AMERICAN LABELS
COLUMBIA RECORDS
The pioneers of album cover design
CLEF, NORGRAN, VERVE (1)
David Stone Martin
CLEF, NORGRAN, VERVE (2)
The photographic covers
BLUE NOTE 10" LPs
Searching for a modern jazz identity
BLUE NOTE 1500 series
Defining the hard bop style
BLUE NOTE 4000 series
Masterpieces of Reid Miles
PRESTIGE RECORDS
Images of East Coast jazz
RIVERSIDE RECORDS
Street cred with Thelonious Monk
PACIFIC JAZZ
Moods of Chet and Claxton
CONTEMPORARY
Cool West Coast, great Sound
SAVOY RECORDS
Masterworks by Charlie Parker
DIAL RECORDS
Small label, big Bird sound
ATLANTIC RECORDS
Bold and striking albums
EMARCY RECORDS
The classic drummer logo label
BETHLEHEM RECORDS
The beautiful design of Burt Goldblatt
DEBUT RECORDS
Artist-operated jazz label with Mingus & Roach
CANDID RECORDS
Legendary, early 1960s LPs
ESP-DISK
Free jazz and silk screened covers
IMPULSE RECORDS
Edgy and experimental
RCA VICTOR
The high spirit of Jim Flora
VARIOUS US labels (1)
ABC-Paramount, Aladdin, Argo, Capitol, Coral, Dawn, Decca,
and more
VARIOUS US labels (2)
Epic, Fantasy, HiFi, Imperial, Jazzland, Jazz West, Jubilee, Mercury, Mode, and more
VARIOUS US labels (3)
Roost, Signal, Storyville, Tampa, Transition, United Artists, Vee Jay, and more
EUROPEAN LABELS
SWEDEN (1)
The EP era and Metronome Records in 1950s
SWEDEN (2)
The LPs in the 1950s, and Swedish jazz abroad
SWEDEN (3)
Changing times in the 1960s
SWEDEN (4)
New energy to Swedish jazz in the 1970s
DENMARK
Montmartre, Debut Records and the heydays in Danish jazz
NORWAY
Krog and Garbarek, greats in Norwegian jazz
FINLAND
Plenty of merged styles in Finnish jazz
FRANCE
Americans in Paris, force in French jazz
ENGLAND
Esquire and Tempo, classic labels in British jazz
GERMANY
Jazz labels with strong identity
ITALY
Rare Italian jazz covers
HOLLAND
From Diamonds to ICP in
Dutch jazz
POLAND
Unique series of Polish jazz on Muza
OTHER COUNTRIES
Jazz labels around the world
Debut Records
Artist-operated jazz label
with
Mingus & Roach
DEBUT RECORDS was founded in 1952 by Charles Mingus, his wife Celia and Max Roach. The label was an
experiment and an attempt to avoid the compromises of working for major companies. It was the first reasonably
long-lived artist-operated jazz label of the 1950s.
Charles Mingus Photo: Bob Parent
Before the story ended in 1957 the recording activity of Debut led to more than 35 sessions,
resulting in twelve 78s, two EPs, seventeen 10" LPs and nine 12" LPs.
The first LP album was a duo recording with Charles Mingus and pianist Spaulding Givens.
The second was the famous Massey Hall recordings in 1953. Other highlights are considered
to be the Kenny Dorham session; the first and second outlets of Thad Jones; the Miles Davis
session and the Cafe Bohemia gig of the Charles Mingus Quintet.
In 1955-56 Charles Mingus and Max Roach had become established leaders and they were more involved with their musical
careers than to operate a record company. So gradually the Debut label faltered. An additional reason was that the two
partners also had differences about the way they would run the company.
Kept alive in Denmark
During the last years of the 1950s, the Debut catalogue kept alive in Denmark by Ole Vestegaard, who had leased
the company´s catalogue from Charles Mingus. Later on Vestegaard started to produce recordings on his own. About
these albums on the Danish Debut, see the Denmark page.
The American Debut was purchased by Fantasy Records in the early 1960s.
BOB PARENT was a New York-based photographer whose images appeared regulary in magazines such as Life and Downbeat,
in books like "Jazz Is" by Nat Hentoff, and on album covers for labels as Prestige, Debut, Bethlehem and
Savoy.
He spent countless nights in the dimly lit jazz clubs of Boston and New York, and developed ingenious ways to sidestep
the use of flash in order to avoid disturbing performers. Bob Parent's subjects also include sporting events,
theater, politicians and New York and Boston city life.
See also
The Danish Debut albums
LINKS
Debut Records Discography
jazzdiscorg.com
The Bob Parent Archive