Interview NAMM Oral History Library (2009)

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