Giorgio Sergio Alessando Gomelsky[1] (28 February 1934 – 13 January 2016) was a filmmaker, impresario, music manager, songwriter (as Oscar Rasputin) and record producer.

By 1946, the Voice of America, the USA's international non-military radio broadcasting service, had been established and Gomelsky was exposed to be-bop via the Cool City program on VOA.

The resulting publicity persuaded the City to reverse its decision, and thus the Zurich Jazz Festival was born (and exists to this day).

The weekly readings of the Melody Maker, and the lack of further documentation, convinced Gomelsky that his vocation would be to film the burgeoning UK jazz scene.

The resulting piece, comprising four songs, intercut establishing and audience reaction shots from the Royal Festival Hall with separate studio session footage.

The intercom between the cameras was the Royal Artillery's system which, designed to be heard over cannon fire, was so loud that at times it would get picked up by the stage mics.

As skiffle became passé, Barber, whose sets were structured around the history of jazz, began to feature blues in its place, utilizing his school friend vocalist/guitarist Alexis Korner, and harmonica player Cyril Davies.

He formed his own group Alexis Korner Blues Incorporated and recruited musicians like drummer Charlie Watts and saxophonist Dick Heckstall-Smith.

[4] Alex and Cyril had a club in a pub upstairs room on Wardour Street where blues aficionados would gather on Wednesdays but they needed a larger venue for the noisy big band.

With some difficulty, and support from Barber, Gomelsky persuaded Pendleton to run a weekly Blues Night on Thursdays at his newly opened neighbouring club The Marquee.

[4] A Jamaican blue beat club just off Portobello Road (immortalized in the movie Scandal) was one of the hottest spots in London at the time.

Gomelsky began to organize the bands, suggesting that they work co-operatively to obtain bookings and do other business, just as the earlier Jazz Societies had federated their efforts.

Although attendance was slight, as a promotional device Gomelsky prevailed on a number of friends to stand in line outside to attract the attention of passers by, and give the impression of a larger crowd.

He believed that residencies were the key to building an audience for the new bands and, in an example of the lateral thinking instilled him in the Switzerland mountain school, hit on the idea of eschewing central London and weekday nights altogether – to become so far removed that Pendleton could have no grounds for complaint.

The first night only attracted three people, attendance not being helped by Gomelsky, in a typical malapropism, accidentally writing "Rhythm & Bulls" on the advertising sign outside the venue.

Nevertheless, the talents of the Rolling Stones, and a promotional scheme that gave complimentary admission to any patron that brought two friends, soon led to healthy crowds.

Looking to get press on the band, he prevailed on The Richmond and Twickenham Times, a conservative local paper owned by TV presenter Richard Dimbleby, to send a reporter to the Station Hotel.

The powers that be at Ind Coope Breweries, owners of the Station Hotel, were aghast at the degenerate behaviour displayed in the article and the club was evicted forthwith.

His colleague, photographer Hamish Grimes, went to Pendleton, who provided an introduction to Commander Wheeler, director of the Richmond Athletic Association.

[8] When the Rolling Stones became too big for small local clubs and went on tour, their residency at the Crawdaddy was taken over by another leading R&B group from nearby Kingston upon Thames, the Yardbirds,[6] featuring Eric Clapton.

He produced early recordings by Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page (both of whom played with the Yardbirds), Blossom Toes, Rod Stewart, John McLaughlin (the 1969 album Extrapolation), Alexis Korner, Graham Bond and Soft Machine.

On 8 October 1978 the 24-hour Zu Manifestival was held at Entermedia, a performance space at 12th and Second Ave in Manhattan's lower east side, for which they became 'New York Gong'.

Through the 1978 to the 2010s, from his recording and rehearsal studio, Red Door, in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City, Gomelsky continued to nurture and mentor musicians.

Gomelsky was also a regular DJ at the club Tramps, introducing fans to an array of styles, including new African and experimental jazz music.

Freeze, and composers Dave Soldier and Mark Mazur of Kid Creole and the Coconuts, he attempted to produce the first hip-hop musical, Persons, at the Public Theater in 1982.

He was instrumental in bringing the important Czech group, the Plastic People of the Universe, to the international public eye by producing a benefit concert for the band's lyricist Egon Bondy at The Kitchen on 29 January 1989, featuring their exiled saxophonist Vratislav Brabenec and New York musicians including the Soldier String Quartet, Craig Harris, Borbetomagus, Elliott Sharp and Gary Lucas, who played the Plastic People's repertoire.

News of the concert in Prague is said to have helped to inspire the Velvet Revolution, a movement strongly influenced by experimental American rock and jazz music.