From The Seattle Times:
Norm Bobrow, a well-known Seattle impresario and champion of Seattle jazz, died Sunday.
A disc jockey, Seattle Times columnist and singer/bandleader who presented Fats Waller, Lionel Hampton, Charlie Parker, among others, Mr. Bobrow had a career in popular music and jazz that spanned seven decades.
Mr. Bobrow, 90, died of cancer, according to his brother, Mort.
…
Always a champion of local talent, Mr. Bobrow actively promoted the career of then-17-year-old Seattle singer Ernestine Anderson as “the new Ella [Fitzgerald],” presenting her in 1946 at the Metropolitan Theatre. Other artists promoted by Bobrow included Paul Neves, Freddie Greenwell, Gerald Wiggins and Floyd Standifer.
In 1950, Mr. Bobrow started promoting bebop pianist Cecil Young, often at the 908 Club, on 12th Avenue. The quartet later went on to national tours and a popular recording. In 1952, Mr. Bobrow presented a historic concert at the Metropolitan Theatre that featured Parker, Dave Brubeck and Chet Baker.
Mr. Bobrow loved to tell the story about how Parker first had to be dragged from the bar at the Grosvenor Hotel to the show, and then wound up spending the night in Bobrow’s apartment, leaving a “goodbye” scrawled in lipstick the next morning, before Bobrow got up.
Mr. Bobrow also presented legendary saxophonist Stan Getz, after which Getz, in an infamous incident, was arrested for robbing a drugstore.
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