wolff Posted November 22, 2003 Report Posted November 22, 2003 the last 10-20 years or so?? Just curious, as I spend most of my time with re-issues I have no idea which label has been turning out the best new titles. Quote
Claude Posted November 22, 2003 Report Posted November 22, 2003 When I check my collection for CDs which are not reissues, I see a lot of red and orange. So hatART must be one of my favourite labels. Quote
Dmitry Posted November 22, 2003 Report Posted November 22, 2003 Very broad topic. Depends what jazz. In order of importance- Black Saint and Soul Note are #1, overall, imo. Followed by ECM, and small and smaller independent labels, like Hat, Gramavision and OmniTone[so far 10 for 10 for me from this label]. Welcome to the 21st century. I'm just catching up to the 1920s myself. Quote
Free For All Posted November 22, 2003 Report Posted November 22, 2003 As I glance through my collection I see Highnote, Palmetto, Sharp Nine and a lot of Criss Cross. I just wish those Criss Cross CDs weren't so damned expensive! Quote
A Lark Ascending Posted November 22, 2003 Report Posted November 22, 2003 (edited) Unfair to single out 'bests' - there are labels which have attained a financial viability that gets them a higher profile and thus gives them the opportunity to put out more. ECM, Enja, Fresh Sounds come to mind. But then there are scores (if not hundreds) of labels which put out much less, have short life spans yet still add to the overall diversity of the jazz gene pool. And, of course, 'best' would be dependent on what you're looking for. To one listener Intakt might seem best whilst Nagel Heyer would be hardly worth considering. And vice versa. One thing I feel very firmly. Despite the reissue programmes of the majors which have brought forward some great music it's the smaller labels who are the real heroes of the last 10-20 years. Long may they prosper. Edited November 22, 2003 by Bev Stapleton Quote
mikeweil Posted November 22, 2003 Report Posted November 22, 2003 Unfair to single out 'bests' - there are labels which have attained a financial viability that gets them a higher profile and thus gives them the opportunity to put out more. One thing I feel very firmly. Despite the reissue programmes of the majors which have brought forward some great music it's the smaller labels who are the real heroes of the last 10-20 years. Long may they prosper. My thoughts exactly! Quote
king ubu Posted November 22, 2003 Report Posted November 22, 2003 Let's hope there will be many that will be able to live long... some favorites: enja ECM Soulnote/Blacksaint hatART/OLOGY whatever TCB Palmetto INTAKT Altrisuoni OWL and one that's not exactly an independent label: Gitanes. In my opinion, they produced some if not the best music to come out of Verve/Universal in the last 15 or so years (Helen Merrill, Charlie Haden, RANDY WESTON...) ubu Quote
chuckyd4 Posted November 24, 2003 Report Posted November 24, 2003 Keep an eye on Pi. Funny- you beat me to the punch... so far, they are 9 for 9 in my mind... and have compiled an amazing roster of artists. I am eagerly looking forward to what's coming next. Also, I would second the nomination for Palmetto, as well as the obvious choices Soul Note/Black Saint, Hat, and ECM, who would go into that category for Dave Holland's work alone, if nothing else. I also have my eyes on a couple of labels that look promising and are starting to live up to it: 441 Records, which has recently put out two stellar sessions by Pianist Don Friedman and Joe Chambers. Also, the Spanish label Satchmo Jazz Records, whose website is unfortunately mostly in Spanish...but I have been impressed by a disc from Ugonna Okegwo (with Sam Newsome on soprano and Xavier Davis on piano) as well as one from trumpeter Chris Kase, with the awesome rhythmic duo of Johannes Weidenmuller and Ari Hoenig. Which reminds me of a couple of other impressive labels over the last couple of decades: Dreyfus Jazz and Arabesque... not 100% of the time, but a much larger percentage than most. Quote
John B Posted November 24, 2003 Report Posted November 24, 2003 a label that hasn't been mentioned yet is Eremite. They are releasing some consistently amazing discs. I would also list Okkadisc, Atavistic and the Atavistic Unheard Music Series in addition to what has already been mentioned. Quote
marcoliv Posted November 25, 2003 Report Posted November 25, 2003 (edited) Criss Cross for me far away from the others i´m enjoying a lot Sharp Nine releases and Nagel-Heyer too. Telarc always have my attention for their sound quality. Red Records from Italy is doing a great job Marcus Oliveira Edited November 25, 2003 by marcoliv Quote
Guest Chaney Posted November 25, 2003 Report Posted November 25, 2003 Current favorite: Hat Hut LOVE the hatOLOGY series and the hat ART Morton Feldman releases are classic. The Hat catalog has grown fairly large and / but the level of consistency truly amazes me. Quote
chuckyd4 Posted December 2, 2003 Report Posted December 2, 2003 Just to add to what I said, I recently wrote a feature article about Pi recordings which can be found here. Quote
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