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Sumner Lester (November 15, 1924 – April 28, 2018), better known as Sonny Lester, was an American Grammy-award-winning music producer from New York City. He started his career as a musician in a big band jazz ensemble before being drafted into the U.S. Army. During the war he earned a Purple Heart and worked under Henry Kissinger, who was an intelligence officer at the time. Lester's recordings have been distributed by labels including Blue Note, United Artists, Capitol Records, Denon and CBS Records.
By 1993, The New York Times reported that his record company, Lester Recording Catalog (LRC, Ltd.), had "nearly 150 titles, and annual revenues are $3 million to $4 million."
LRC releases jazz records as CDs. In the early 1990s, Lester retained the rights to a number of records he produced in the 1960s and 1970s and reissued them as CDs on LRC. The company's catalog includes recordings by Dave Brubeck, Count Basie, Chick Corea, and Dizzy Gillespie. LRC has also sold original recordings by emerging jazz acts. In a 1993 interview with Crain's New York Business, Lester said, "Record companies are so big and monstrous, they don't have the time to nurture jazz artists. We do. We speak their language and the artists know and respect us, so they feel comfortable here."Mirabella, Allen (April 19, 1993). "A little record company takes on the jazz giants". Crain's New York Business. Sec. 1, p. 30.
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