Monte Kay
Monte Kay (September 18, 1924 – May 25, 1988) was an American music agent and record producer. Kay acted as a talent scout and musical director of several night clubs on the New York jazz scene in the late 1940s and 1950s. According to some accounts, during those years, the Caucasian Kay would sometimes introduce himself as a fair-skinned African American.
Monte Kay
- Name
- Monte Kay
- Birthplace
- New York City, U.S.
- Born
- 18 September 1924
- Place of death
- Los Angeles, California, U.S.
- Died
- 25 May 1988
- Occupation
- Music producer, club manager, television producer
- Nationality
- United States
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wikidata · Q3861656 · wikipedia · Monte Kay
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Biography
Biography
In May and June 1945, Mal Braveman and Kay's New Jazz Foundation produced concerts at New York's Town Hall that included Dizzy Gillespie, Pearl Bailey, Erroll Garner, Don Byas, Charlie Parker, Max Roach and Sidney Catlett. Kay befriended Davis and, during his later marriage to singer and actress Diahann Carroll, was for a time Miles' neighbor. In 1949, he founded the jazz club Birdland (later, he would also open another jazz club, Le Downbeat, in Chicago). During the 1950s, Kay produced several musicians, including Herbie Mann, Stan Getz, Sonny Rollins and the Modern Jazz Quartet. In the same period, he married (1956–1963) singer and actress Diahann Carroll. Their daughter, Suzanne Kay, is a journalist and television author. In 1963, Kay became the manager of the comedian Flip Wilson. The two formed the record label Little David Records, which featured comedy albums by Wilson, George Carlin and others. Kay was executive producer of the TV show The Flip Wilson Show. Kay died of heart failure in Los Angeles in 1988.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Monte Kay • Birthplace — New York City, U.S. • Born — 18 September 1924 • Place of death — Los Angeles, California, U.S. • Died — 25 May 1988 • Occupation — Music producer, club manager, television producer • Past Member Of — * Miles Davis • Herbie Mann • Stan Getz • Sonny Rollins • Modern Jazz Quartet • Flip Wilson
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New York City.
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Los Angeles.
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Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Monte Kay, revision 1327699202 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
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Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.The New York Times obituary
- 2.The IMDb record
- 3.Miles Davis and Quincy Troupe, Miles: The Autobiography, Simon and Schuster, 1989, .
- 4.Dizzy Gillespie - Charlie Parker – Town Hall, New York City, June 22, 1945. Discogs.
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 27 August 2026.
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