(January 16th 1894 - April 21st 1985)

Born Isadore Minsky in Odessa, Ukraine in 1894 his family immigrated to the United States when he was a boy and settled on Manhattan's Lower East Side. After working a series of odd jobs he stated out in the music publishing business with his brother in 1919. As Irving Mills (and under the penname Joe Primrose) he established himself as an impresario with a hand in nearly every facet of jazz; from songwriting and performing, to promoting and organizing groups.