Francis Dreyfus, Pioneering French Music Producer and Publisher, Dies at 70

NEW YORK, July 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Dreyfus Records announces with sadness the passing of its founder, Francis Dreyfus, in Paris on June 24, 2010.  The cause of death was a pulmonary infection.  He was 70 years old. 

Francis Dreyfus was renowned as a record producer, music publisher and record label entrepreneur.

He founded the Dreyfus Jazz, Disques Motors and Disques Dreyfus record labels, and his artists included Michel Petrucciani, Jean Michel Jarre, Christophe, Bireli Lagrene, Roy Haynes and Ahmad Jamal.  Several of his recordings received Grammy nominations in America. 

His publishing company, Francis Dreyfus Music, was a pioneer in the French music industry, representing Jarre and the Dreyfus family of artists, as well other major music catalogs including ABC Music, Elvis Presley, and Pink Floyd.  As Floyd's French publisher in the late 1960's, Dreyfus connected the group with cutting edge French filmmakers, which proved to be a major step in the group's international development. 

Francis Dreyfus maintained long standing relationships with a small but well chosen family of artists.  He had equally long relationships with his company employees both in France and in America, many of whom spent decades with Dreyfus. 

In New York City in January 2006, Dreyfus received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Association for Jazz Education.  He also received France's highest award for the arts, being named chevalier de la Legion d'honneur.

A memorial service was held at Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris on July 2nd.  Jarre was one of those eulogizing Mr. Dreyfus, and Marcus Miller paid tribute with a musical performance on bass clarinet. 

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Francis Dreyfus's love affair with jazz began at the age of eight when his older brother turned him onto what he calls "the most important music of the century." As a teenager, Dreyfus started weekend jazz clubs in the Paris suburb in where he grew up.

He started publishing music for pocket money. His pockets started to overflow in the early 70's with Dreyfus's discovery of synthesizer-music pioneer Jean-Michel Jarre and his debut album, Oxygene.  Following the success of his publishing and production business, Dreyfus started his third label, Dreyfus Jazz, in 1991 with the signings of Steve Grossman, Michel Petrucciani, Richard Galliano and Bireli Lagrene.

In 1993, Francis Dreyfus founded his American record company, Dreyfus Records, Inc. and produced and released recordings of such illustrious American artists as Roy Haynes, Ahmad Jamal, Mingus Big Band and Lucky Peterson.  Peterson was the subject of Francis's final co-production, a new acoustic blues album called "You Can Always Turn Around," releasing in late September.

The iconic Ahmad Jamal calls Francis Dreyfus "one of the last great record men," often comparing to another label man he recorded for, the legendary Leonard Chess.    

Francis is survived by his wife, Helene, and his daughters, Julie, a film actress, and Chloe and Laura, who are both producers for the Dreyfus labels.

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For more information, please contact Doug Yoel at Dreyfus Records at 212-398-5859 x101 / [email protected].

SOURCE Dreyfus Records