Where Others Saw Divisions, He Saw Opportunity

Ahmet Ertegun, the immigrant founder of influential Atlantic Records who died this past week, was a fascinating study in both business acumen and a pure, all-consuming love of the music of others. He was “an outsider, from Turkey no less, who loved African-American music so much that he became a major force in pop history. Points of friction in American culture — class, ethnicity, race, religion — mostly provided him with sparks.”