| Contemporary Records | |
|---|---|
 Logo used from 1979 to the mid-2000s | |
| Parent company | Concord Bicycle Music |
| Founded | 1951 |
| Founder | Lester Koenig |
| Defunct | 1984 |
| Status | Inactive |
| Genre | Jazz |
| Country of origin | U.S. |
| Official website | concord.com |
Contemporary Records was a jazz record company and label founded by Lester Koenig in Los Angeles in 1951. Contemporary produced music from a variety of jazz styles and players. [1]
Contemporary became identified with a style of jazz called West Coast jazz as exemplified by Art Pepper, Chet Baker, Shelly Manne, and André Previn. [1]
In the mid 1960s the company fell into relative limbo, but limited new recordings were made in the late 1970s, including a series of albums by Art Pepper recorded at the Village Vanguard club in New York. After Les Koenig's death in 1977, the label was run for seven years by his son, [1] John, who produced albums by George Cables, Joe Farrell, Joe Henderson, Bobby Hutcherson, Peter Erskine, and Chico Freeman.
In 1984 Contemporary was purchased by Fantasy Records, which used the name for a short time. Most Contemporary titles were reissued by Fantasy. Also, some titles have found new life among today's audiophiles as high-quality LP remasters from Analogue Productions and other audiophile labels. The Fantasy catalog, including Contemporary and its associated labels, Good Time Jazz Records, Society for Forgotten Music, and Contemporary Composers Series, was sold to Concord Records in 2004.
Over the years, a number of major figures in the music business worked for Contemporary. Among them were Atlantic Records executive Nesuhi Ertegun, writers Nat Hentoff and Leonard Feather, producer Joe Boyd, recording engineer and studio designer Howard Holzer, and mastering engineer Bernie Grundman.
Koenig maintained high audio standards.[ citation needed ] He hired Roy DuNann from Capitol Records in 1956, who, out of the label's shipping room turned studio, turned out some of the best sounding records of the time.[ citation needed ] DuNann provided some details of his techniques in a Stereophile article nearly 50 years later.[ citation needed ] He said Koenig provided him with German (Neumann/Telefunken U-47) and Austrian (AKG C-12) condenser microphones and he immediately noted the very high output of these microphones, especially close-in on jazz musicians' dynamic playing. DuNann achieved his signature sound—crisp, clear and balanced without distortion or unpleasant "peak presence"—by keeping his microphone setups very simple (generally one per musician) and avoided the use of pre-amplifiers for them.
He built a simple passive mixing system that directly fed the electronics of his Ampex 350 and 351 tape machines. Also, DuNann told Stereophile that Contemporary sessions were recorded "dry" (without electronic echo added or in a reverberant room). Sometimes, such as in the case of Sonny Rollins' Way Out West , a plate reverb unit was inserted between the tape machine and the LP disc cutting lathe. This is why some later LP and CD reissues of Contemporary albums sound "dry" and "dead" compared to the original LPs mastered by DuNann.
The 3500 (mono)/7500 (stereo) series of 12 inch LP records commenced in 1955 and ran until 1961. [2] Contemporary was the first jazz label to record albums in stereo from 1956. [3]
| Catalog | Artist | Album |
|---|---|---|
| 3501 | Howard Rumsey 's Lighthouse All-Stars | Sunday Jazz a la Lighthouse, Vol. 1 |
| 3502 | Lionel Hampton | He Swings the Most |
| 3503 | Lennie Niehaus | Vol 3: The Octet #2 |
| 3504 | Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All-Stars | Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All-Stars Vol. 6 |
| 3505 | Hampton Hawes Trio | Hampton Hawes Trio |
| 3506 | Lyle Murphy | 12-Tone Compositions and Arrangements by Lyle Murphy |
| 3507 | Shelly Manne & His Men | The West Coast Sound |
| 3508 | Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All-Stars | Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All-Stars Vol. 3 |
| 3509 | Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All-Stars/Barney Kessel/Hampton Hawes Trio with Shelly Manne | Lighthouse at Laguna |
| 3510 | Lennie Niehaus | Vol 4: The Quintets & Strings |
| 3511 | Barney Kessel | Easy Like |
| 3512 | Barney Kessel | Kessel Plays Standards |
| 3513 | Barney Kessel | To Swing or Not to Swing |
| 3514 | Duane Tatro | Duane Tatro's Jazz for Moderns |
| 3515 | Hampton Hawes Trio | This Is Hampton Hawes |
| 3516 | Shelly Manne & His Men | Swinging Sounds |
| 3517 | Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All-Stars | In the Solo Spotlight |
| 3518 | Lennie Niehaus | Volume 1: The Quintets |
| 3519 | Shelly Manne & His Men | More Swinging Sounds |
| 3520 | Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All-Stars | Oboe/Flute |
| 3521 | Barney Kessel | Music to Listen to Barney Kessel By |
| 3522 | Buddy Collette | Man of Many Parts |
| 3523 | Hampton Hawes Trio | Everybody Likes Hampton Hawes |
| 3524 | Lennie Niehaus | Vol 5: The Sextet |
| 3525 | Shelly Manne | Shelly Manne & His Friends |
| 3526 | Curtis Counce | The Curtis Counce Group |
| 3527 | Shelly Manne & His Friends | My Fair Lady |
| 3528 | Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All-Stars | Music for Lighthousekeeping |
| 3529 | Jimmy Deuchar | Pub Crawling with Jimmy Deuchar |
| 3530 | Sonny Rollins | Way Out West |
| 3531 | Buddy Collette | Nice Day with Buddy Collette |
| 3532 | Art Pepper | Art Pepper Meets the Rhythm Section |
| 3533 | Shelly Manne & His Friends | Li'l Abner |
| 3534 | Red Norvo | Music to Listen to Red Norvo By |
| 3535 | Barney Kessel, Shelly Manne and Ray Brown | The Poll Winners |
| 3536 | Shelly Manne & His Men | Concerto for Clarinet & Combo |
| 3537 | André Previn & Russ Freeman | Double Play! |
| 3538 | Red Mitchell | Presenting Red Mitchell |
| 3539 | Curtis Counce | You Get More Bounce with Curtis Counce! |
| 3540 | Lennie Niehaus | Zounds! |
| 3541 | Victor Feldman | Suite Sixteen |
| 3542 | Leroy Vinnegar | Leroy Walks! |
| 3543 | André Previn & His Pals | Pal Joey |
| 3544 | Bob Cooper | Coop! The Music of Bob Cooper |
| 3545 | Hampton Hawes | All Night Session! Vol. 1 |
| 3546 | Hampton Hawes | All Night Session! Vol. 2 |
| 3547 | Hampton Hawes | All Night Session! Vol. 3 |
| 3548 | André Previn & His Pals | Gigi |
| 3549 | Victor Feldman | The Arrival of Victor Feldman |
| 3550 | Harold Land | Harold in the Land of Jazz |
| 3551 | Ornette Coleman | Something Else!!!! |
| 3552 | Benny Golson | Benny Golson's New York Scene |
| 3553 | Hampton Hawes | Four! |
| 3554 | Art Farmer | Portrait of Art Farmer |
| 3555 | Benny Carter | Jazz Giant |
| 3556 | Barney Kessel, Shelley Manne & Ray Brown | The Poll Winners Ride Again! |
| 3557 | Shelly Manne & His Men | The Gambit |
| 3558 | André Previn | André Previn Plays Songs by Vernon Duke |
| 3559 | Shelly Manne & His Friends | Bells Are Ringing |
| 3560 | Shelly Manne & His Men | Shelly Manne & His Men Play Peter Gunn |
| 3561 | Benny Carter Quartet | Swingin' the '20s |
| 3562 | Cecil Taylor | Looking Ahead! |
| 3563 | Barney Kessel | Carmen |
| 3564 | Sonny Rollins | Sonny Rollins and the Contemporary Leaders |
| 3565 | Barney Kessel | Some Like It Hot |
| 3566 | Shelly Manne & His Men | Son of Gunn!! |
| 3567 | André Previn | André Previn Plays Songs by Jerome Kern |
| 3568 | Art Pepper | Art Pepper + Eleven - Modern Jazz Classics |
| 3569 | Ornette Coleman | Tomorrow Is the Question! |
| 3570 | André Previn Jazz Trio | King Size! |
| 3571 | Helen Humes | 'Tain't Nobody's Biz-Ness If I Do |
| 3572 | André Previn & His Pals | West Side Story |
| 3573 | Art Pepper | Gettin' Together |
| 3574 | Curtis Counce Group | Carl's Blues |
| 3575 | André Previn | Like Previn! |
| 3576 | Barney Kessel, Shelly Manne & Ray Brown | Poll Winners Three! |
| 3577 | Shelly Manne & His Men | At the Black Hawk 1 |
| 3578 | Shelly Manne & His Men | At the Black Hawk 2 |
| 3579 | Shelly Manne & His Men | At the Black Hawk 3 |
| 3580 | Shelly Manne & His Men | At the Black Hawk 4 |
| 3581 | The Poll Winners | Exploring the Scene! |
| 3582 | Helen Humes | Songs I Like to Sing! |
| 3583 | Teddy Edwards | Teddy's Ready! |
| 3584 | Shelly Manne | The Three & The Two |
| 3585 | Barney Kessel | Workin' Out! with the Barney Kessel Quartet |
| 3586 | André Previn | André Previn Plays Songs by Harold Arlen |
| 3587 | Shelly Manne & His Men | The Proper Time |
| 3588 | Teddy Edwards and Howard McGhee | Together Again!!!! |
| 3589 | Hampton Hawes | For Real! |
| 3590 | Ruth Price | Ruth Price with Shelly Manne & His Men at the Manne-Hole |
| 3591 | Bill Smith | Folk Jazz |
| 3592 | Teddy Edwards | Good Gravy! |
| 3593/4 | Shelly Manne & His Men | Live! Shelly Manne & His Men at the Manne-Hole |
| 3595 | Gerry Wiggins | Relax and Enjoy It! |
| 3596 | Howard McGhee | Maggie's Back in Town!! |
| 3597 | Joe Gordon | Lookin' Good! |
| 3598 | Helen Humes | Swingin' with Humes |
| 3599 | Shelly Manne & His Men | Shelly Manne & His Men Play Checkmate |
The 5000 (mono)/9000 (stereo) series of 12 inch LP records commenced in 1956 and ran until 1962. [4] [5]
| Catalog | Artist | Album |
|---|---|---|
| 5001 | Mel Henke | Dig Mel Henke |
| 5002 | Claire Austin | Claire Austin Sings "When Your Lover Has Gone" |
| 5003 | Mel Henke | Now Spin This! |
| 5004 | Pepe Romero | !Flamenco Fenomeno! |
| 5005 | Victor Feldman | Latinsville! |
| 5006 | Shelly Manne and Jack Marshall | Sounds Unheard Of! |
The 3600 (mono)/7600 (stereo) series of 12 inch LP records commenced in 1962 and ran until around the early 1980s. [6] After 3624 all releases were stereo only. [7]
The 14000 series began in 1980 with 12 inch LP records and in 1982 commenced releases on compact disc. [8] After 1992 all releases were CD only. [7]
| Catalog | Artist | Album |
|---|---|---|
| 14001 | George Cables | Cables' Vision |
| 14002 | Joe Farrell | Sonic Text |
| 14003 | Mike Garson | Avant Garson |
| 14004 | Tete Montoliu | Lunch in L.A. |
| 14005 | Chico Freeman | Peaceful Heart, Gentle Spirit |
| 14006 | Joe Henderson | Relaxin' at Camarillo |
| 14007 | Jay Hoggard | Rain Forest |
| 14008 | Chico Freeman | Destiny's Dance |
| 14009 | Bobby Hutcherson | Solo / Quartet |
| 14010 | Peter Erskine | Peter Erskine |
| 14011 | Bill Perkins | Journey to the East |
| 14012 | Bud Shank | California Concert |
| 14013 | Frank Morgan | Easy Living |
| 14014 | George Cables | Phantom of the City |
| 14015 | George Cables | Circle |
| 14016 | Jimmy Rowles and Red Mitchell | Jimmy Rowles with the Red Mitchell Trio |
| 14017 | Bob Cooper and Snooky Young | In a Mellotone |
| 14018 | Shelley Manne | In Zurich |
| 14019 | Bud Shank | That Old Feeling |
| 14020 | The Jazztet | Back to the City |
| 14021 | Frank Morgan | Lament |
| 14022 | Terry Gibbs | The Latin Connection |
| 14023 | Chris Connor | Classic |
| 14024 | Billy Higgins | Bridgework |
| 14025 | Joshua Breakstone Quintet | Echoes |
| 14026 | Frank Morgan Quintet | Bebop Lives! |
| 14027 | Bud Shank | Bud Shank Quartet at Jazz Alley |
| 14028 | Luther Hughes | Luther Hughes and Cahoots |
| 14029 | Art Farmer | Something to Live For: The Music of Billy Strayhorn |
| 14030 | George Cables | By George |
| 14031 | Bud Shank | Serious Swingers |
| 14032 | Jimmy Rowles | I'm Glad There Is You |
| 14033 | Barney Kessel | Spontaneous Combustion |
| 14034 | The Jazztet | Real Time |
| 14035 | Frank Morgan & George Cables | Double Image |
| 14036 | Terry Gibbs and Buddy DeFranco | Chicago Fire |
| 14037 | Tom Harrell and George Robert | Sun Dance |
| 14038 | Chris Connor | New Again |
| 14039 | Frank Morgan and the McCoy Tyner Trio | Major Changes |
| 14040 | Joshua Breakstone | Evening Star |
| 14041 | Kerry Campbell | Phoenix Rising |
| 14042 | Art Farmer | Blame It On My Youth |
| 14043 | Tom Harrell | Stories |
| 14044 | Barney Kessell | Red Hot & Blue |
| 14045 | Frank Morgan Quartet | Yardbird Suite |
| 14046 | Jackie and Roy | Full Circle |
| 14047 | Terry Gibbs and Buddy DeFranco | Holiday for Swing |
| 14048 | Bud Shank | Tomorrow's Rainbow |
| 14049 | Carol Sloane | Love You Madly |
| 14050 | Joshua Breakstone Quartet | Self-Portrait in Swing |
| 14051 | Rumsey, Howard | Jazz Invention |
| 14052 | Frank Morgan Allstars | Reflections |
| 14053 | John Campbell | After Hours |
| 14054 | Tom Harrell | Sail Away |
| 14055 | Art Farmer | Ph.D. |
| 14056 | Terry Gibbs and Buddy DeFranco | Air Mail Special |
| 14057 | Art Farmer and Frank Morgan | Central Avenue Reunion |
| 14058 | Kenny Burrell | Guiding Spirit |
| 14059 | Tom Harrell | Form |
| 14060 | Carol Sloane | The Real Thing |
| 14061 | John Campbell | Turning Point |
| 14062 | Joshua Breakstone Trio | 9 by 3 |
| 14063 | Tom Harrell | Visions |
| 14064 | Frank Morgan and Bud Shank | Quiet Fire |
| 14065 | Kenny Burrell | Sunup to Sundown |
| 14066 | Terry Gibbs | Memories of You |
| 14067 | Terry Gibbs | Kings of Swing |
| 14068 | Leroy Vinnegar | Walking the Basses |
| 14069 | Celedonio Romero and Celin Romero | Spanish Guitar Music |
| 14070 | Pepe Romero | ¡Flamenco Fenomeno! |
| 14071 | Helen Humes | 'Deed I Do |
| 14072 | Hampton Hawes | Something Special |
| 14073 | Chico Freeman | Focus |
| 14074 | Teddy Edwards | Back to Avalon |
| 14075 | Melton Mustafa | Boiling Point |
| 14076 | Michael Orta | Freedom Tower |
| 14077 | Howard Rumsey | Mexican Passport |
| 14078 | Terry Myers | Soul Mates |
| 14079 | Billy Ross | Woody |
| 14080 | Eric Allison | Mean Streets Beat |
| 14081 | Dennis Points | Images |
| 14082 | Jesse Jones | Soul Serenade |
| 14083 | Billy Marcus | Hamp |
| 14084 | Lanny Morgan | Pacific Standard |
| 14085 | Melton Mustafa | St. Louis Blues |
| 14086 | Art Pepper | San Francisco Samba |
| 14087 | Tom Ranier | In the Still of the Night |
| 14088 | Eric Allison | After Hours |
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of multinational conglomerate Sony. Columbia is the oldest surviving brand name in the recorded sound business, and the second major company to produce records. From 1961 to 1991, its recordings were released outside North America under the name CBS Records to avoid confusion with EMI's Columbia Graphophone Company. Columbia is one of Sony Music's four flagship record labels: Epic Records, and former longtime rivals, RCA Records and Arista Records as the latter two were originally owned by BMG before its 2008 relaunch after Sony's acquisition alongside other BMG labels.
Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. Mercury Records released rock, funk, R&B, doo wop, soul music, blues, pop, rock and roll, and jazz records. In the United States, it is operated through Republic Records; in the United Kingdom and Japan, it is distributed by EMI Records.
Bethlehem Records was an American jazz independent record label, founded by Gus Wildi in 1953.
Pablo Records was a jazz record company and label founded by Norman Granz in 1973, more than a decade after he had sold his earlier catalog to MGM Records.
Monk's Music is a jazz album by the Thelonious Monk Septet, which for this recording included Coleman Hawkins and John Coltrane. It was released in November 1957 through Riverside Records. The recording was made in New York City on June 26, 1957.
Chesky Records is a record company and label founded in 1978 by brothers David and Norman Chesky. The company produces high-definition recordings of music in a variety of genres, including jazz, classical, pop, R&B, folk and world/ethnic. Chesky artists include McCoy Tyner, Herbie Mann, David Johansen and the Harry Smiths, Joe Henderson, Macy Gray, Chuck Mangione, Paquito D'Rivera, Ron Carter, Larry Coryell, John Pizzarelli, Bucky Pizzarelli, Babatunde Olatunji, Ana Caram, and Rebecca Pidgeon.
Everest Records was a record label based in Bayside, Long Island, started by Harry D. Belock and Bert Whyte in May 1958. It was devoted mainly to classical music.
Something Else!!!! is the debut album by jazz saxophonist Ornette Coleman. It was released by Contemporary Records in September 1958. According to AllMusic, the album "shook up the jazz world", revitalizing the union of blues and jazz and restoring "blues to their 'classic' beginnings in African music". It is unusual in Coleman's output in that it features a conventional bebop quintet instrumentation ; after this album, Coleman would omit the piano, creating a starker and more fluid sound.
Love Is the Thing is a 1957 album released by American jazz vocalist Nat King Cole. It is the first of four collaborations between Cole and influential arranger Gordon Jenkins.
My Fair Lady, recorded by "Shelly Manne & His Friends" and released in 1956 by Contemporary Records, is the first album ever made consisting entirely of jazz versions of tunes from a single Broadway musical. It was an instant hit and became one of the best-selling jazz albums of its day.
Tomorrow Is the Question!, subtitled The New Music of Ornette Coleman!, is the second album by American jazz musician Ornette Coleman, originally released in 1959 by Contemporary Records. It was Coleman's last album for the label before he began a highly successful multi-album series for Atlantic Records in 1959.
Something Cool is the debut solo album by June Christy, released on Capitol Records first as a 10-inch LP of seven selections in August of 1954, and then as a 12-inch LP of eleven selections the following August, both times in monophonic sound. The original seven selections for the 1954 release were recorded over seven sessions from August of 1953 through March of 1954, with the additional four for the 1955 issue from four additional sessions in December of 1954 as well as May and June of 1955, with arrangements for all sessions written and conducted by Pete Rugolo. Her saxophonist husband, Bob Cooper, also played on many of these sessions. In April of 1960, Christy and Rugolo re-recorded all 11 selections in stereophonic sound, so that a stereo version of Something Cool could be issued. For many years, this re-recorded version of the album was the only one commercially available.
This is the complete discography of the main 12-inch (8000) series of LPs issued by Verve Records, a label founded in 1956 by producer Norman Granz in Los Angeles, California. Alongside new sessions Granz re-released many of the recordings of his earlier labels Clef and Norgran on Verve.
This discography of the Riverside Records label includes the two principal 12" LP series. The main label's mono series had a 12- prefix and the RLP 1100 series consisted of stereo issues of albums also released in mono. The Jazzland subsidiary is also listed, but the earlier 10" series are omitted. They principally were the 1000 series of reissues of early jazz, and the 2500 series of new recordings unrestricted to a single style. Albums issued on the subsidiary Battle, Judson and Washington labels are also omitted, as are the 100 series, 600 series, and 800 series.
HDtracks is a high-resolution digital music store offering DRM-free music in multiple formats as well as cover art with audio CD-quality and high-definition audio master recording quality download selections.
Ruth Price with Shelly Manne & His Men at the Manne-Hole is a live album by vocalist Ruth Price with drummer Shelly Manne's group Shelly Manne & His Men, recorded at Shelly's Manne-Hole in Hollywood, California, in 1961 and released on the Contemporary label.
Rumasuma is an album by the saxophonist Sonny Simmons, which was recorded in 1969 and released on the Contemporary label in 1970.
You may select one of the following skins for optimal viewing of Harry James' discography:
Lester Koenig was an American screenwriter, film producer, and founder of the jazz record label Contemporary Records.
A Midnight Session with the Jazz Messengers is a live album by Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers originally released on the Elektra label in 1957. The album masters were sold to Savoy and re-released as Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers in 1960 and Mirage in 1977.
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