Jerry Wexler, 91, the legendary producer and partner in Atlantic Records who coined the term "rhythm and blues," helped Aretha Franklin find her groove and freed Ray Charles from his early easy-listening style, died Aug. 15 at his home in Siesta Key, Florida. He had heart disease.

Mr. Wexler introduced black and Southern musicians to mainstream music listeners, when few whites paid attention to "race music." Searching for a new term to describe the powerful blend of gospel, blues, jazz and popular music largely created by black Americans, he came up with "rhythm and blues" in 1949. Within five years, he joined Ahmet Ertegun at the modestly successful Atlantic Records and, through a frenetic work ethic, recruited and shaped such storied artists as Wilson Pickett, Ruth Brown, the Drifters, Solomon Burke, Betty Carter, the Drifters, Etta James and many others.

While it lasted, the Wexler-Ertegun partnership did more to promote rhythm and blues from the rural lanes and urban back streets than any other record label in the nation. Atlantic Records jump-started the rock-and-roll revolution when Big Joe Turner's raucous "Shake, Rattle and Roll" electrified white teenagers in 1954 while Ray Charles' fusion of gospel, jazz and blues energized American popular music. Atlantic's deal with songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller gave birth to the Coasters, a savvy black vocal group whose hit singles, such as "Yakety Yak" and "Poison Ivy," used jaunty saxophones and street-smart humor to mask biting racial satire.

Mr. Wexler's scrupulous attention to detail, from meticulous arrangements to extensive rehearsals, brought both professionalism and sophistication to a genre that rarely had seen either from neglectful recording labels.