Thursday 10 February 2011

COMMODORE JAZZ VOL. 1 - London Records Label ID. HMC 5015



COMMODORE JAZZ VOL. 1   - London Records Label ID. HMC 5015

dePARIS BROTHERS ORCHESTRA

ALBERT AMMONS RHYTHM KINGS
& SIDNEY BECHET AND HIS NEW ORLEANS FEETWARMERS

Vinyl Condition G- VG (1 track has quite deep 'click' scratch)

Description from the Sleeve -

Commodore jazz was an idea brought to life in the late 30's by Milton Gabler of New York's Commodore Music Shop. In no time it became a byword with hot collectors and fans everywhere.

'Hot' was the term used to denote a music supposedly untainted by the commercial demands of the major record companies who tended to brand almost anything with the trade name 'Swing'. Gabler's scheme was to sponsor a series of 78's for jazz connoisseurs featuring the best jazzmen around including some of the legendary names of the Golden Era that ardent discographers had begun to uncover.


By concentrating on this aspect he produced what was undoubtedly the first important independent jazz label one that for some people more than justified its claim to be "The Greatest Name in Hot Records". (Although the publicity also declared: "Complete personnels listed on every disc" this distinction was not entirely unique since English Decca had been printing personnels on labels for some time notably on their Vocalion and some earlier Brunswick issues. But the move did not go unheeded in the States and soon prompted others to follow suit.) 

By the 40's Commodore's catalogue contained an exclusive list of titles by many of the most respected jazzmen of the period. Gabler would rent a small studio for each session; the musicians usually being those who enjoyed each other's company enlisted by the one in whose name the records were to be released. Thus under Gabler's genial guidance they were able to express themselves in a relaxing environment free from everyday pressures.

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