Urania Records

[EKE BBB]

What´s the story of this label? I remember I asked in the old BNBB with no luck.

Some of their discs have been reissued by Fresh Sound Records (i.e. Hawk´s "Accent on tenor sax")

Here´s their catalogue, compiled by Michael Fitzgerald:

Jazz Label Listings Project ---> Urania Records

Thanks in advance!

[EKE BBB]

From http://www.draeseke.org:

Felix Draeseke and Urania URLP-7162

....

Urania Records in the 1950s based much of its catalogue on recordings of German origin. The company had close connections with both West and East German Radio after the war, and many of their LP recordings consisted of post-war radio recordings. So the release of Draeseke’s Symphonia Tragica in 1955 by “The Berlin Symphony and Hermann Desser” could well be taken at face value as an early 1950s recording by an undistinguished conductor originating from an East or West Berlin radio studio.

However, some portions of the Urania Catalogue were recorded during the course of World War II. A 1944 recording of Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony under Furtwängler was issued by Urania in the USA and in France. That performance was a Vienna Radio production (Reichssender Wien) and the Urania release, without the conductors consent, was the basis of lawsuits filed against Urania. The pianist, Walter Gieseking, was involved in similar litigation [Gieseking, 155 N.Y.S.2d 171 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 1956)]. Urania claimed to have an exclusive and legitimate licensing from East Berlin Radio, which allowed it to use material dating from as early as 1939. Nonetheless, the chaotic conditions of post-war Germany allowed several radio archives to be heavily pilfered by entrepreneurs.

Thus the 1955 release of Draeseke’s Symphonia Tragica could well have had its source from over a decade earlier.

....

Edited October 26, 2005 by EKE BBB

[Stereojack]

What´s the story of this label? I remember I asked in the old BNBB with no luck.

Some of their discs have been reissued by Fresh Sound Records (i.e. Hawk´s "Accent on tenor sax")

Here´s their catalogue, compiled by Michael Fitzgerald:

Jazz Label Listings Project ---> Urania Records

Thanks in advance!

←

I believe the label was owned by Sidney Gross, who plays discreet rhythm guitar on several of the sessions.

[EKE BBB]

Looks like there´ve been several different logos:

[EKE BBB]

The one in my second post, and this one:

Edited October 26, 2005 by EKE BBB

[EKE BBB]

Similar one but with different colour:

Edited October 26, 2005 by EKE BBB

[EKE BBB]

End even another one: