I hope that all of you appreciate what a GOLDEN ERA we are living in regarding reissues and newly undiscovered historical recordings. When I first got into jazz, there were just records albums and a few labels that reissued anything fairly interesting; Columbia, Blue Note and the conglomeration of Fantasy/Riverside. Nowadays, due to copyright laws, there is a plethora of labels both local and abroad that are mining for gold. The greatest thing about it is that there are undiscovered or underappreciated artists in every era and every genre that are finally seeing the light of day, making you wonder who determined that musician A should be the famous one over musicians B and C when the latter ones are just as creative?
So, here are the major labels that you need to become friends with, in no particular order, with what they specialize in. Happy Hunting!
Fresh Sound Records-this label from Barcelona, Spain (while also putting out new mainstream material) focuses on jazz from the 50s and 60s. Their nifty single and double disc releases have recently put out hip material by James Moody and Jimmy Heath, but also have created multi-disc sets like the 4 disc beauties of Yusef Lateef & George Russell as well as the incredibly ambitions 11 disc set of the Keynote Label from the 40s. freshsoundrecords.com- Mosaic Records-they started the ball rolling in the 80s and set the standard for multi-disc boxed sets ranging from mainstreamers like Stanley Turrentine to progressives like Woody Shaw to definitive icons like Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington. Sometimes they put out 3 disc sets and
single issues, but the focus is on wonderful behemoths that include encyclopedic notes. mosaicrecords.com - Sony Legacy-They’ve put out some great box sets of albums in their originals sleeves of artists such as Stan Getz, Dexter Gordon, Dave Brubeck, Weather Report and Duke Ellington. The sound quality varies from set to set, but the completedness is pretty impressive. They just did a Mancini
set that was a cooker. sonylegacy.com - Uptown Records-this is a tiny label that only puts out a handful of releases a year, but WHAT A HANDFUL! They like to issue out live broadcasts such as the unbelievable Chubby Jackson session from last year, and this year we got Lennie Tristano’s cool team with Warne Marsh and Lee Konitz. The sound quality is usually very good considering the time span of the 40s and 50s and the music itself is uniformly essential. A handful of 70s sessions features undeservedly forgotten
mainstreamers like JR Montrose. uptownrecords.net - Blue Note Records-They don’t release as many of the oldies as they used to, but Blue Note has recently been repackaging their earlier recordings into nifty 2-4 cd sets. Last year they put out essential material by Thelonious Monk, Clifford Brown and Miles Davis. Ya gonna argue with that? bluenote.com
- Concord Records-they own the rights to everything from Fantasy, Pablo and Every now and then someone gets in a good mood and releases a multi-disc set by someone like Bill Evans, Miles Davis or Monk. They also have an ambitious download section that releases albums by the likes of Zoot Sims and Johnny Griffen, so there’s someone working there who cares. www.concordmusicgroup.com
- MVD Entertainment Group-these guys have a connection to some fantastic European gigs by American artists. This past 6 months they released a classic set of Miles Davis with John Coltrane during their farewell 1960 tour and a 4 disc-er of Coltrane’s ’61 tour of Scandinavia with his quintet that included a searing Eric Dolphy. These guys are
full of surprises! mvdb2.com - AVID GROUP-here’s a UK based label that puts 3-5 albums together to make 2 cd sets. The liner notes give basic information, but the music always includes a mix of classic material and obscure gems. Recent examples range from Earl Hines to Randy Weston, and I guarantee that you don’t have half of what they are releasing. They
never cease to surprise me! avidgroup.co.uk - Storyville Records-this venerable label specializes in wonderful multi-disc boxed sets, such as the recent ones on Billy Strayhorn and Stan Getz, but they also release some single sessions such as WWII Broadcasts by Ellington that catch him at the peak of his creativity. Nothing they offer is
less than essential. storyvillerecords.com - Universal Music-This label owns all of the material by Verve and Impulse as well as a ton of other tiny labels. Once in awhile the anointed bequeath their subjects with unreleased material such as the recent release with Charlie Haden and Jim Hall. They were also part of the responsible party for
the recent John Coltrane historical release, which included material from his last recorded show. umusic.com - Resonance Records-This label was also part of the Coltrane reissue, and has released some absolute wonderful finds such as a 1965 concert with Charles Lloyd and a
cache of early Wes Montgomery. This label is filled with surprises, the sound quality is always superb and each release will make you wonder where it’s been your whole life. resonancerecords.org