ENCINO, CA (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — Merlin Company president and jazz manager Michael Davenport passed away after a battle with pancreatic cancer on March 12. He was 66.
Davenport devoted nearly 40 years of his life to the music industry, remaining staunchly pro-artist and reflecting his belief in progressive political causes. He began his music business involvement with a stint at the UCLA Student Committee for the Arts as a producer of jazz events, but strayed from the field when he accepted a position as a literary agent in the mid-‘60s, according to JazzTimes.
Davenport returned the music industry in the 1970s as an agent representing such high-profile acts as the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, but moved into managing jazz acts because of his love of the genre. Some of his earlier clients included Freddie Hubbard and Charlie Haden. In recent years he worked with Manhattan Transfer, Joe Lovano, Brad Mehldau and Dianne Reeves. –by CelebrityAccess Staff Writers
