Leonard Kunstadt was a scholar of jazz and blues music, and a record label manager.

Len Kunstadt was born and raised in Brownsville, Brooklyn

Brooklyn

Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

. He was the son of Morris Kunstadt, a violinist and chess master, and Sophie Sherry Kunstadt, a writer and assistant to band leader Edwin Franko Goldman

Edwin Franko Goldman

Edwin Franko Goldman is one of America's prominent band composers of the early 20th century. He composed over 150 works, more notably his marches. He is known for founding the renowned Goldman Band of New York City and the American Bandmasters Association...

. After serving in the U.S. Air Force in World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, Lenny graduated from New York University

New York University

New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...

 and began his prolific study of jazz and blues music.

Also known as “Kazoo Papa," Len Kunstadt was the editor and publisher of 'Record Research' magazine, which he founded in the late 1950s, devoted to documenting the recording sessions of historic jazz and blues recordings. Kunstadt continued as editor and publisher of the magazine until the year of his death. He co-authored (with Sam Charters) Jazz - A History of the New York Scene

Jazz - A History of the New York Scene

Jazz - A History of the New York Scene is a book by Len Kunstadt and Sam Charters documenting the 20th century jazz scene in New York City....

.

Kunstadt was also a charter member of Record Research Associates, a jazz collector and research organization started in the 1940s in New York City and survived until the 1990s.

In 2001 he was awarded a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award from the ARSC (Association for Recorded Sound Collections).

Kunstadt's papers and archival research were donated to the Institute of Jazz Studies

Institute of Jazz Studies

The Institute of Jazz Studies is the largest and most comprehensive library and archive of jazz and jazz-related materials in the world, located at the Newark campus of Rutgers University.-History:...

 at Rutgers University

Rutgers University

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American...

.

Kunstadt was the companion of Victoria Spivey

Victoria Spivey

Victoria Spivey was an American blues singer and songwriter. She is best known for her recordings of "Dope Head Blues" and "Organ Grinder Blues", and Spivey variously worked with her sister, Addie "Sweet Pease" Spivey, and with Bob Dylan, Lonnie Johnson, Louis Armstrong, King Oliver, Clarence...

, and together they created Spivey Records

Spivey Records

Spivey Records was a specialist blues record label founded by blues singer Victoria Spivey and jazz historian Len Kunstadt in 1961. Spivey Records released a series of blues and jazz albums between 1961 and 1985.- History of Spivey Records :...

in 1960. He managed the label after her death in 1976.

External links

• Victoria Spivey Archives, including papers of Spivey Records, 1960-1976, Emory University Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library.
• Institute of Jazz Studies, Rutgers University Libraries
• Spivey Records