Plainisphare is a jazz record label based in Vich, Switzerland. It was founded in 1974.
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, United States, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and developed from roots in blues and ragtime. Jazz is seen by many as "America's classical music". Since the 1920s Jazz Age, jazz has become recognized as a major form of musical expression. It then emerged in the form of independent traditional and popular musical styles, all linked by the common bonds of African-American and European-American musical parentage with a performance orientation. Jazz is characterized by swing and blue notes, call and response vocals, polyrhythms and improvisation. Jazz has roots in West African cultural and musical expression, and in African-American music traditions including blues and ragtime, as well as European military band music. Intellectuals around the world have hailed jazz as "one of America's original art forms".
A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing, promotion, and enforcement of copyright for sound recordings and music videos, while also conducting talent scouting and development of new artists, and maintaining contracts with recording artists and their managers. The term "record label" derives from the circular label in the center of a vinyl record which prominently displays the manufacturer's name, along with other information. Within the mainstream music industry, recording artists have traditionally been reliant upon record labels to broaden their consumer base, market their albums, and be both promoted and heard on music streaming services, radio, and television. Record labels also provide publicists, who assist performers in gaining positive media coverage, and arrange for their merchandise to be available via stores and other media outlets.
Vich is a municipality in the district of Nyon in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland.
Since 1974 Plainisphare has been the leading distributor of jazz recordings in Switzerland. In the early 1980s it began to produce recordings, and since then it has released over 100 LPs and CDs.
Artists who have recorded for Plainisphare include Archie Shepp, Thierry Lang, Leon Francioli, Dollar Brand, Terry Riley, Albert Mangelsdorff, René Bottlang, and Heiri Känzig.
Archie Shepp is an American jazz saxophonist.
Thierry Lang is a Swiss composer and jazz pianist.
Terrence Mitchell Riley is an American composer and performing musician associated with the minimalist school of Western art music, of which he was a pioneer. His work is deeply influenced by both jazz and Indian classical music, and has utilized innovative tape music techniques and delay systems. He is best known for works such as his 1964 composition In C and 1969 album A Rainbow in Curved Air, both considered landmarks of minimalist music.
