Ira Gitler
Dec 18, 1928 – Feb 23, 2019
Instrument | lyricist, journalist, writer |
Birthplace | Brooklyn, NY |
Available Leadsheets

Jazz journalist, lyricist and one of the world's #1 bebop fans, Ira Gitler's enthusiasm for the music has been a consistent feature of his prolific writing through the years. As a staff producer for Prestige Records during the early 1950s, Gitler worked as a producer on many dates and generally wrote the colorful liner notes.
He helped Leonard Feather out on Feather's original Encyclopedia of Jazz and his role in subsequent Encyclopedias grew to the point where he received co-billing. Gitler was at one time an associate editor of Down Beat magazine. He also wrote for the jazz magazine Metronome and is a longtime contributor to Jazz Times. Gitler has written two classic books: "Jazz Masters of the Forties" and "From Swing To Bop."
List of Composers
- Ronnie Ball
- Rob Bargad
- Bill Barron
- Bruce Barth
- Pamela Baskin-Watson
- Mickey Bass
- Mario Bauzá
- David Berkman
- Peter Bernstein
- Eddie Bert
- Denzil Best
- John Bishop
- Walter Bolden
- Walter Booker
- Ruby Braff
- Adam Brenner
- Bob Brookmeyer
- Harold "Tina" Brooks
- Clifford Brown
- Donald Brown
- Shelley Brown
- Ray Bryant
- Jon Burr
- Kenny Burrell
- Rahn Burton
- Willie Maiden
- Kitty Malone
- Cal Massey
- Ronnie Mathews
- Tina May
- Cecil McBee
- Verena McBee
- Gary McFarland
- Howard McGhee
- Tom McIntosh
- Jim McNeely
- Charles McPherson
- Fleurine Mehldau
- Sergio Mihanovich
- Doug Miller
- L. Aziza Miller
- Leon Mitchell
- Bill Mobley
- Hank Mobley
- Grachan Moncur III
- J.R. Monterose
- Buddy Montgomery
- Jack Montrose
- Ralph Moore
- Michael Philip Mossman
- George Mraz
- Mark Murphy