Do the Jazz Labels Really Matter?

[Admin]

www.npr.org/blogs/ablogsupreme/2009/07/do_jazz_record_labels_matter.html

...When you think of great jazz, certain labels undoubtedly come to mind: Blue Note, Impulse, Atlantic, Columbia, Verve Decca. From the 1950s through the '70s, their catalogs shaped jazz in truly historic ways and bravely navigated through every iteration as the definition of jazz rapidly expanded. But back in their halcyon days, A&R guys were also careful to develop label aesthetics. They made sure that when you saw Impulse's orange spine or Blue Note's signature logo in the record store, you bought it based on label association alone. And nine times out of ten, you couldn't go wrong.

Which of these labels do you best associate with the great Jazz music?

[earleg]

Blue Note and Impulse, then also Riverside and Prestige. Think it would be a coin toss between Impulse
and Prestige here.

Which ones for you Jim?

[tom1960]

Seems to me you couldn't go wrong with Blue Note when I first began listening to jazz music. There releases were the real deal. Always solid stuff. What I especially enjoyed about the label was that a lot of the guys played on each others sessions. If you admired ones playing on a particular session, there was a very good chance he played on many other dates. In fact he may have led a few dates of his own. That's probably why I also enjoy the Criss Cross label, a modern version of Blue Note. They seem to follow the same play book as Blue Note once did.

[Admin]

Thanks Tom. I hadn't heard of Crisscross before.

[billf]

Criss Cross, Reservoir and Sharp Nine have done a great deal to keep the flame burnin'.

[muddylives]

Don't forget SteepleChase. That label left us a goldmine of music from the 70s, much of which came from masters who might otherwise have gone unrecorded: Von Freeman, Bill Barron, Duke Jordan, Bill Hardman, Chet Baker, Dexter Gordon, Walt Dickerson, Paul Bley, Clifford Jordon, Kenny Drew, Tete Montoliu, Junior Cook, Jackie McLean, etc.

[poetrylover3]

Blue Note, Verve. Norman Granz preserved Billie Holiday & Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie not to mention the JATP stable of musicians including Ella and Oscar Peterson. Blue Note's catalog includes some of my favorite dates by Dexter Gordon, Monk, Bud, Sonny. Then there's the Emarcy catalogue and the Fantasy/Prestige/Milestone/Riverside/ Concord stable of sessions. Naturally, I need to mention my gratitude for Mosaic reissues. The mid 70s saw the unfortunately short-lived MUSE label.

I don't really consider Columbia a jazz label after the 30s, but an umbrella or "big tent" company.

When I listened seriously to jazz in college, I collected Prestige & Milestone "two-fers" and other relatively inexpensive reissues. Today, when I can afford it, I buy Mosaic box sets. For my bargains, it's Properbox, AVID, and Real Gone Jazz, House of Jazz.

[Admin]

All really great labels, but Delmark seems to be an up and coming label for newer jazz artists like Eric Alexander.

Delmark Catalog

[muddylives]

Delmark was also the key label in the 60s for documenting the emerging avant garde jazz scene in Chicago.

[tom1960]

Dec 9, 2013 13:58:16 GMT -5 billf said:

Criss Cross, Reservoir and Sharp Nine have done a great deal to keep the flame burnin'.

I should be embarrassed not to have mentioned Reservoir like my good friend Bill has. A have quite a number of there releases and the owner of the label happens to live a few blocks away from me. I consider him a friend.

[tomd]

Tom,
Hasn't Reservoir stopped releasing new recordings? I remember a past discussion on another forum, where I got the impression the label was pretty much liquidating (sadly)...

[tom1960]

Dec 19, 2013 16:24:12 GMT -5 tomd said:

Tom,
Hasn't Reservoir stopped releasing new recordings? I remember a past discussion on another forum, where I got the impression the label was pretty much liquidating (sadly)...

Mark, still carries most of the catalogue except for perhaps a few titles. I seem to remember that I had to order the Ralph Moore disc "Round Trip" through Amazon. As for new releases, those days are done.