Groove Merchant

Last updated
Groove Merchant
Founded1971 (1971)
Founder Sonny Lester
Distributor(s) Pickwick Records
GenreJazz, R&B
Country of originU.S.
Official website lrc-groovemerchantrecords.com

Groove Merchant was an American jazz and R&B record label during the 1970s. It was run by producer Sonny Lester and distributed by Pickwick Records. Notable artists included Chick Corea, O'Donel Levy, Buddy Rich, Jimmy McGriff, Lonnie Smith and Lionel Hampton. Lester would later close Groove Merchant and restructure it as Lester Radio Corporation, or LRC; TK Records were distributors for a period. Lester still retains the rights to the Groove Merchant/LRC back catalog and independently distributes them on compact disc.

Contents

Discography

500 Series

The Groove Merchant 500 Series consisted of 34 albums released between 1971 and 1974. [1]

CatalogArtistAlbumNotes
GM 501 O'Donel Levy Black Velvet
GM 502 Junior Parker You Don't Have To Be Black To Love The Blues UK title: Blue Shadows Falling
GM 503 Jimmy McGriff Groove Grease
GM 504 Joe Thomas Joy of Cookin'
GM 505 Groove Holmes American Pie
GM 506Jimmy McGriff Let's Stay Together
GM 507O'Donel Levy Breeding of Mind
GM 508 Lucky Thompson Goodbye Yesterday
GM 509Jimmy McGriff Fly Dude
GM 510 Dakota Staton Madame Foo-Foo
GM 511 Reuben Wilson The Sweet Life
GM 512Groove Holmes Night Glider
GM 513Junior Parker Love Ain't Nothin' But a Business Goin' On originally released as The Outside Man on Capitol
GM 514 Larry Willis Inner Crisis
GM 515Jimmy McGriff / Lucky Thompson + George Freeman + O'Donel Levy Concert: Friday the 13th - Cook County Jail Live split album
GM 516Ramon MorrisSweet Sister Funk
GM 517Lucky Thompson I Offer You
GM 518O'Donel Levy Dawn of a New Day
GM 519 George Freeman New Improved Funk
GM 520Jimmy McGriff and Groove Holmes Giants of the Organ Come Together
GM 521Dakota Staton I Want a Country Man
GM 522 Carmen McRae It Takes a Whole Lot of Human Feeling
GM 523Reuben Wilson The Cisco Kid
GM 524No release issued for this part number
GM 525 Mike Longo Funkia
GM 526O'Donel Levy Simba
GM 527Groove Holmes New Groove
GM 528 Buddy Rich The Roar of '74
GM 529Jimmy McGriffIf You're Ready Come Go with MeCompilation featuring tracks from Soul Sugar , Groove Grease , Let's Stay Together and Fly Dude , plus two previously unreleased tracks.
GM 530 Chick Corea Sundance Reissue of GM 2202
GM 531Carmen McRae Ms. Jazz
GM 532Dakota Staton Ms. Soul
GM 533 Zoot Sims and Bucky Pizzarelli + Buddy Rich Nirvana
GM 534Jimmy McGriff The Main Squeeze
GM 535O'Donel Levy Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky

2200 Series

The 2200 Series, released in 1972, consisted of five albums which feature previously released and/or unissued material produced by Sonny Lester for various other labels. [2]

CatalogArtistAlbumNotes
GM 2201 Count Basie Evergreensoriginally released as Basic Basie on MPS.
GM 2202 Chick Corea Sundance previously unreleased tracks from the 'Is' recording sessions for Solid State.
GM 2203 Jimmy McGriff Black and Bluesdouble LP of previously unreleased material recorded circa 1963.
GM 2204 Jeremy Steig Fusion double LP featuring tracks originally released as Energy on Capitol, along with a whole LP (=7 tracks) of previously unreleased material.
GM 2205Jimmy McGriff and Junior Parker Good Things Don't Happen Every Dayoriginally released as The Dudes Doin' Business on Capitol.

3300 Series

The 3300 Series consisted of sixteen albums released between 1973 and 1976. [3]

CatalogArtistAlbumNotes
GM 3300 Jimmy McGriff and Groove Holmes Giants of the Organ in Concert Live 2LP set
GM 3301 Buddy Rich Very Live at Buddy's Place
GM 3302Buddy Rich and Lionel Hampton Transition
GM 3303Buddy Rich The Last Blues Album Volume 1 Later issued on LRC as Loot To Boot under Illinois Jacquet's name.
GM 3304 Mike Longo 900 Shares of the Blues
GM 3305 George Freeman Man & Woman
GM 3306 Lee Konitz Chicago 'n All That Jazz
GM 3307Buddy Rich Big Band Machine
GM 3308 Lonnie Smith Afro–desia
GM 3309Jimmy McGriff Stump Juice
GM 3310 Joe Thomas Masada
GM 3311Jimmy McGriff The Mean Machine
GM 3312Lonnie Smith Keep on Lovin' Reissued in 1977 on LRC/T.K. 9312
GM 3313 O'Donel Levy Windows Reissued in 1977 on LRC/T.K. 9313
GM 3314Jimmy McGriff Red Beans Reissued in 1977 on LRC/T.K. 9314
GM 3315Joe ThomasFeelin's from WithinReissued in 1977 on LRC/T.K. 9315

4000 Series

The 4000 Series, released in 1974–1975, consisted of twelve double LP compilations of previously issued material. [4]

Related Research Articles

Richard Arnold "Groove" Holmes was an American jazz organist who performed in the hard bop and soul jazz genre. He is best known for his 1965 recording of "Misty".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jimmy McGriff</span> American jazz organist and bandleader

James Harrell McGriff was an American hard bop and soul-jazz organist and organ trio bandleader.

Sumner Lester, better known as Sonny Lester, was an American Grammy-award-winning music producer from New York City. He started his career as a musician in a big band jazz ensemble before being drafted into the U.S. Army. During the war he earned a Purple Heart and worked under Henry Kissinger, who was an intelligence officer at the time. Lester's recordings have been distributed by labels including Blue Note, United Artists, Capitol, Denon and CBS Records.

<i>Very Live at Buddys Place</i> 1974 live album by Buddy Rich

Very Live at Buddy's Place is a jazz septet album by drummer Buddy Rich recorded in 1974 and released on the Groove Merchant Records label.

<i>The Last Blues Album Volume 1</i> 1974 studio album by Buddy Rich

The Last Blues Album Volume 1 is a jazz album recorded by Buddy Rich and released on the Groove Merchant Record label in 1974.

O'Donel "Butch" Levy was a rhythm & blues, funk and jazz guitarist from Baltimore, Maryland. He was brother of session drummer Stafford Levy.

<i>Groove Grease</i> 1971 studio album by Jimmy McGriff

Groove Grease is an album by American jazz organist Jimmy McGriff featuring performances recorded in 1971 and released on the Groove Merchant label.

<i>Fly Dude</i> 1972 studio album by Jimmy McGriff

Fly Dude is an album by American jazz organist Jimmy McGriff featuring performances recorded in 1972 and released on the Groove Merchant label.

<i>Windows</i> (ODonel Levy album) 1976 studio album by ODonel Levy

Windows is an album by American jazz guitarist O'Donel Levy recorded in 1976 and released on the Groove Merchant label.

<i>Concert: Friday the 13th – Cook County Jail</i> 1973 live album by Jimmy McGriff with George Freeman ODonel Levy/Lucky Thompson

Concert: Friday the 13th – Cook County Jail is a live split album recorded at Cook County Jail in October 1972 featuring performances by jazz organist Jimmy McGriff's Quintet with guitarists George Freeman and O'Donel Levy, and saxophonist Lucky Thompson's Quartet which was released on the Groove Merchant label.

<i>Giants of the Organ Come Together</i> 1973 studio album by Jimmy McGriff and Groove Holmes

Giants of the Organ Come Together is an album by American jazz organists Jimmy McGriff and Groove Holmes recorded in 1973 and released on the Groove Merchant label.

<i>Giants of the Organ in Concert</i> 1973 live album by Jimmy McGriff and Groove Holmes

Giants of the Organ in Concert is a live album by American jazz organists Jimmy McGriff and Groove Holmes recorded in Boston in 1973 and originally released on the Groove Merchant label as a double LP.

<i>Lets Stay Together</i> (Jimmy McGriff album) 1972 studio album by Jimmy McGriff

Let's Stay Together is an album by American jazz organist Jimmy McGriff featuring performances recorded in 1966 and 1972 and released on the Groove Merchant label.

<i>Madame Foo-Foo</i> 1972 studio album by Dakota Staton

Madame Foo-Foo is an album by American jazz vocalist Dakota Staton recorded in 1972 and released on the Groove Merchant label.

<i>The Main Squeeze</i> (album) 1974 studio album by Jimmy McGriff

The Main Squeeze is an album by American jazz organist Jimmy McGriff recorded in 1974 and released on the Groove Merchant label.

<i>Stump Juice</i> 1975 studio album by Jimmy McGriff

Stump Juice is an album by American jazz organist Jimmy McGriff recorded in 1975 and released on the Groove Merchant label.

<i>The Mean Machine</i> (album) 1976 studio album by Jimmy McGriff

The Mean Machine is an album by American jazz organist Jimmy McGriff recorded in 1976 and released on the Groove Merchant label.

<i>Red Beans</i> (album) 1976 studio album by Jimmy McGriff

Red Beans is an album by American jazz organist Jimmy McGriff recorded in 1976 and released on the Groove Merchant label.

<i>On the Blue Side</i> 1990 studio album by Hank Crawford and Jimmy McGriff

On the Blue Side is an album by saxophonist Hank Crawford and organist Jimmy McGriff recorded in 1989 and released on the Milestone label the following year.

<i>Tailgunner</i> (album) 1977 studio album by Jimmy McGriff

Tailgunner is an album by organist Jimmy McGriff recorded in 1977 and released on the Lester Radio Corp. (LRC) label.

References

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