Nat Shapiro is best-known as a writer who co-edited the classic books Hear Me Talkin' To Ya (1955) and The Jazz Makers (1957) with Nat Hentoff. However, he actually made his living working directly for record labels. Shapiro was Mercury's national promotional director (1948-50) and the head of public relations for BMI (1954-55), and as head of Columbia's A&R department from 1956-66, he produced scores of sessions. In all, Shapiro produced around 100 albums for a variety of labels -- a strong contribution, although he will always be best remembered for his work on the two books. ~ Scott Yanow, Rovi