Mountain Records

Last updated July 21, 2024

Mountain Records is a record label started in Cape Town, South Africa in 1980 by Patrick Lee-Thorp.

In the early years of the label's existence, a certain amount of commercial success was garnered from releases by such artists as David Kramer, Robin Auld and later the neo-traditional African band Amampondo. This success was partly due to the label's involvement in the live presentation of these artists.

From the label's outset through to the early 1990s, the state-owned radio and TV media, SABC, restricted their stations from playing certain music by Kramer, Edi Niederlander, Coenie de Villiers and others because of the critical text in the songs by these performers on records released by Mountain Records.

From 1996, the label set up a European base, with an office in Hamburg, Germany. The label continued to market their own artists but also facilitated the release or distribution of non-label South African acts such as Brenda Fassie, Philip Tabane and the Soul Brothers.

The artists Tony Bird (Malawi/USA), Janvier Honfo (Benin) and Celso Fonseca (Brazil), all in some way connected by Africa and its music, were released on the label through the European offices. A sub-label, known as Sea Records, was launched in about 1989 to release jazz productions and several South African and German jazz ensembles had their music issued on this sister label.

The label still maintained an office in Cape Town until 2022 after which all business was directed from Hamburg, Germany. Releases in the period 2000 to 2010 include a DVD of the original Amampondo line-up performing live, and the re-issue of a jazz album by saxophonist classic Morris Goldberg and the third part in the label's Cape Jazz series.

Former Amampondo leader Dizu Plaatjies has three solo projects on the label. The second solo album by Plaatjies, entitled African Kings, was launched in Paris and Cape Town in February and March 2009 respectively. The CDs were distributed by EMI and Universal Music in southern Africa and New Music Distribution, Membran, Xango, Discovery and L'Autre, in Europe.

Mountain Records have won numerous awards with their artists. These include Sarie Awards, Scotty Awards, SA Music Awards (ASAMI) and most recently the SAMA Awards for the aforementioned "African Kings" release in 2009 and Plaatjies' "Ubuntu" released in 2015.

In the period after 2010 the label scaled back productions, as did many other labels, but continued a modest output which included re-issues of back catalogue in the digital sphere. A new CD album highlight included a special release of the label's jazz project from The Cape Jazz Band (CJB), led by veteran Cape based drummer, Jack Momple. The album entitled, Musical Democracy garnered high critical acclaim and revived the fortunes and moral of the label somewhat.

In October 2015, Plaatjies released the aforementioned album, a collaboration with South African and French artists, once again produced by label owner, Lee-Thorp. It was released under the banner, Dizu Plaatjies and Friends entitled, Ubuntu - The Common String. The album has attracted considerable media interest and entered the International World Music charts, where it stayed for four months climbing to position six.

Following the 2013 CJB release a special solo piano jazz project was released in 2018. It is entitled, Cape Jazz Piano which features six of the big names in the genre performing some of the classic repertoire in Cape Jazz. The record included two relative newcomers to the genre, pianists Kyle Shepherd and Ramon Alexander.

This world music Mountain label should not be confused with a British record label of the same name, believed to have been started by Bill Fehilly, manager of Nazareth, who died in a plane crash in the Scottish Borders, near Moffat, in July 1976. Between 1975 and 1980, the UK label released material by Nazareth, the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Martyn Ford Orchestra and Voyager, and was distributed successively by EMI, Phonogram and RCA. There is no evidence that it is associated with the aforementioned like named label. Internet searches in 2011 turned up numerous record labels incorporating "mountain" in their names.

Interviewed in 2000, label management of the African company stated that they were not aware of the existence of the UK-based label until several years into business, by which time the name had established itself substantially in the World Music field, having appeared in African and European world music charts a number of times with Amampondo, Celso Fonseca, Cape Jazz (a compilation) and Jean Bosco Mwenda.

Related Research Articles

The music of South Africa exhibits a culturally varied musical heritage in conjunction with the multi-ethnic populace. Genres with the greatest international recognition being mbube, isicathamiya, mbaqanga, afrofusion, kwaito, South African pop music, afro house, South African hip hop, Shangaan electro, bacardi house, bolo house, gqom and amapiano.

Gilles Jérôme Moehrle MBE, better known as Gilles Peterson, is a French broadcaster, DJ, and record label owner. He founded the influential labels Acid Jazz and Talkin' Loud, and started his current label Brownswood Recordings in 2006. He was awarded an honorary MBE in 2004, the AIM Award for Indie Champion and the Mixmag Award for Outstanding Contribution To Dance Music in 2013, the PRS for Music Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music Radio in 2014, and The A&R Award from the Music Producers Guild in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Basil Coetzee</span> Musical artist

Basil "Manenberg" Coetzee was a South African musician, perhaps best known as a saxophonist.

Abdullah Ibrahim is a South African pianist and composer. His music reflects many of the musical influences of his childhood in the multicultural port areas of Cape Town, ranging from traditional African songs to the gospel of the AME Church and Ragas, to more modern jazz and other Western styles. Ibrahim is considered the leading figure in the subgenre of Cape jazz. Within jazz, his music particularly reflects the influence of Thelonious Monk and Duke Ellington. He is known especially for "Mannenberg", a jazz piece that became a notable anti-apartheid anthem.

Todd Thomas, better known by the stage name Speech, is an American rapper and musician. He is a member of the progressive hip hop group Arrested Development and has released a number of solo albums.

Xhosa music has long been a major part of the music of South Africa, especially in the field of jazz. Since olden times, singing has been a tradition and part of culture among the Xhosas.

Jonathan Kenneth Butler is a South African singer-songwriter and guitarist. His music is often classified as R&B, jazz fusion or worship music.

Robert Edward Jansen was a South African musician. He was born in Cape Town, South Africa.

The South African College of Music, abbreviated as SACM, is a department of the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Cape Town. It is located on the university's Lower Campus in Rondebosch, Cape Town.

Amampondo is a South African percussion ensemble that was started by Dizu Plaatjies in Langa, Cape Town in 1979. The name in Mpondo means people of Mpondo or Pondoland, a kingdom in the Eastern Cape where most of the band's members grew up. The other founding members were Simpiwe Matole; Michael Ludonga; Mzwandile Qotoyi; Leo Mbizela and Mandla Lande. National Geographic called them "one of the most interesting and experimental groups in South Africa".

Cape jazz is a genre of jazz that is performed in the very southern part of Africa, the name being a reference to Cape Town, South Africa. Some writers say that Cape jazz began to emerge in 1959 with the formation of The Jazz Epistles, many of whom were from Cape Town, including Abdullah Ibrahim, then known as Dollar Brand. Cape jazz is similar to the popular music style known as marabi, though more improvisational in character. Where marabi is a piano jazz style, Cape jazz in the beginning featured instruments that can be carried in a street parade, such as brass instruments, banjos, guitars and percussion instruments.

Dizu Plaatjies is a Xhosa musician best known for being the founder and former leader of the South African group, Amampondo. He is a graduate of the South African College of Music, University of Cape Town where he lectures in African Music.

Celso Fonseca is a Brazilian composer, producer, guitarist and singer. He is noted as part of the Música popular brasileira since the 1980s, initially as accompanist and composer, then producer, and since the mid–1990s as an artist in his own right.

David Kramer is a South African singer, songwriter, playwright and director, notable for his musicals about the Coloured communities in the Cape, and for his early opposition to apartheid.

Darius Brubeck is an American jazz pianist, author, and educator. He is the son of jazz legend Dave Brubeck with whom he worked professionally in the 1970s, while also performing in his own bands, The Darius Brubeck Ensemble and Gathering Forces.

João Donato de Oliveira Neto was a Brazilian jazz and bossa nova pianist as well as a trombonist from Rio Branco. He first worked with Altamiro Carrilho and went on to perform with Antonio Carlos Jobim and Astrud Gilberto. Because of the area he grew up in Brasil he was able to hear Cuban music on the radio. This influence would manifest itself in many of his compositions, piano, and trombone playing. Donato's most well-known compositions include: "Amazonas", "Lugar Comum", "Simples Carinho", "Até Quem Sabe" and "Nasci Para Bailar".

Coenie de Villiers, born 11 October 1956, is a South African singer-songwriter, pianist, pop artist who sings in his mother tongue, Afrikaans. If any comparison was required, Coenie's music is best compared to the pop/rock of Herbert Groenemeyer or Billy Joel.

Roberto Fonseca is a Cuban jazz pianist. From an early age, Fonseca was surrounded by music: his father was drum player Roberto Fonseca, Sr, his mother, Mercedes Cortes Alfaro, a professional singer, and his two older half-brothers from his mother's previous marriage to the pianist and musician Jesús "Chucho" Valdés are Emilio Valdés (drums) and Jesús "Chuchito" Valdés Jr. (piano).

Hernani Almeida is a Cape Verdean musician. In 1994 he formed his first rock band named what and has records and produced many albums. He was named Best Guitarist (2005) and Best Artist (2006) of the nation prize "Nos Musica" given to recognize Capeverdean artists.

References

^[1]

↑ "Mountain Records (2)". Discogs.com. Retrieved 8 September 2019.

External links

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] "Mountain Records (2)". Discogs.com. Retrieved 8 September 2019.

[1]

Mountain Records

Contents

See also

Related Research Articles

References

External links