From: Pedro Costa Hello Tom, Thanks for your interest on Clean Feed. Please let me know if you have any questions. Thanks, Pedro. > When was label founded? By whom? Has ownership changed? (If so, > please detail.) If you've obtained catalogs of other labels, please > list. The label was founded in march 2001, with our first recording by the Implicate Order Trio with Steve Swell, Ken Filiano and Lou Grassi. They are still working with us and they are still very good friends. Me, my brothers Carlos and Nuno and later Rodrigo Amado, Hernani Faustino and Ilídio Nunes joined the label while my brother Nuno retired. All our records are origininal until now, all first time issued. > Does label have a mission statement or other overguiding philosophy? Simply the music we like. It has to be jazz with some contemporary feel and it has to have a good part of improvisation whether the style is. We have many different kinds of jazz in our label that goes from pure improvisation to some world jazz to more mainstream oriented jazz. I believe the music we have in our label is all authentic. > How many titles have you released? How many in print? How many > released in last two years? We released 35 CD's until now, we have 15 more for the current year. In the last two years we released 25 CD's. There are 5 coming out within a month. > Which albums are your best sellers? I'd appreciate more details > on sales levels. Bernardo Sassetti is by far the best seller of the label, "Nocturno" selled almost 6.000 copies while "Indigo" already sold 3500. Besides that the Will Holshouser Trio CD, "Reed Song", did very well with 1500 copies sold this far and we had very good sales on the Dennis Gonzalez NY Quartet "NY Midnight Suite" that already sold 1000 copies. Zé Eduardo Unit "A Jazzar no Zeca" is selling very well too, particulary in the Portuguese market. > Do you have a single or short-list of producers? (I'm curious > about how labels shape the sound of their records -- some do, some > don't.) What ?!? We don't have any producers besides the musicians. We just choose the musicians or the projects and they are completely free to work on their music. We don't believe in such thing. When we are in the studio we can give our opinion if asked but it's nothing more than that. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: Jessica Linker Hi Tom, Thrill Jockey is not specifically a jazz label, however we do work with a variety of jazz artits, including Fred Anderson, Hamid Drake, Jeff Parker, Chad Taylor, Matana Roberts, Sticks and Stones, the Chicago Underground Duo/Trio/Quartet, etc. The label was founded by Bettina Richards in 1992. We have released 156 albums/eps/dvds/etc. In the last two years we've released around 30 albums, eps, dvds, etc. Our biggest selling artists are Tortoise and The Sea and Cake. John McEntire has produced on a handful of albums. He is probably the "producer" most associated with Thrill Jockey though he tends to think of himself more as an engineer. Best, Jessica ------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: Martin Davidson Please see www.emanemdisc.com for further info. In answer to your specific questions: ________________________________________________________ EMANEM was founded in 1974 by Martin Davidson who still runs it. Issues recordings of good music of free improvisation and adjacent areas. Issued 139 titles of which 127 are in print. Don't have any best sellers. Generally don't use producers. ________________________________________________________ psi (or Psi but not PSI) was founded in 2001 by Evan Parker who still runs it. Mission Statement: "At a key moment somewhere, sometime on the road, Han Bennink asked rhetorically 'Whatever happened to the art of the Individual?'. At psi this is our only interest. Our reason for making records is to present unique statements from individuals making music their own way regardless of genre. The catalogue reflects the particular musical taste and appetites of one man, who hopes that there are enough potential supporters for each release to make an on going relationship between musician and listener a dynamic reality." Evan Parker Issued 20 titles all in print. All best sellers. Evan Parker is overall producer. ________________________________________________________ Best regards Martin Davidson Emanem 3 Bittacy Rise London NW7 2HH England ------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: Steve Feigenbaum Tom For CUNEIFORM RECORDS (who are NOT strictly speaking, a jazz label, although we DO do jazz) Founded in 1984 by its current owner. > Does label have a mission statement or other overguiding philosophy? No. > How many titles have you released? How many in print? How many > released in last two years? 30 titles last 2 years (we do 15 per year) Total titles: 225 or so. About 200 in print. > Which albums are your best sellers? I'd appreciate more details > on sales levels. Best sellers are by: THE CLAUDIA QUINTET, DJAM KARET, GILGAMESH, HAPPY THE MAN, MATCHING MOLE, CHRIS McGREGOR's BROTHERHOOD OF BREATH, NATIONAL HEALTH, NUCLEUS, PROTO-KAW, SOFT MACHINE, ROBERT WYATT > Do you have a single or short-list of producers? (I'm curious > about how labels shape the sound of their records -- some do, some > don't.) No If you have more specific questions, please contact us. Steve ------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: Michael Musillami Via: Scott Menhinick > When was label founded? Playscape Recordings was founded December 1999 > By whom? Michael Musillami > Has ownership changed? No > Does label have a mission statement or other over guiding philosophy? "Documenting creative music by a core group of veteran composer/improvisers" > How many titles have you released? 29 as of now / 31 by fall 2005 > How many in print? 28 releases as of 4/05 > How many released in last two years? 13 releases > Which albums are your best sellers? Ted Rosenthal's *The 3B's* #080199 Peter Madsen's *Sphere Essence* #010303 Michael Musillami Trio *Beijing* #121802 Mario Pavone Nu Trio/Quintet *Orange* #061803 The Rosenthal and Madsen releases are both solo piano pieces. Both artists perform in the solo setting on a regular basis worldwide. I would expect both release to continue to sale at a steady rate. The MM Trio is a touring group worldwide with their fourthcoming release Dachau with a street date of August 2005 Pavone's Nu Trio is a group that continues to progress and tour worldwide ... starting with their release "Mythos" in 2002 ... and Orange in 2003 ... each release builds upon itself. > I'd appreciate more details on sales levels. All of the above releases are now between 1500 - 2000 units > Do you have a single or short-list of producers? The leader of each of our releases would be producer up until the completion of the recording. I would shape the release from that point on. i.e. sequencing of tracks / packaging & artwork / release title. > I'm curious bout how labels shape the sound of their records -- > some do, somedon't. The sound is not necessarily shaped, but pre-selected. All of the Playscape artists tend to be a bit left of center ... accessible, but not predictable, with a strong emphases on artists as composers. > I'm particularly curious about how labels, as opposed to artists, > work to increase the body of recorded jazz; how they shape that jazz; > and whether they are successful at getting people to buyon the > reputation of the label as opposed to the artists. I believe that our listeners have an opinion as to what to expect from a Playscape release. Elements such as the packaging, quality of sound, and the musical area covered by a given artist. Many of our artists can be found on a number of releases from Playscape, but tend to perform different on each because the leader has typically written and arranged the music. The musicians can adapt, but still leave their individual musical stamp in a new environment.I am interested in the progression of our artists and their groups. I would like our listeners to be able to hear these groups evolve ... I am interested in working/touring artists that have a long term vision and are always reaching for new ideas in the music. I am not interested in recreating a sound that belongs to someone else performing in the present or past. > Please point me to any relevant documents on the web. My notes > right now are very broad but not very deep. The final essay will > focus on labels which illustrate the overall picture best. I may > just do one paragraph summaries for artist labels, reissue labels, > majors. http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=15258 http://www.newmusicbox.com/page.nmbx?id=51tp00 http://www.newmusicbox.com/page.nmbx?id=51tp08 http://www.playscape-recordings.com Michael Musillami Playscape Recordings musillami@playscape-recordings.com 413 567 1061 Playscape Recordings ph/fx 413 567 7967 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: Dennis Gonzalez > When was label founded? 1979 > By whom? Dennis Gonzalez > Has ownership changed? No > If you've obtained catalogs of other labels, please list. Other labels have licensed our recordings for re-release. > Does label have a mission statement or other overguiding philosophy? Originally, the mission was to present the music of the small but healthy and growing Dallas New Music scene and the daagnim organization that grew out of that scene in the late 70's. The musicians themselves would fund their proposals and use the label's name and reputation to present their best work. As the organization evolved and changed and then disbanded after 10 years, the label kept the name of daagnim and continued to attract better-known musicians from other places. We moved from LP's, cassettes, and EP's on vinyl to CD's early in the days when CD's first came out and other companies were still pressing vinyl. daagnimRecords now documents the music of Dennis Gonzalez exclusively, though we have looked at putting out other musicians' work as well. > How many titles have you released? 31 > How many in print? 9 > How many released in last two years? 3 > Which albums are your best sellers? We have small pressings...usually 500 to 1000, and all except 9 are out of print, so they have all sold well, especially Nile River Suite, which is going on its 2nd pressing of 1000 and selling well. > Do you have a single or short-list of producers? The musician / leaders produced their own records, except for the ones I produced, which are my records, Kings in Exile's, and Prince Lasha's LP. I am the executive producer. > I'm particularly curious about how labels, as opposed to artists, > work to increase the body of recorded jazz; how they shape that > jazz; and whether they are successful at getting people to buy > on the reputation of the label as opposed to the artists. Early on, we began getting great reviews in the major jazz magazines, even for being such a small company, and people began to approach us locally, and then nationally, then internationally, to record on our label. We said no to some that did not fit our forward-looking, creative, fresh approach to New Music / New Jazz but even released straight-ahead records that had an edge or a feel of newness to them. We were fairly picky about what we put out, and that is the reason most of our product sold quickly and sold out. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: Steven Joerg Dear Tom, good to hear from you and full action forward. recently sent you the first time on CD re-issue of Shrimp Boat's first LP (what gave me the fever, subsequently increased, obviously); something for your Recycled Goods column, ya? also, arriving with you shortly, AUM Fidelity's full-ON return (the break being the Shrimp Boat box set of course) to premier jazz album production with the new WILLIAM PARKER QUARTET. whoa, yes! and, cool on the jazz label piece for the Voice. dang, if you need any more info than what is well-detailed and readily accessible on the AUM Fidelity site, and what is provided below, let me know: FURTHER: RITI RECORDS was re-launched by Joe Morris in 2002, and AUM Fidelity was happy to exclusively distribute same. 6 new titles since the re-launch; a temporary break for now; to return either later this year or early 2006. CASEQUARTER was co-launched by AUM Fidelity in 2003 and is not just re-issues, but also premier issues; though not jazz of course, but then again... HIGH TWO was launched by Daniel Piotrowski (AUM Fidelity's first intern, back in the day!), exclusively distributed by AUM, and is not strictly devoted to jazz, as witness by the latest and two forthcoming releases being on the avant rock tip. ANYHOW --- forward; let me know how the new WILLIAM PARKER QUARTET hits you; sure to be very finely....oh man! be well; more soon, Steven ------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: Monifa Brown The story of Shanachie > When was label founded? By whom? Has ownership changed? (If so, > please detail.) If you've obtained catalogs of other labels, please > list. The story of Shanachie Entertainment is a surprising tale of an independent label growing from an upstart purveyor of traditional Irish music to a sizable corporation that has scored commercial radio hits while expanding to include a wide variety of music including jazz, reggae, blues, folk, World music, jam bands, Latin music, rock, funk and much more. A video division boasts over 150 titles including acclaimed documentaries and concert videos. Shanachie is poised to grow as one of a handful of entertainment companies occupying the middle ground between the blockbuster-oriented majors and the more limited grassroots independents. It began, as all good things do, with a genuine enthusiasm. Working from an apartment in the Bronx in 1975, musicologist Richard Nevins and musician Dan Collins set out to release a few records of traditional Irish music, not because it was necessarily a good business decision, but because they loved it, and thought other people should, too. They named their fledgling company Shanachie, a simplified spelling of the Irish word for "traveling bard." For a quarter century, the pair's enthusiasm has not only survived, but thrived, and expanded to embrace music from all over the world. Shanachie has thrived, too, becoming one of the longest-lived and most acclaimed independent labels extant, with numerous awards and an international reputation in World and Celtic music, reggae, contemporary jazz, blues, and other genres. > Does label have a mission statement or other overguiding philosophy? not really other than we want to put out quality music that can be profitable or amazing music that may not be profitable as long as we don't lose too much...regarding jazz, it can range from adventurous (i.e. Sonny Fortune "In The Spirit Of John Coltrane", Henry Kaiser/Leo "Wadada" Smith "Yo Miles" to highly commercial Kim Waters "In The Name Of Love" , which had tracks on it tailor-made for "smooth jazz"/adult urban contemporary radio, or Streetwize (contemporary jazz versions of hip-hop hits) > How many titles have you released? How many in print? How many > released in last two years? we've released about 130 Jazz titles total; about 70% in print; 16 in the last two years > Which albums are your best sellers? I'd appreciate more details > on sales levels. best-selling jazz titles would be Walter Beasley's " Kim Waters' "In The Name Of Love" and the first Streetwize album Beasley and Waters around the 80,000 units mark > Do you have a single or short-list of producers? (I'm curious > about how labels shape the sound of their records -- some do, some > don't.) We don't have such a list but for contemporary jazz projects we work a lot with Dave Mann, Chuck Loeb and Kim Waters ------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: Ann Braithwaite Hi Tom, Here's the response I got from Daddy Jazz (the label which recorded Percy Heath's "A Love Song"). I've put out requests to a bunch of the labels we work with - will send their answers when they arrive. What's your deadline? Best, Ann DADDY JAZZ RECORDS ("DJR") was formed in 19995 by Andrew J. Collins and William D. Siegel. Close friends and avocational jazz musicians, Messrs Collins and Siegel saw a huge market for first rate jazz musicians who were either "flying under the radar" or were deemed "past their prime" by major jazz labels. Further, most of their jazz musician friends were weary of the pressure put on them by the major labels and many of these players sought Andy or Bill out and asked if they could record on DJR. Unfortunately, both Collins and Siegel have businesses to run and are unable to meet a fraction of the requests they receive from musicians wanting to record on their label. Andy Collins points out "A jazz musician doesn't cease being a jazz musician when he/she reaches a certain age. In my experience, many cats do their best playing after the age of 55, which is usually when the record companies put them "out to pasture". DJR is proud to give certain hand-picked musicians (most of whom happen to be old friends) a forum for expression without limitation. As producers, we only insist that the music be well-played and authentic...and we are the arbiters of that. I've had to tell some very fine jazz artists that we won't be releasing their music because "they went through the motions" and wouldn't listen to us during the session. Most are initially defensive because they are proud and talented people but virtually all of the people who are still on the shelf realize now that we made the right decision." Bill Siegel adds "Other times, we'll release and unorthodox recording (eg "Tootie" Heath's solo drum recording which he did the day after he learned that his son died in Sweeden) and hope that the emotion is real enough to carry the record. In this instance, it was a powerful record." DJR presently has a catalogue of 8 CDs and it will be selling all of the catalogue on its new web site (www.daddyjazz.com") as of June 1, 2005. Only Percy Heath's 2003 release "A Love Song" is currently available in stores and it is our only release in the past two years. "A Love Song" has been DJR's best-selling CD, by far; it is followed by the more up-tempo, bop-flavored offering from The Encompass Quartet, featuring Herman Riley and "Tootie" Heath; the third best-selling CD is a delightful solo piano Christmas recording by Washington, D.C. pianist, Bill Harris. Andy Collins is the primary producer for DJR. Mr. Collins' ear and love for jazz make him someone musicians enjoy working with. Mr. Collins insists that the record be mixed and mastered by someone other than himself and DJR uses either a well-known individual freelancer with impeccable credentials or a small company in Maryland. Neither Collins nor Siegel care about profitability or commercial success. Knowing that they are giving the jazz-listening public a well-recorded CD of great music is its own reward. The jazz world is very small and DJR is well known among jazz musicians because they hear (by word of mouth) that the experience is unique in the music industry. Before we set foot in the studio, we dine at an excellent restaurant in New York (where most of the recording takes place) and discuss the project; we won't leave until we have a timeline and all of the requisite paperwork completed. The sessions themselves are all business but our tight sense of organization makes the session seem relaxed. We break only twice--once for lunch and once to take the photographs for the cover art. In this regard, we use only Carol Friedman, considered by most music industry executives to be the finest photographer and design artist on the scene. The musicans eat well, sleep well and usually play well. In all of our sessions over the years, I can't remember having to do more than two takes for any tune. I wish I had more time to devote to Mr. Hull's questions because he is circling some interesting and relevant topics. When our website is completed, I'd be happy to provide a more thorough, probative response and provide him with copies of the CDs in the DJR catalogue. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: Ann Braithwaite Hi Tom, Here are the answers from Jonas Hellborg, President and Chief Janitor of Bardo Records. More to come. Ann X-Originating-IP: [65.254.254.72] Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2005 07:52:49 -0400 To: "Braithwaite & Katz (Ann)" From: jonas Subject: Re: Need questions answered for Village Voice label article Hey Ann, I am good. Just came back from Frankfurt Musik Messe, the namm show of Europe where I made some new endorsement agreements that hopefully will help with some ads and similar. DR Strings are going to release my signature string set. I am going to work with Warwick basses, might not be familiar to you but it is the last big European bass manufacturer remaining. also EBS amps has promised to be a bit more supportive with ads. There are a few other little things also. I had a jam with Jeff Berlin and Stu Hamm at the show as well, surprisingly pleasant and enjoyable both of them very nice and sweet. How are you and family and new office tower in the garden? I will now answer questions > When was label founded? In 1983 as Day Eight Music became Bardo Music mid 90's > By whom? Jonas Hellborg > Has ownership changed? No > Does label have a mission statement or other overguiding philosophy? Only in the sense that each release has to have a purely musical reason to exist. No other reason applies and some gets released on artistic grounds even if they sell just a few copies. > How many titles have you released? 43 > How many in print? 27 > How many released in last two years? 4 > Which albums are your best sellers? Jonas Hellborg Elegant Punk to date 56.712 units sold to date > I'd appreciate more details on sales levels. > Do you have a single or short-list of producers? Jonas Hellborg, Bill Laswell, Selvaganesh Vinayakram > I'm particularly curious about how labels, as opposed to artists, > work to increase the body of recorded jazz; how they shape that > jazz; and whether they are successful at getting people to buy > on the reputation of the label as opposed to the artists. Bardo Records was started as a vehicle for artist (mainly for the founder Jonas Hellborg) to circumvent the influence of non musical factors on record production. In the early eighties artist owned labels were rare and often artist had to fight hard to get their visions across. Hellborg figured if his own money was on the line then it was his problem if something did not sell and no one else had to make a living on his artistic decisions. Mainly Hellborgs records have been released on the labels (Bardo and DEM) but also work by Ginger Baker, John McLaughlin, Michael Shrieve, Jens Johansson, Shawn Lane and Michael J Smith. Contributing musicians make a long list of prolific names such as Bootsy Collins, Trilok Gurtu, Danny Gottlieb, Joe Satriani, Steve Lacy, Bernie Worrell, Bob Moses. There is a website at www.bardorecords.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: Ann Braithwaite Hi Tom, This is about Libra Records. I've also asked her to give us info on NatSat. Best, Ann X-Originating-IP: [65.254.254.70] From: natsat@mac.com Subject: Re: Need questions answered for Village Voice label article Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2005 21:00:03 +0900 To: "Braithwaite & Katz (Ann)" Hi Ann, We had great gig at the Stone last night and had a good amount of people coming. Thank you so much for your help! So these questions are about self-label, Libra, right? I tried to answer the questions as the below, but some of the questions are not clear for me because of my English. Please feel free to correct my English. Thank you!! xox Satoko LIBRA RECORDS > When was label founded? Libra has founded in 1996. > By whom? By Satoko Fujii and Natsuki Tamura. > Has ownership changed? No. > Does label have a mission statement or other overguiding philosophy? Very beginning, I have found my label, Libra to release my recordings since it was very difficult to find some label for the music that is not commercial and not mainstream jazz, like my music. But after some years, I began to think the role of this label in today's musical situation and am having a plan to make this label that can release other musicians' music that also have same problem to find some labels. I believe this kind of music need to be listened to by more people and get more attention. Some people only know music from TV and radio which is very sad thing. People can have richer life to know diverse music and culture. > How many titles have you released? I have released 11 CDs so far. > How many in print? I print 1000 for initial, and some of them needed print 1000 more. Tom - I think she misunderstood the question. All of the 11 are still available. > How many released in last two years? Seven CDs has been released in this two years. > Which albums are your best sellers? I'd appreciate more details on > sales levels. I have sold best, Satoko Fujii Quartet "Vulcan". I have found more active band that has many gigs can sell more CDs. This kind of music which is not commercial take some time to sell CDs, but once people like it many of them hope to get old CDs, too. > Do you have a single or short-list of producers? (I'm curious about > how labels shape the sound of their records -- some do, some don't.) We do have two producers who are also founder, Natsuki Tamura and Satoko Fujii. > I'm particularly curious about how labels, as opposed to artists, > work to increase the body of recorded jazz; how they shape that > jazz; and whether they are successful at getting people to buy on > the reputation of the label as opposed to the artists. I am not sure what he is asking....but this is my opinion. I make music without any compromise which sometimes very very difficult to find some label to release it. And those labels believe they cannot sell any of these music and cannot find any listeners. But it is not true. There are many people who love such a music and willing to meet them in everywhere. I have found it from my label experience. It is not easy to be a label as a musician because there are a lot of things I have to do to release CDs, but it is worth to do because I can meet and hear from people who like my music directly. Being a musician, being a label and selling CDs, playing more music are pretty much same thing somehow. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: Ann Braithwaite Hi Tom, Here are the answers from Accurate records. Best, Ann X-Originating-IP: [65.254.254.73] Date: Thu, 14 Apr 2005 14:05:44 -0500 To: "Braithwaite & Katz (Ann)" From: Russ Gershon Subject: Re: Need questions answered for Village Voice label article > When was label founded? By whom? Has ownership changed? (If so, > please detail.) If you've obtained catalogs of other labels, please > list. Founded by me, Russ Gershon in 1987. Still run by me. Haven't obtained other catalogs. > Does label have a mission statement or other overguiding philosophy? Music I like by people I like to work with. Premium on creativity, artistry, ingenuity. > How many titles have you released? 100 > How many in print? 85 > How many released in last two years? 8 > Which albums are your best sellers? I'd appreciate more details > on sales levels. Medeski Martin and Wood - Notes from the Underground Jazz Mandolin Project - Tour de Flux Either/Orchestra - Calculus of Pleasure sales figures are confidential, sorry > Do you have a single or short-list of producers? (I'm curious > about how labels shape the sound of their records -- some do, some > don't.) Artists generally select their own producers, or self-produce > I'm particularly curious about how labels, as opposed to artists, > work to increase the body of recorded jazz; labels don't have to - it is part of the artistic process now to record, with or without label support. There is a tidal wave of competent to very good music being recorded all the time. It's still hard to find very good to great music, or help it be made; I suppose that's part of the label's job. > how they shape that jazz; as gatekeepers to distribution and higher level of recognition through their distribution and branding > and whether they are successful at getting people to buy > on the reputation of the label as opposed to the artists. Hard to isolate that variable, because recognizable label imprints also tend to have better distribution; is it the reputation or the fact of availability (and higher promotional budgets) that increases sales? Probably both. I think that label reputation has some effect on sales, but only for a fairly small percentage of buyers (except for a very labels, like Blue Note). An imprint like mine probably helps get more reviews from jazz specialy magazines, maybe a little more airplay. > Please point me to any relevant documents on the web. My notes right > now are very broad but not very deep. The final essay will focus on > labels which illustrate the overall picture best. I may just do one > paragraph summaries for artist labels, reissue labels, majors. accuraterecords.com either-orchestra.com I started Accurate to put out records by my own band, the Either/Orchestra. Because I had know how and distribution, it soon became a natural extension to put out titles by other artists, starting with people I already knew and reaching further over the years. I filled a niche in the Boston area as a jazz-oriented label in the city with lots of jazz activity (in part generated by both students and teachers of the many colleges) but no jazz label. Over the years I expanded to selected rock and film music titles, often because of personal ties I had with the artists. you can call me with further questions at 617 899 9685 thanks, Russ -- Russ Gershon Accurate Records 343 Medford St. Suite 4A Somerville MA 02145 USA tel: 617 776-7093 fax: 617 776-7493 http://accuraterecords.com http://either-orchestra.org ------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: Ann Braithwaite Date: Tue, 12 Apr 2005 21:26:47 -0400 To: "Braithwaite & Katz (Ann)" From: Kazunori Subject: Re: Need questions answered for Village Voice label article Hi Ann, Many of his inquiry is basically answered at www.tzadik.com. > When was label founded? By whom? Has ownership changed? (If so, > please detail.) If you've obtained catalogs of other labels, please > list. 1995. Have not acquired other label, however, some John Zorn releases have been returned to Tzadik from various labels. > Does label have a mission statement or other overguiding philosophy? Stated at www.tzadik.com first page. gif attached. Tzadik is dedicated to releasing the best in avant garde and experimental music, presenting a worldwide community of contemporary musician-composers who find it difficult or impossible to release their music through more conventional channels. Tzadik believes most of all in the integrity of its artists. What you hear on Tzadik is the artist' vision undiluted. > How many titles have you released? How many in print? How many > released in last two years? 386 released. All in print. 93 titles last 2 years. > Which albums are your best sellers? I'd appreciate more details > on sales levels. Quite a few for our kind of music. Not too sure what kind of numbers he is talking about. I will write to you about more tomorrow. I need to go to The Stone now. -- Tzadik 200 East 10th Street, pmb 126 New York, New York 10003, USA Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2005 11:16:02 -0400 To: "Braithwaite & Katz (Ann)" From: Kazunori Subject: Re #2: Need questions answered for Village Voice label article Hi Ann, Many of his inquiry is basically answered at www.tzadik.com. > When was label founded? By whom? Has ownership changed? (If so, > please detail.) If you've obtained catalogs of other labels, please > list. 1995. Have not acquired other label, however, some John Zorn releases have been returned to Tzadik from various labels. > Does label have a mission statement or other overguiding philosophy? Stated at www.tzadik.com first page. gif attached. > How many titles have you released? How many in print? How many > released in last two years? 386 released. All in print. 93 titles last 2 years. > Which albums are your best sellers? I'd appreciate more details > on sales levels. Quite a few for our kind of music. Not too sure what kind of numbers he is talking about. > Do you have a single or short-list of producers? (I'm curious > about how labels shape the sound of their records -- some do, some > don't.) All Tzadik releases are supervised by John Zorn and his supporting staff at Tzadik although each artist produces it by himself/herself. > I'm particularly curious about how labels, as opposed to artists, > work to increase the body of recorded jazz; how they shape that > jazz; and whether they are successful at getting people to buy > on the reputation of the label as opposed to the artists. I can not really say anything about this. Tzadik, in essence, does not work to increase the body of recorded jazz. Again, all the inf. we can supply is pretty much up at www.tzadik.com. Thanks. -- Tzadik 200 East 10th Street, pmb 126 New York, New York 10003, USA ------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: Ann Braithwaite Hi Tom, Here's NatSat label info.... Hope your weekend is fine. Ann From: natsat@mac.com Subject: Re: Need questions answered for Village Voice label article Date: Sat, 16 Apr 2005 23:16:22 +0900 To: "Braithwaite & Katz (Ann)" Hi Ann, I was in Ljubljana, Slovenia, and now am heading to Venice by train. Hope it is not too late to answer the questions about NatSat label. But here they are. I may sound stupid though. BTW, have you got 10 copies of "I the Tank" that I have sent from NYC. I couldn't get a chance to hand them to critics who came to the Stone. Please make sure they are on your list to send them. xoxo, Satoko > When was label founded? NatSat has founded in 2003. > By whom? By Takashi Tannaka who is an A & R of Polystar records to release Satoko Fujii and Natsuki Tamura's music. And NatSat label belongs Polystare records. > Has ownership changed? No. > Does label have a mission statement or other overguiding philosophy? Polystar records are very active to release many Jazz records, but NatSat is the label just to release Fujii and Tamura's music. The name, NatSat are from both first names, Natsuki and Satoko. > How many titles have you released? I have released 4 CDs so far. > How many in print? All 4 CDs are available. > How many released in last two years? Four CDs has been released in this two years. > Which albums are your best sellers? I'd appreciate more details on > sales levels. CD "Zephyros" might be the best sellers. > Do you have a single or short-list of producers? (I'm curious about > how labels shape the sound of their records -- some do, some > don't.) Tamura and Fujii make music and the producer, Takashi Tannnaka and two artists talks about how present it.....art work, promote plan....etc. > I'm particularly curious about how labels, as opposed to artists, > work to increase the body of recorded jazz; how they shape that > jazz; and whether they are successful at getting people to buy on > the reputation of the label as opposed to the artists. Artists have 100% responsible to make music, and the producer gets idea about other things. So we are a team to present some music. It works great so far. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: Ann Braithwaite <...> Capri Records > When was label founded? - 1981 > By whom? - Thomas Burns > Has ownership changed? - No If you've obtained catalogs of other labels, please list. - We have released a single title from the Bosco record label, Louie Bellson - Don't Stop Now > Does label have a mission statement or other overguiding philosophy? To release music that I think deserves to be heard that I think is being overlooked by the major labels. > How many titles have you released? 82 titles between Capri and the susidiary label, Tapestry. > How many in print? All but two are still in print. > How many released in last two years? - 14 titles Which albums are your best sellers? - Of the recent titles, Grachan Moncur III - Exploration; Mike Wofford - Live @ Atheneaum Jazz; Holly Hofmann - Minor Miracle. Of the catalog in general, Ray Brown - Super Bass; Clayton/Hamilton Jazz Orchestra - Groove Shop and Heart and Soul; The Clayton Brothers - The Music; Jiggs Whigham - The Jiggs Up; Al Grey - Fab; Spike Robinson/Al Cohn - Henry B. Meets Alvin G.; Ellyn Rucker - Ellyn. > I'd appreciate more details on sales levels. A good seller is generally one that sells more than 2000 copies. A few have sold over 5000 copies. > Do you have a single or short-list of producers? Thomas Burns is the primary producer. > I'm particularly curious about how labels, as opposed to artists, > work to increase the body of recorded jazz; how they shape that > jazz; and whether they are successful at getting people to buy on > the reputation of the label as opposed to the artists. Some of the projects on Capri have been produced by the artists. When I produce a session, I do not tell the artists what to play or how to play it. I want the recordings to represent what they are doing and want to do. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: Hi Tom > When was label founded? 1984 > By whom? Steven Feigenbaum > Has ownership changed? (If so, > please detail.) If you've obtained catalogs of other labels, please > list No and No. > Does label have a mission statement or other overguiding philosophy? to daze and confuse.... > How many titles have you released? How many in print? How many > released in last two years? We have released about 225 albums and 200 are in print. We release 15 per year, so we have released 30 in the past 2 years. > Which albums are your best sellers? I'd appreciate more details > on sales levels. Our best selling albums are not jazz. Our JAZZ and related best sellers are: Brotherhood of Breath (two titles) The Claudia Quintet (one title) Henry Kaiser and Wadada Leo Smith :Yo Miles! (two titles) Nucleus - Live In Bremen Soft Machine (five different titles) > Do you have a single or short-list of producers? (I'm curious > about how labels shape the sound of their records -- some do, some > don't.) No. We work with bands internationally, and so we don't have a house producer. > I'm particularly curious about how labels, as opposed to artists, > work to increase the body of recorded jazz; how they shape that > jazz; and whether they are successful at getting people to buy > on the reputation of the label as opposed to the artists. good question. DUNNO! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: Tina Pelikan Hi Tom, I've been meaning to answer your earlier email about jazz labels - apologies!!! See below. ECM has a licensing and distribution deal with Universal in the USA - since 1999. Universal also distributes ECM in France, Germany, Japan (I think) and maybe also Bennelux - if you need airtight info ondisttribution around the world, I can get it for you. > When was label founded? By whom? Has ownership changed? (If so, > please detail.) If you've obtained catalogs of other labels, please > list. Manfred Eicher founded the label in 1969 (I saw that you already have that) While ECM is distributed in several large territories by Universal - it remains an independent label and Manfred still makes all the artistic decisions. > Does label have a mission statement or other overguiding philosophy? No mission statement - and I hate putting words in Manfred's mouth - the overguiding philosophy is his - but in general he likes it when journalists read the philosophy in the music. > How many titles have you released? How many in print? How many > released in last two years? In the last few years, ECM has been releaseing 40-50 titles a year. Sometime in 2006 the 1000th recording will be released. Universal currently has close to 700 titles available. In Europe there are titles available which are not out here. > Which albums are your best sellers? I'd appreciate more details > on sales levels. Keith Jarrett's Koln Concert has sold close to 4 million copies. Jarrett's The Melody at Night With You is another best seller - but I would have to ask for numbers Other best selling jazz artists in the catalog are are Pat Metheny, Jan Garbarek, Dave Holland, Charles Lloyd, Chick Corea - I would have to ask for numbers if you need them. > Do you have a single or short-list of producers? (I'm curious > about how labels shape the sound of their records -- some do, some > don't.) Manfred Eicher has produced somewhere around 95% of the recordings on ECM. Some of the "out" music like Evan Parker and Joe and Mat Maneri's discs are produced by Steve Lake - the wonderful musicologist/writer who pens most of our release texts. There are a small number of artists who basically produced themselves (Steve Tibbetts - recently Charles Lloyd) ECM has always been a label where pople would buy new things because they were on ECM - that phenomenon may have been at its strongest in the early 70s - but with the new music Manfred's been finding in the last few years it appears to be happening again. I hope this is all helpful - please let me know what needs expanding. All the best,Tina ------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: Garrett Shelton Tom! I am terribly sorry for the inconvenience ? I hope you can still fit us in. Here are the answer to your questions. I think I may have left the 2 out in your email address because we answered these awhile ago ? gave ?em an spruce up in the last hour. Please don?t hesitate to contact me if you have any other questions. My direct line is 646-519-3560. **** > I have sort of a stock questionnaire which I'd appreciate you filling > out or sending me information on: > When was label founded? By whom? Has ownership changed? (If so, > please detail.) If you've obtained catalogs of other labels, please > list. Sunnyside was founded by Francois Zalacain in 1982. Ownership has not changed during that time. In its history, Sunnyside has produced 145 of its own productions including records by Lee Konitz, Steve Nelson, Kirk Lightsey, Luciana Souza, Fred Hersch, Rufus Reid, Geoff Keezer, Harold Danko, James Williams, Meredith d'Ambrosio, Jerry Gonzalez, James Williams, Kenny Werner, and Guillermo Klein. In addition to projects native to Sunnyside, we also have a relationship with Universal Music Jazz France. We've licensed records from them over the past several years including Kenny Barron's last three records, Chris Potter, Happy Apple, Helen Merrill, Roswell Rudd, Steve Lacy, etc. We also work with Universal to provide worldwide distribution for Dave Holland's Dare2 Records and also Sue Mingus Music, the new label led by Mrs. Mingus that releases music by her repertory bands as well as unreleased and out-of-print original Mingus material. We also licensed the Owl catalog through Universal which allowed us to release albums by Michel Petrucciani, Paul Bley, Jeanne Lee. We've also licensed some recordings from their pop division including Gainsbourg's "Aux Armes et Caetera." Since the late 90's quite a few of our releases come from licensing agreements many of which are directly from the artists themselves and also other labels (many of which are European) ? Nocturne (Moutin Reunion Quartet), Karonte (Martirio, Chano Dominguez), Nightbird (Ray Baretto), Freelance (Tony Malaby's Adobe), Trama (Cesar Camargo) to name several. We also distribute or "host" several labels also -- including CAM Jazz, which is a jazz label out of Italy, run by the company that owns many of the important soundtracks of classic Italian cinema ? Fellini?s films, etc. Their jazz label recorded artists like Enrico Pieranunzi, Enrico Rava, Kenny Wheeler, and Salvatore Bonafede. We also distribute Circular Moves a world music label that has releases albums by Astor Piazzolla, Vinicius de Moraes, Amadou et Miriam, and the Choro Ensemble. Sunnyside also distributes Avishai Cohen's own Razdaz label as well as the Urko music imprint, which is Grammy-nominated artist, Diego Urcola's label. > Does label have a mission statement or other overguiding philosophy? Sunnyside has no "mission statement" per se, but we're open minded, evidenced by the diversity of recordings the label has put out. (See answer to the producer question below as well.) Other than that -- our goal/overarching philosophy is to stay in business and keep making great jazz recordings available to the public. > How many titles have you released? How many in print? How many > released in last two years? We have released in our history 225 albums (distributed labels included), approximately 200 of which are in print in some form (CD, LP, MP3). > Which albums are your best sellers? I'd appreciate more details on > sales levels. Since Sunnyside doesn't always release albums with commercial potential in mind, our sales figures vary widely. Some of our biggest sellers are Dave Holland, Luciana Souza, Chris Potter, and Kenny Barron. We also released a compilation of French pop called "Café de Flore" which has sold quite well also. So the medium to large sellers go anywhere from 5K to 20,000. We also have records that have sold only 300 copies, and we're happy to put those records out as well. > Do you have a single or short-list of producers? (I'm curious about > how labels shape the sound of their records -- some do, some don't.) Since we license records as well as produce our own, we tend not to have a "sound." What we're looking for is a uniqueness in the musicians' voice. However, we have our favorite engineers -- James Farber, A.T. Michael McDonald and (the late) David Baker. > I'm particularly curious about how labels, as opposed to artists, work > to increase the body of recorded jazz; how they shape that jazz; and > whether they are successful at getting people to buy on the reputation > of the label as opposed to the artists. Although we have our core group of Sunnyside fans, we'd like people to support jazz music based on the quality of the artist's work, not based on what label they're on. We think and hope that most artists feel the same way. The key factor for any label is distribution, and we're fortunate enough to be distributed by Ryko, arguably the premiere indie distributor out there. > Please point me to any relevant documents on the web. My notes right > now are very broad but not very deep. The final essay will focus on > labels which illustrate the overall picture best. I may just do one > paragraph summaries for artist labels, reissue labels, majors. www.sunnysiderecords.com > If you're a publicist working with multiple labels, please forward > approriately. Let me know if anything is confidential. I'm likely to > provide more of this info on my website than I can fit into the essay, > but I don't have concrete plans to do so. In any case, my curiosity > about sales figures is only for aggregation purposes. And thanks once again for your support and fine music over the past year. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: Andy Blackman Hurwitz hey tom - i'm andy, the guy that owns/started ropeadope. our history is attached. answers to your questions below see below for answers. > I'm wondering whether you can give me a > quick rundown on Ropeadope: who founded it, when, who owns it, how many > records have you put out, how many are more/less jazz, see attached > what do you look > for in jazz (which may or may not include sales targets -- I've run > across labels who don't mind selling as few as 300 copies, but other > companies do mind), (i) quality; (ii) originality; (iii) humanity - i only work with musicians that are good humans and appreicate the efforts we put into their career. we rarely make money back on jazz cds (there are definte exceptions) but the artist-label relationship is a relationship, i want a partner that puts as much care and energy and appreciation into the project as we do. > how you handle distribution, we originally went through atlantic/wea but have since moved on. we're now through megaforce/RED. > bestsellers if you feel like bragging, the philadelphia experiment was easily our best selling jazz record, we always have a steady base for artists like charlie hunter and the dirty dozen brass band too. question for you - what is jazz? we put out records by folks like the tin hat trio - jazz or not? > that sort of thing. No guarantee that I'll include > Ropeadope in my piece -- knowing as little as I know right now I > wouldn't, but it might be an interesting twist, and would be good > for me to know > anyway. Urgent. Thanks. # note: this came in a MS Word file: THE STORY to start from the start would be difficult as ropeadope has always been a way of life, even before all "this" came into being. we've been practicing the art (inspired by ali) of taking all the punishment that life can throw at us, and punching back, knocking out opponents, one by one. we've overcome adversity, stuck with our convictions, and kept it real, before keeping it real was even kept. that shit isn't easy in this day and age, but music, friends and life made it seem that way. specifics? i spent a decade traveling a self-made, zig-zaggy path through beats, rhymes and the biz - as a lawyer, a manger, an indy label chief, a major label pawn (not to mention a dishwasher, hole-digger, bus-boy, coffee-jerk and monkey boy). and in 1999 when nobody else would sign a cat named DJ Logic, i called a few brothers (and one sister) and it was decided - time to start our own thing. nobody quit their day jobs, we formed the most underground of collectives and got ready to release our first record. we needed a name, and after months of struggling to find the right one, my good friend glen max hit me with the ropeadope style. the name was perfect match - we had all taken our hits from this business of music, time to start swinging back. and so it was. "presenting dj logic" went on to sell a lot of records and, as this was all juuuuust before napster and the collapse of the old-guard music industry, the phone started ringing. how people got my number was amazing enough, but the concept of being courted by major labels was totally surreal. we rode out the drama and in 2000 signed a P&D deal (ie, they just distributed us, didn’t own us) with the mighty atlantic records. and that's basically where shit started to go incredibly well....and also get equally complicated. i'll save you the many thousands of stories, but feel free to ask me specifics (link). we'll just leave it that the atlantic years brought us some insane stories and fantastic records. before i knew it, we had 9 employees and a suite of offices on the 27th floor of rockefeller center. how this all happened, i didn't know, and didn't care, it was too much fun. someday, i'll write a book. also in 2000, ropeadope made the most important signing of all time -- a licensing deal with my main man, best friend, brother from another mother, WORDS, to form ropeadope industries the clothing company that went on to make all of those redunkulous ropeadope t-shirts plus clothing lines for other labels like blue note, verve, giant step, and others. Words not only brought the illest group of designers to our team, but also the philly connection, helping us colonize the city of brotherly love, and set up ropeadope south. so now we had some great music, tight gear, and for the first few years of the new millennium, the party never stopped as the ropeadope name started to travel around the globe along. The highlights were so very high....we thought the fun would never end. but it did. the bubble burst in 2003...as the music industry (mostly the major labels) began to fall apart, the ripple affect rippled upon our shores. in april of that year we got knocked down hard -- vultures circled the ropeadope, ready to pick away at our bones. money was the main culprit; we ran out of it and owed a lot of it (note to those that don’t know -- it’s called the music BUSINESS for a reason). most bystanders thought we would never get back up (indeed, it was published in one notorious industry journal that ropeadope was dead!). but like the greatest boxer of all times, we too stumbled back into our corner, and, with both eyes swollen, whispered the magic words: "cut me mick." and he did, and we got back on our feet, back into the ring, bloodied, beaten, worn....but still alive, still in the game, still ropeadope. by the end of 2003 we made some big moves and regrouped: (i) opting out of our Atlantic deal we headed back to the indy world (we never should have left); (ii) parted ways with all employees (who all went on to great things) and replaced them with a cat (otis) and an assistant (martin); and (iii) opened two very fake offices -- one in brooklyn, one in philly. the changes helped stop the bleeding. we picked up the pieces and started the rebuilding, which was made much easier with help from cats like charlie hunter, mike gordon, and the understanding of friends, family, all of our musicians and most of all -- the fans, who kept the fires burning even in the darkest times. today (may 2005) we’re just happy to be here. everything is different, but mostly everything’s the same. we love what we do and feel blessed to be doing it. and yea, everything does happen for a reason -- we learned a lot. the fake offices are humming with energy and excitement every day as records, tours, clothes, and other fun stuff is being planned by the minute. if you’re still reading this you should be rewarded with wisdom, so here it is -- the secret to life? enjoying the passage of time. hope y’all are having fun. love ya, mean it. andy(link) THE RECORDS THAT SAILED ALBUMS 9.01.99 dj logic - project logic 5.22.01 dj logic - anomaly 6.12.01 philadelphia experiment - philadelphia experiment 7.31.01 the word - the word 9.18.01 sex mob - sex mob does bond 10.16.01 bullfrog - bullfrog 4.23.02 dirty dozen brass band - medicated magic 6.04.02 scratch - embodiment of instrumentation 7.02.02 jazzanova - in between 8.20.02 king britt - philadelphia experiment remixed 9.10.02 tin hat trio - rodeo eroded 9.10.02 yohimbe brothers - front end lifter 9.17.02 spanish harlem orchestra - un gran dia el barrio 9.24.02 the masters of sacred steel - none but the righteous 2.18.03 detroit experiment - detroit experiment 3.25.03 charlie hunter quintet - right now move 6.24.03 skerik's syncopated taint septet - skerik's syncopated taint septet 8.19.03 mike gordon - inside in 9.23.03 sex mob - dime grind palace 9.23.03 t.j. kirk - talking only makes it worse 9.23.03 charlie hunter/bobby previte - come in red dog...this is tango leader 5.04.04 dirty dozen brass band - funeral for a friend 6.08.04 antibalas - who is this america 7.13.04 charlie hunter trio - friends seen & unseen 7.13.04 charlie hunter quintet - right now live! 8.10.04 tin hat trio - book of silk 9.07.04 critters buggin -stampede 9.07.04 joey arkenstat - bane 4.14.05 benevento/russo duo -best reason to buy the sun 6.14.05 Campbell Brothers -can you feel it ARTISTS WHO HAVE APPEARED ON ROPEADOPE ernesto abreu, raul agraz, geri allen, bobby allende, yamen allworld, duke amayo, scott amendola, pierre andre, antibalas afrobeat orchestra, anti-pop consortium, perter apfelbaum, joey arkenstat, athletic mic league, victor axelrod, malik b, toni b, bachir & mustapha attar from master musicians of jajouka, bailal, philip ballman, miri ban-ari, alexander barck, allan barnes, tarlisha barr, rico beard, benjamin beckford, elizabeth combs beglin, marcus belgrave, john bell, marco benevento, casey benjamin, will bernard, steven bernstien, john brion, black thought, stuart bogie, matthias bossi, rod bowen, mark boyce, brainchild, freedom bremner, class brieler, king britt, jon brion, flo brown, karenski brown, elisa burchett, rob burger, laban burns, buddy cage, uri caine, will calhoun, caliente, carlton campbell, charles "chuck" campbell, phillip campbell, steve cannon, larry campbell, bryan carrot, daniel carter, dave carter, regina carter, jay carver, francisco mora catlett, matt chamberlain, jennifer charles, phillip charles, chris chew, mino cinelu, ciph born, marie claire, vassar clements, jeff coffin, calvin cooke, co-op, carl craig, hal crook, olu dara, charlie dark, jose davila, gregory davis, george delgado, dice raw, cody dickenson, luther dickenson, latasha nevada digs, mike dillion, joe doria, d-ruck, vikter duplaix, mark durham, willie eason, eccentric, paul edwards, terrence elliot, jeremy ellis, john ellis, e.s.t., amp fiddler, jon fishman, bela fleck, floetry, craig flory, lygia forrest, curtis fowlkes, carlos fox, mitch frohman, oba funke, andy furgenson, dylan fusillo, future man, fuzz, yuval gabay, micha gaugh, dj ghe, aubrey ghent, lori ghent, melvin gibbs, derrick glen, corey glover, larry gold, mike gordon, stone gossard, leon gruenbaum, bob gullotti, eddie hall, col. bruce hampton, scott harding, kevin harris, james harvey, graham haynes, oscar hernandez, terrence higgins, jeffer hills sr., brad houser, perry hughes, charlie hunter, invincible, katie jackson, ida james, gabe jarrett, dr. john, aaron johnson, craig johnson, norah jones, kirk joseph, karsh kale, carla kihlstedt, jurgen knoblauch, knuckles, eric krasno, briggan krauss, roskow kretschmann, krewcial, john kruth, leon lamont, amanda lawrence, jeff lawson, russ lawton, alvin lee, gleen lee, jimmy lee, stefan leisering, aaron levinson, roger lewis, rob life, dj logic, teo macero, bishop n. a. manning, gregoire maret, m.a.r.s., billy martin, pat martino, bennie maupin, maz swift, christian mcbride, jill mcclelland-coykendall, julius mckee, jamie mclean, jordan mclean, john medeski, rich medina, ozzie melendez, ron miles, brian mitchell, steve moore, tim motzer, nick movshon, ronnie mozee, willie nelson, nicolay, 9th wonder, pablo "chino" nunez, wunmi olaiya, herman olivera, luke o’malley, mark orton, ron otis, scott palmer, zeena parkins, deantoni parks, stuart paton, prince paul, ray de la paz, rick peckham, martin perna, joanna peters, derek phillips, lori presthus, bobby previte, robert randolph, red rum, vernon reid, axel reinemer, marc ribot, slick rick, karriem riggins, stephen roberson, mark robertson, scott robinson, e.j. rodriguez, ruben rodriguez, marcus rojas, barry rosenhouse, brandon ross, gabe roth, roswell rudd, joe russo, jimmy sabater, eric "kid koala" san, felix sanabria, fredeick sanders, massimo sansalone, peter santiago, tony scherr, schoolz of thought, john schott, hank schroy, jill scott, scratch, jaribu shahid, ivan shaw, silvia sierra, *&%$# skerik, jared slomoff, slopfunkdust, bryan smith, james "blurum 13" sobers, soul glow, spontaneous, steve sterling, mark stewart, jimi stout, suphala, gordon stone, del stribling, john swano, rob swift, greg tate, hans teuber, ahmir "?uestlove" thompson, efrem towns, eston "sonny" treadway, treblefree, chuck treece, david tronzo, al turner, ultra perm, val, frankie vasquez, ray vega, fernando velez, vivrant, andrew vladek, bill ware, skoota warner, the randy watson experience, kevin webb, mike weitman, christina wheeler, john wicks, doug wieselman, edward "gary" williams, heloise williams, sammie williams, timothy williams, doug wimbish, kenny wollesen, chris wood, dave zinno ------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: David Aaron > Please check my counts, fill in better dates - looks good > who founded/runs the company - Peter Gordon > are there particular pre-Blue Series artists who typify the label back then > I'm guessing Swans, maybe David Thomas - yes those + Robert Wyatt, Brian Eno, The Church & Einsturzende Neubauten > Were those records that you recorded or were they picked up from other > sources? - they were licensed, the Blue Series was the companies way of breaking out of the licensing game and moving the productions in house > How many non-Blue Series records have you released in the last couple years? - around 6 > What does it mean that the DJ Spooky/Lombardo record isn't Blue Series > (e.g., while Yohimbe Bros. and Meat Beat Manifesto are - Actually the Yohimbe Brothers isn't a Blue Series release The concept for the Blue Series is still the joining of different musical worlds but with a JAZZ sensibility.. so that would leave out stuff like the Spooky/Lombardo & Yohimbe records ------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: Jason Byrne Following a 15-year career that included gigs with such acclaimed jazz and blues artists as James Moody, Eddie Harris, Doc Cheatham, Clark Terry, Joe Williams, Little Jimmy Scott, Gunther Schuller's Ellington Repertory Orchestra and others, drummer Michael Friedman hung up his sticks and launched Premonition Records in August of 1993. The label developed slowly. Its first four years producing four releases, mostly from artists who live and work out of Premonition's base of operations, Chicago, Illinois. Premonition is probably best known for its work with vocalist/pianist Patricia Barber who was signed to the label first in 1994. In early 1998, Barber's second release for the label, modern cool, received a 5 star review from DownBeat Magazine. Through the Summer and Fall of that year, modern cool consistenly placed on Billboard's Top Ten Jazz Releases which brought Premonition to the attention of Blue Note Records. In 1999, Premonition entered into a joint imprint/international licensing agreement with Blue Note Records (EMI) for the distribution of Barber's catalog. The deal also provided Premonition with major label distribution through EMI which lasted through the year 2004. In the fall of 2004, Friedman began a second label venture, Greenleaf Music, in partnership with trumpeter Dave Douglas. And now Premonition is unveling it's new and expanded website. The new site is a fully downloadable music site that will include the Premontion and Greenleaf catalog as well as music from other artists related to Premonition and/or Greenleaf. Premonition is distributed by Koch Records in the U.S.A. and internationally by In-akustik in Germany, Indigo Records in Spain, Multi Disc in Portugal, IRD in Italy, Multi Kulti Records in Poland, Plainisphare in Switzerland, Hot Records/Didgiredoo in Australia, Shun Cheong Records in Hong Kong, China, Singapore and Thailand, Disk Union in Japan and Distribution Fusion III in Canada.