Todd Barkan (born August 13, 1946) is an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

impresario and producer.

Biography

Born in

Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska. The city covers and had a population of 291,082 as of the 2020 census. It is the state's List of cities in Nebraska, second-most populous city a ...

, Barkan grew up in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

and attended

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1833, it is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational lib ...

. He ran a club in San Francisco called

Keystone Korner The Keystone Korner was a jazz club in the North Beach, San Francisco, North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco, California, which opened in 1970 and continued operation until 1983. Many live recordings were made at the club. In the 1970s, Jessi ...

from 1972 to 1983, which became, in the words of journalist Bob Margolis, "legendary for its adventurous bookings and its bohemian ambience". A fan of jazz from a young age, Barkan ran the club despite its inability to break even, and financial troubles resulted in its closure in 1983. Barkan then relocated to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, where he became the manager of the Boys Club of Harlem; around 1990 he returned to the Bay Area to manage the club Yoshi's in

Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...

. He quit Yoshi's in 1993 and worked as a record producer for the rest of the decade, with labels such as

Fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

Milestone A milestone is a numbered marker placed on a route such as a road, railway, railway line, canal or border, boundary. They can indicate the distance to towns, cities, and other places or landmarks like Mileage sign, mileage signs; or they c ...

, HighNote, Columbia, Sunnyside, and

Concord Concord may refer to: Meaning "agreement" * Harmony, in music * Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other words Arts and media * ''Concord'' (video game), a defunct 2024 first-person sh ...

, as well as many Japanese labels. In 2000, Barkan was hired to take

Joel Dorn Joel Dorn (April 7, 1942 – December 17, 2007) was an American jazz and R&B music producer and record label entrepreneur. He worked at Atlantic Records, and later founded the 32 Jazz, Label M, and Hyena Records labels. He called himself ...

's place as head of the jazz label

32 Records 32 Records was a record label established in 1995 by record producer Joel Dorn and attorney Robert Miller. Its 32 Jazz imprint released a successful series of compilation albums. It was named for Dorn's favorite sports number. It also released ne ...

. In 2001 he began working as the director of Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola at

Jazz at Lincoln Center Jazz at Lincoln Center is an organization based in New York City. Part of Lincoln Center, the organization was founded in 1987 and opened at Time Warner Center (now Deutsche Bank Center) in October 2004. The organization seeks to “represent th ...

, a position he held until 2012. In 2011, Barkan was in a car accident which left him hospitalized for weeks. Starting in 2013, he began hosting a jazz night at Iridium, a club in New York City. In 2019, Barkan and Michelin-starred chef

Robert Wiedmaier Robert Wiedmaier is a West German-born, Belgian American chef. He owns multiple restaurants in and around Washington, D.C. and is known for creating dishes involving Belgian cuisine, specifically mussels. Personal life Robert Wiedmaier was bor ...

re-launched the Keystone Korner in Baltimore's Harbor East.

Awards

* 2018

NEA Jazz Masters The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), every year honors up to seven jazz musicians with Jazz Master Awards. The National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Fellowships are the self-proclaimed highest honors that the United States bestows upo ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Barkan, Todd 1946 births Living people Musicians from Lincoln, Nebraska Record producers from Nebraska Record producers from Ohio NEA Jazz Masters