Subsequently, he was involved in bombing raids over Japan in the final months of World War II, before returning for graduate studies at Columbia in 1946.

In 1953, Grauer and Keepnews founded Riverside Records, which was initially devoted to reissue projects in the traditional and swing jazz idioms.

[5] Their most significant early move came in 1955, when they were made aware of the availability of Thelonious Monk, who was able to terminate his contract with Prestige Records and sign with Riverside.

He knew what he wanted, but I didn't, so I had to catch on to this express train as it went roaring by,"[4] With Keepnews as producer, and adding such artists as Bill Evans, Cannonball and Nat Adderley, Wes Montgomery, Johnny Griffin and Jimmy Heath, the label soon rivaled Prestige and Blue Note Records as a leading New York-based independent jazz label.

In 1961, Keepnews produced the highly regarded live jazz recordings of the first Bill Evans Trio, Sunday at the Village Vanguard and Waltz for Debby.

Late in 1972, Keepnews relocated to San Francisco as director of jazz A&R at Fantasy Records, which had just acquired the bulk of Riverside's masters.

At Fantasy, Keepnews oversaw the repackaging of the company's holdings in the idiom as "twofer"s, including many albums he had produced at Riverside.