Concord Records

Last updated

Concord Records
Concordjazzlogo.png
Parent company Concord
Founded1995;29 years ago (1995) [1]
Distributor(s) Universal Music Group (worldwide releases)
Genre
Country of originUnited States
Location Los Angeles, California
Official website concordrecords.com

Concord Records is an American record label owned by Concord and based in Los Angeles, California. Concord Records was launched in 1995 as an imprint designed to reach beyond the company's foundational Concord Jazz label. [1] The label's artists have won 14 GRAMMY Awards and 88 GRAMMY nominations.

Contents

The original logo, a stylized eighth note incorporating the C and J of "Concord Jazz", was created by Bay Area graphic designer Dan Buck, who also worked on several album covers for the company. [2]

History

In 1999, Concord Records was purchased by a consortium led by Hal Gaba and television producer Norman Lear. Its offices were moved from Concord, California to Beverly Hills in 2002. That same year, Concord partnered with Starbucks to release Ray Charles's Genius Loves Company , which won eight GRAMMY Awards, including Album of the Year. [3]

Concord Records purchased the Fantasy Label Group in 2004, and in December 2006 announced the reactivation of the Stax Records label as a forum for newly recorded music. [4]

In 2005, it was announced that Concord Records had purchased Telarc Records and its subsidiary Heads Up, in a deal whose terms were not divulged. [5]

In 2007, Concord Records started the Hear Music label in association with Starbucks, signing such artists as Paul McCartney, [6] Joni Mitchell, and John Mellencamp. Although Starbucks ceased to be an active partner a year later, Concord kept Hear active, having a Top 5 album in 2010 with Carole King and James Taylor's Live at the Troubadour .

In 2008, Village Roadshow Pictures Group and Concord Music Group completed their merger, resulting in the creation of the Village Roadshow Entertainment Group.

Kenny G signed to Concord in early 2008, [7] Herb Alpert in early 2009. On June 5, 2009, Dave Koz signed to Concord. [8]

In 2010, it was announced that Paul McCartney's solo and Wings catalogs would be globally distributed by Concord Music Group. [9]

Current artists

Former artists

See also

Related Research Articles

Stax Records is an American record company, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the label changed its name to Stax Records in 1961. It also shared its operations with sister label Volt Records.

Anthony Wilson is an American jazz guitarist, arranger and composer. He is the son of bandleader Gerald Wilson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Shearing</span> British jazz pianist

Sir George Albert Shearing was a British jazz pianist who for many years led a popular jazz group that recorded for Discovery Records, MGM Records and Capitol Records. Shearing was the composer of over 300 songs, including the jazz standards "Lullaby of Birdland" and "Conception", and had multiple albums on the Billboard charts during the 1950s, 1960s, 1980s and 1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenny Garrett</span> American jazz musician and composer

Kenny Garrett is an American post-bop jazz musician and composer who gained recognition in his youth as a member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra and for his time with Miles Davis's band. His primary instruments are alto and soprano saxophone and flute. Since 1985, he has pursued a solo career.

<i>Genius Loves Company</i> 2004 studio album by Ray Charles

Genius Loves Company is the final studio album by rhythm and blues and soul musician Ray Charles, posthumously released August 31, 2004, on Concord Records. Recording sessions for the album took place between June 2003 and March 2004. The album consists of rhythm and blues, soul, country, blues, jazz and pop standards performed by Charles and several guest musicians, such as Natalie Cole, Elton John, James Taylor, Norah Jones, B.B. King, Gladys Knight, Diana Krall, Van Morrison, Willie Nelson and Bonnie Raitt. Genius Loves Company was the last album recorded and completed by Charles before his death in June 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Pizzarelli</span> American jazz guitarist and vocalist

John Paul Pizzarelli Jr. is an American jazz guitarist and vocalist. He has recorded over twenty solo albums and has appeared on more than forty albums by other recording artists, including Paul McCartney, James Taylor, Rosemary Clooney; his father, jazz guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli; and his wife, singer Jessica Molaskey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hear Music</span> American record label

Hear Music was a record label that was founded in 2007 in a partnership between Concord Music Group and Starbucks. Hear Music began as a catalog company in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1990 before being purchased by Starbucks in 1999.

<i>Born Under a Bad Sign</i> 1967 compilation album by Albert King

Born Under a Bad Sign is the second compilation album by American blues musician Albert King, released in August 1967 by Stax Records. It features eleven electric blues songs that were recorded from March 1966 to June 1967, throughout five different sessions. King played with two in-house bands: Booker T. & the M.G.'s and the Memphis Horns. Although the album failed to reach any music chart, it did receive positive reviews from music critics and is often cited as one of the greatest blues albums ever made. Born Under a Bad Sign influenced many guitarists, including Eric Clapton, Mike Bloomfield, Jimi Hendrix, and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Born Under a Bad Sign has been recognized by several music institutions, and has been inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame, the Grammy Hall of Fame, and the National Recording Registry.

Telarc International Corporation is an American audiophile independent record label founded in 1977 by two classically trained musicians and former teachers, Jack Renner and Robert Woods. Based in Cleveland, Ohio, the label has had a long association with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and the Cleveland Orchestra, as well as with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. Although it started as a classical music label, Telarc has released jazz, blues and country music recordings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Concord Music Group</span> American independent music company

Concord Music Group was an American independent music company based in Beverly Hills, California, with worldwide distribution through Universal Music Group. The company specialized in recordings and music publishing. On April 1, 2015, Concord Music Group merged with Bicycle Music Company to become Concord Bicycle Music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenny Wayne Shepherd</span> American guitarist (born 1977)

Kenny Wayne Shepherd is an American guitarist. He has released several studio albums and experienced significant commercial success as a blues rock artist.

<i>Memory Almost Full</i> 2007 studio album by Paul McCartney

Memory Almost Full is the fourteenth solo studio album by English musician Paul McCartney. It was released in the United Kingdom on 4 June 2007 and in the United States a day later. The album was the first release on Starbucks' Hear Music label. It was produced by David Kahne and recorded at Abbey Road Studios, Henson Recording Studios, AIR Studios, Hog Hill Mill Studios and RAK Studios between October 2003, and from 2006 to February 2007. In between the 2003 and 2006 sessions, McCartney was working on another studio album, Chaos and Creation in the Backyard (2005), with producer Nigel Godrich.

Heads Up International is a jazz record label that was formed in Cleveland, Ohio. It was bought by the Concord Music Group in 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Wilson (jazz musician)</span> American jazz multi-instrumentalist (born 1961)

Steve Wilson is an American jazz multi-instrumentalist, who is best known in the musical community as a flutist and an alto and soprano saxophonist. He also plays the clarinet and the piccolo. Wilson performs on many different instruments and has performed and recorded on over twenty-five albums. His interests include folk, jazz, classical, world music, and experimental music. Wilson is currently on the faculty of New England Conservatory in Boston, Massachusetts. He was elected as an American Champion by the National Flute Association. Wilson has maintained a busy career working as a session musician, and has contributed to many musicians of note both in the recording studios, but as a sideman on tours. Over the years he has participated in engagements with several musical ensembles, as well as his own solo efforts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roseanna Vitro</span> American jazz singer and teacher (born 1951)

Roseanna Elizabeth Vitro is a jazz singer and teacher from Arkansas.

<i>Kisses on the Bottom</i> 2012 studio album by Paul McCartney

Kisses on the Bottom is the fifteenth solo studio album by Paul McCartney, consisting primarily of covers of traditional pop music and jazz. Released in February 2012 on Starbucks' Hear Music label, it was McCartney's first studio album since Memory Almost Full in 2007. The album was produced by Tommy LiPuma and includes just two original compositions by McCartney: "My Valentine" and "Only Our Hearts". The former features jazz drummer Karriem Riggins. Kisses on the Bottom peaked at number 3 on the UK Albums Chart and number 5 on the US Billboard 200, while also topping Billboard magazine's Jazz Albums chart.

Geoffrey Keezer is an American jazz pianist. In 2023, he won the Best Instrumental Composition Grammy for Refuge

Act III Communications is an American media and entertainment company owned by producer and screenwriter Norman Lear. It was started in 1985 following Lear's sale of Embassy Communications to The Coca-Cola Company. In a Wall Street Journal interview in 1988, Lear explained the name by noting that in a Shakespeare play, there are always more than three acts and that he expects there to be an Act IV and V. Act III served as Lear's business vehicle, unconnected to his other activities as a political activist and philanthropist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Concord (entertainment company)</span> Music company

Concord is an American independent creative rights company that develops, manages and acquires sound recordings, music publishing rights, theatrical performance rights and narrative content. It is a private company, funded by long-term institutional capital and members of Concord's management team.

John Burk is a record producer and co-founder of the American record label Concord Records.

References

  1. 1 2 "Concord Records - Concord Music".
  2. "From The Boston Globe: Rounder Records is Sold". April 14, 2010. Archived from the original on June 21, 2018. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
  3. Associated Press (May 29, 2006). "Ray Charles Big Winner at Grammy Awards". Today.
  4. "Jazz news: Concord Music Reactivates Stax Records". December 19, 2006. Archived from the original on July 12, 2010.
  5. "Concord Music Group Acquires Telarc". Billboard .
  6. "Paul Signs to New Hear Music Label". March 22, 2007.
  7. "Starbucks Entertainment and Concord Records to Co-Release Kenny G's New Album Rhythm and Romance on February 5" (Press release).
  8. Archived August 17, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  9. Michaels, Sean (April 22, 2010). "Paul McCartney cuts ties with EMI". The Guardian.
  10. Mosk, Mitch (September 27, 2022). "Editor's Picks 74: L.S. Dunes, Charlotte Lawrence, Peace Ritual, Sadurday, Dear Boy, & Abby Sage!". Atwood Magazine. Retrieved September 30, 2022.