R.I.P. Dan Morgenstern, 94

Written By Mike Greenblatt
Dan Morgenstern

Longtime Jersey Jazz columnist/downbeat editor/author/historian Dan Morgenstern passed away from heart failure September 7 in New York City at the age of 94. A Jersey City resident, he was named Director of Jazz Studies at Rutgers-Newark in 1976 and amassed the world’s largest collection of jazz documents, recordings and memorabilia in his dogged effort to keep jazz history alive. An eight-time Grammy Award winner for album liner notes, he achieved Jazz Master status in 2007 from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).

As the news broke, testimonials and tributes immediately poured in including this from David Ostwald who leads the Louis Armstrong Eternity Band: “With beautiful writing and riveting first-hand reports, Dan brought to life people I revered but never met and history that shaped the present but had always felt hopelessly distant.”

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Mike Greenblatt

MIKE GREENBLATT has been writing for Goldmine magazine and New Jersey's Aquarian Weekly for more than 35 years. His writing subjects fill the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

He's interviewed Joe Cocker, Graham Nash, David Crosby, Carlos Santana, Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Johnny Cash, and members of The Rolling Stones and The Beatles. He was 18 when he attended Woodstock in 1969.

In addition to writing about music, Greenblatt has worked on publicity campaigns for The Animals, Pat Benatar, Johnny Winter, Tommy James and Richard Branson, among others. He is currently the editor of The Jersey Sound.

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