Richard Bock (producer)

Richard Eugene Bock (January 22, 1927 – February 6, 1988)[1][2] was an American jazz record producer.

Bock was born in Syracuse, New York, United States. He worked for Discovery Records in 1950-1951, then founded the label Pacific Jazz in Los Angeles with Roy Harte in 1952. He would serve as producer of hundreds of sessions in cool jazz and West Coast jazz for Pacific Jazz, working with Gerry Mulligan, Chet Baker, Art Pepper, Chico Hamilton, Jim Hall, Bud Shank, Buddy Rich, Wes Montgomery, Richard "Groove" Holmes, Les McCann, Gerald Wilson, and the Jazz Crusaders. Wes Montgomery's composition "Bock to Bock" is named after Bock.[3]

In 1958, Bock worked on a session with Ravi Shankar, then started a subsidiary label, World Pacific, which released music other than jazz. He worked with the label even after selling it to Liberty Records in 1965, recording sessions with them until 1970. He later worked as a producer for films, and in the 1980s also worked with the reformulated Contemporary Records. He died in Los Angeles, California, aged 61.