The Audio Engineering Society mourns the loss of Irving L. Joel, for decades an
integral member of the New York recording community and a beloved member of
the Audio Engineering Society. “Irv Joel was an inspiration and mentor to many of
today’s most noted audio professionals,’ says Bob Moses, Executive Director of the
Audio Engineering Society. “He also contributed in huge ways to the AES over
decades. Well beyond his contributions to the industry and the AES, Irv was beloved
as a warm and caring man. He will be missed. On behalf of the AES, I offer our
deepest sympathies to Irv’s family and loved ones.’
Irv Joel’s lifetime of contribution to the art of recording included 15 years at Capitol
Records and early experiments with stereophonic recording. His Capitol discography
ranged from stereo recordings of the Pittsburgh Symphony and the Broadway cast
recording of The Music Man, to location recording of Tennessee Ernie Ford. He
became chief engineer at A&R Recording (co-owned by Phil Ramone), where he
recorded such artists as Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli.
Joel’s contributions to the AES include work on Standards Committees and the
Historical Committee. The Oral History Project, composed of audio/video recordings
of interviews with over thirty significant contributors to the art and science of
recording, and which Joel created and supported, may be his most lasting
contribution, with his interviews creating a significant first-person account of the
recording community.
Irv Joel was honoured with a number of AES awards for his contributions to audio
and the AES: an AES award in 1962, a citation in 1972, a Fellowship in 1973, a
Board of Governors award in 1994, a Bronze Medal in 1999, and, for his decades of
dedication to the Society, a Distinguished Service Medal in 2009. The AES NY
section honoured Joel with a special evening of reminiscing in 2011, titled “An
Evening with Irv Joel – The Man Behind the Scene.”
