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Theodore Samuel Reig (November 23, 1918 – September 29, 1984) was a self-described "jazz hustler" who worked as a record producer, A&R man, promoter, and artist manager from the 1940s through the 1970s. As a record producer, he captured the work of dozens of jazz innovators. He also influenced rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and Latin music.
In 1945, Reig produced the first recordings led by the jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker. "Had he done nothing else," said Reig biographer Edward Berger, "this accomplishment alone would have ensured his place in history. But he continued to document the development of the new music through his work with a whole range of seminal artists."
Reig was born to a American Jews family on 110th Street, in Harlem, and attended New Utrecht High School, in Brooklyn. After leaving school without a diploma, he began hanging out at New York ballrooms, jazz clubs, and music hot spots, ingratiating himself with musicians, managers, and impresarios. In his early 20s he served nine months in a Kentucky jail for narcotics possession.Berger, Edward, Reminiscing in Tempo: the Life and Times of a Jazz Hustler, Scarecrow Press/Institute of Jazz Studies, 1990
Jazz historian Patrick Burke wrote that Reig "initially earned his club-going money with schemes such as selling worn-out records that had been doctored with shoe polish to look brand new."Burke, Patrick, Come in and Hear the Truth: Jazz and Race on 52nd Street, University of Chicago Press, 2008
"Eventually, he was given small jobs, like placing signs announcing a gig," wrote jazz historian Richard Carlin. "Promoter Cy Shribman took him under his wing hiring him to work as a 'band boy' for Mal Hallett's band .... Band boys were responsible for managing the band's equipment and scores, and arranging the stands and chairs on stage before the band played. Reig's other 'duties' included keeping an eye on the band's stash of marijuana." Carlin, Richard, "Teddy Reig: Jazz Hustler", Richardcarlin.wordpress.com, April 23, 2016
Jazz critic Leonard Weinreich wrote that "Reig lumbered around Harlem's demimonde like a small mountain permanently enveloped in its own ganja mist." Weinreich, Leonard, "LP REVIEW: Lee Morgan – The Roulette Sides", London Jazz News, September 6, 2017
Reig produced the first recordings by First Miles and Stan Getz. He also produced recordings by Dizzy Gillespie, Sarah Vaughan, Don Byas, Erroll Garner, Dexter Gordon, J.J. Johnson, Lester Young, Johnny Smith, Bud Powell, Quincy Jones, Redd Foxx, Sonny Stitt, Lee Morgan, Maynard Ferguson, and countless others.
"There is no question that much of this wonderful jazz would have gone unpreserved had not Reig interrupted his small-time 52nd Street hustles to become an artful bridge between musicians and the money men needed to seed a recording session," wrote jazz columnist Nels Nelson. Nelson, Nels, "A Pro Who Threw His Weight Around," Philadelphia Daily News, September 14, 1990
Dave Gelly, at Jazz Journal, wrote that "Savoy's producer, Teddy Reig, had his work cut out assembling the musicians, paying them cash-in-hand, dealing with the union and turning out four masters per session. The material consisted entirely of originals, so there would be no publishers to pay." Gelly, Dave, "Charlie Parker: The Immortal Charlie Parker", Jazz Journal, Feb. 5, 2020
About Parker, Reig later reminisced: "Bird's playing says it all. Listen to anybody: Coleman Hawkins Coleman,
While handling A&R for Roulette Records, Reig guided the Count Basie orchestra through its most prolific and popular period. He directed and recorded Teddy Reig's All Stars, featuring trombonist Kai Winding and drummer Shelly Manne, for Savoy Records.
When the jazz records market began to wane in the 1960s, Reig transitioned over to the Latin music market, recording its best practitioners and scouting emerging musicians arriving in the United States from Latin America. He produced recordings by Willie Bobo, Tito Puente, Ray Barretto, Machito, Eddie Palmieri, and Ruth Fernandez.
He is credited with discovering and furthering the career of saxophonist Paul "Hucklebuck" Williams, all of whose Savoy sides Reig produced. Reig convinced Williams to switch his playing from alto to baritone sax, and insisted that Williams learn to aggressively "honk" with his instrument, a technique which led to the artist's commercial breakthrough and became one of his trademarks. Keepnews, Peter, "Paul Williams, 87, Rock Pioneer With 1948's 'The Hucklebuck' (obituary), The New York Times, October 1, 2002 In 1955 Reig was instrumental in helping sign an obscure St. Louis-based R&B singer named Chuck Berry to his first agency booking contract.
Reig's management roster included Count Basie, Erroll Garner, guitarist Johnny Smith, Paul Williams, the Solitaires, and others.
"Teddy's big secret of getting the best out of musicians was that he never paid any attention to what was going on in the studio," said Johnny Smith. "I always appreciated the fact that Teddy never came back to tell us what we should be doing. He would let the artists have complete freedom. Teddy knew enough to keep his nose out of the music."
Producer Jerry Wexler said:
"Once he was in the studio, Teddy knew how to get what he wanted out of these guys," said producer and friend Bob Porter. "You can hire the greatest musicians in the world, and once the tape starts rolling nothing happens. It's not a good feeling! As far as I'm concerned, Reig made Don Byas's best records, not to mention Dexter Gordon, Bird, and a few others. But he was a real master with Basie. The Count Basie band that Teddy produced on Roulette never sounded better anywhere, before or after. Teddy really knew what that band was supposed to sound like and he always got it."
Some questioned Reig's integrity and taste. When Sarah Vaughan signed with Roulette in 1960, Reig became her producer. Jazz historian Gary Giddins considers many of her Roulette recordings to be the worst of Vaughan's career.Giddins, Gary, Weather Bird: Jazz at the Dawn of Its Second Century, Oxford University Press, 2006 "Reig ... loved jazz as played by Basie and dollars any way they came," wrote Giddins. "That, at least, is the received wisdom about Vaughan's three years at the label, which she did nothing to dispel. At Basie's funeral service, she sat next to Billy Eckstine and giggled with mild embarrassment as Eckstine loudly encouraged Reig to rifle the coffin for any loot he might have overlooked."
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