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   On Internet since 1999

The Birka Jazz Archive
Records we have bought and sold over the years - the rare and the beautiful!


Please note!
Birka Jazz record store is closed but Birka Jazz Archive is still available. Scroll down and use the links to browse this comprehensive archive of rare jazz album covers





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







ARGENTINA

The first jazz legend in Argentina was Oscar Aleman, a swing guitarist often compared to Django Reinhardt. He was hired by Josephine Baker in the 1930s, while she was performing in Buenos Aires. It take him to Paris where he played and recorded with European and American musicians before World War II. He then returned to Argentina and a successful career until the end of his life in 1980.

It took to the 1960s before two other Argentinian jazz musicians archieved international projection. It was Lalo Schifrin and Gato Barbieri.

Schifrin had a big band in Buenes Aires when Dizzy Gillespie in 1956 gave several concerts in the town. He heard Schifrin and was impressed by the young composer and director. A few years later Gillespie asked Schifrin to compose some music for him. One thing led to the other. Soon Schifrin was the pianist and musical director of Gillespie´s new quintet in 1960.

Gato Barbieri played in Lalo Schifrins orchestra in the mid 1950s. Later he started leading his own groups and in 1962 moving to Italy. He met Don Cherry and, upon joining Cherry´s group, became heavily absorbed in the jazz avant-garde. But it was with the soundtrack to the film Last Tango in Paris (Bertolucci, 1972), that he got the attention of a larger audience.

Barbieri returned to Argentina for a period in 1973 and assembled a group of Latin American musicians with a strong emphasis in the different and varied rhythms of the whole region. It resulted in some albums issued in USA for Flying Dutchman and Impulse, which are among his most important work.


LINKS

Jazz in Argentina




AUSTRALIA

The best known Australian jazz group in the 1950s was Australian Jazz Quartet/Quintet. They was formed in 1953 and included pianist Bryce Rohde and saxophonist Errol Buddle among others. The group was working in America and made several albums for Bethlehem records.

There were several jazz clubs in both Melbourne and Sydney in the 1950s. The most important was El Roco in Sydney, a small cellar club which opened in 1955 and closed in 1969. It was the main venue for the various forms of progressive jazz performed in Australia. Important clubs in Melbourne were Fat Black Pussicat and Jazz Centre 44.

Among the pioneers in Australian modern jazz in the late 1950s and 1960s were The Three Out Trio with Mike Nock on piano, tenorist Don Barrow´s Quartet with George Golla and John Sangster, pianists Judy Bailey and Col Nolan.

Nock and Bailey came from New Zeeland, wich many of the musicians in Australia did, such as Dave MacRae and Barry Woods.

After some difficult years in the late 1960s, there was a major resurgence of Australian jazz in the 1970s. It took place mostly in Sydney.

The guitarist Peter Boothman describe this Jazz Explosion as "very much a Sydney thing, not following some current worldwide trend. Most of the jazz that was played here in the 70s was fresh, vibrant, exiting and new. People turned up in droves to hear it".

The Basement was the hottest jazz club. Before it opened in 1973, another club, Rocks Push, had opened as a jazz venue with the popular band Galapagos Duck as an instant crowd pleaser. Their mixed-bag repertoire of swing, mainstream and latin jazz was later also drawing big crowds to the Basement club.

Associated with both the clubs and the Galapagos Duck, was the jazz promotor Horst Liepolt. He also set in motion a number of other jazz venues and events, such as Manly Jazz Festival and Music Is An Open Sky festivals.

In 1973 he began to produce records for the Philips label and after the success of the first albums, Philips decided to start an exclusive label for Australian jazz. In the latter half of the 1970s nearly 30 albums were produced by Liepolt on this new "44" label.

Another significant break for Sidney jazz was the inception of the jazz studies course at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. It was started by the american saxophonist Howie Smith.

Among all bands that played in Sydney in the 1970s were Jazz Co-op and The Last Straw. Booth groups worked close to the main stream of contemporary jazz, but created a new and fresh aproach to the genre. Howie Smith played in Jazz Co-op and so also did Roger Frampton. Members in The Last Straw were pianist Dave Levy and drummer John Pochee among others.

Free jazz had a high profile during the 70s with musicians such as Eddie Bronson, Louis Burdett, Jon Rose and Serge Ermoll with the group Free Kata.

The jazz boom in Sydney had flow-on effects in the jazz scene throughout Australia. Many jazz musicians came to Sydney from other areas of Australia during the 1970s. There was also a more than usual interest for jazz in Melbourne. Based there were musicians such as Tony Gould, Brian Brown, Bob Sedergreen and Ted Vining.


LINKS

Jazz in Sydney
Peter Boothman






AUSTRIA

The most important jazz group in Austria after World War II was Hot Club Vienna under the leadership of Hans Koller. But it could not exist more than about three years. It was difficult for pure jazz to make headway with the audience. Hans Koller went to Germany in 1950.

Since both the audience, the cultural institutions and the radio stations seems to be uninterested in jazz, more and more leading musicians followed Koller and left the country. Attila Zoller, Roland Kovac, Joe Zawinul, Karl Drevo, Hans Rettenbacher and others went abroad to make their careers elsewhere.

Some of them returned periodically such as clarinetist Fatty George, whos jazz clubs were centres of Viennese jazz life in several years for both traditional and modern jazz. Hans Koller returned some times and made recordings for Austrian labels in mid 1950s.

The 1960s saw a grewing interest in Jazz. Many American musicians visited the country, many of them brought along by Friedrich Gulda and his various recording and concert project, the Eurojazz-Orchestra among others. Also the establishment of the Austrian Jazz Federation made the situation better so that the leading Austrian groups finally have the possibility of making their living by working in Austria.





Jazz Argentino    Label: Disc Jockey 15.047   12" LP 1961

ARGENTINA

 Lalo Schifrin: El Jefe   Label: Disc Jockey DIS 107
Soundtrack EP from 1958. Orchestra including Gato and Ruben Barbieri
 
 

 B.A. Jazz by Jorge Ruiz (and Gato Barbieri)   Label: Vik IZ 1079   12" LP 1961
 
 

   EP-album from 1964 by Santiago Giacobbe y su Quinteto (Trova TS 33-711), and
LP-album from 1965 by Jorge Anders: Jazz en Embassy (Dial DRM-15003)
 
 

  
LPs by Ruben Lopez Furst: Jazz en la Universidad (Edul ED006), and
Jazz Argentino (CBS 8695). From 1966 and 1967.
 
 

 Lalo Schifrin en Buenos Aires   Label: RCA Victor AVS-4096   12" LP 1970
 
 

 Chivo Borraro: En Vivo   Label: Qualition SQH-2034   12" LP 1970
 
 

 Quinteplus (Jorge Anders, J. Gonzales, Gustavo Bergalli, S. Giacobbe, Carlos Lapouble)  
Label: EMI Parlophone S-1055   12" LP 1972
 
 



AUSTRALIA

 Australian Jazz Quartet/Quintet recorded several LPs for the American label Bethlehem
This is the first, a 10" album from 1955 (BCP 1031)
 
 

 Mike Nock and The 3 Out: Move   Label: Columbia SCXO 7505   12" LP 1960
 
 

 Bryce Rhode: Straight Ahead!   Label: CBS Coronet KLL 1742   12" LP 1961
 
 

   EPs from 1961 and 1963: The Alan Lee Quartet (Swaggie S4531),
and The Alan Lee Quintet: Moanin (Crest CRT-7-EP-015)
 
 

 Errol Buddle Quartet with Judy Bailey: The Wind   Label: HMV OELP-9912  
Issue: 12" LP 1962
 
 

 Judy Bailey Trio: You & The Night & The Music   Label: CBS BP 233126   12" LP 1964
 
 

   LPs from 1965: A Tribute to Freddy Gardner by Don Burrows (Columbia 3305X 7777), and
My Favourite Things by Judy Bailey (CBS BP 23363)
 
 

 Charlie Munro Quartet: Eastern Horizons   Label: Philips JS 20  
Issue: 12" LP 1967
 
 

   LPs from 1974: Spontaneous Improvisations by Free Kata (Philips 6357 021), and
Ebony Quill by Galapagos Duck (Philips 6357 015)
 
 

   Alan Lee Jazz Quintet and Friends (LP 1975 - Jazznote JNLP 014/S), and
John Sangster; Ahead of Hair (LP 1977 - Festival Records SFL 933685)
 
 

Col Nolan Soul Syndicate: Live at Jason´s   Label: Avant-Garde SVL 501   12" LP 1976
 
 

   Albums on 44 Records: Ted Vining trio with Brian Brown (LP 1977 - 6357 712), and
Joyce Hurley with The David Martin Group (LP 1978 - 6357 718)
 
 

AUSTRIA

 Austria All Stars with Hans Koller, Karl Drevo, Joe Zawinul   Label: Austroton LPV 43  
Issue: 10" LP 1954
 
 

 Hans Koller: Jazz for Moderns   Label: Harmona LM 825   10" LP 1955
 
 

 Hans Koller - Roland Kovac, vol. 2   Label: Amadeo AVRS 7014   10" LP 1956
 
 

 Introducing the Johannes Fehring Orchestra   Label: Philips 421018PE (Holland)   7" EP 1956
 
 

   Friedrich Gulda and his Eurojazz-orchester on two Austrian LPs from 1966
To the left on the Amadeo label (AVRS 9213) and two the right on the Preiser label (SPR-3141)
 
 

 Johannes Fehring & The Chicks   Label: Preiser SPR 3229   12" LP 1972
 
 


BELGIUM

 Henri Carels: Innovation en Jazz, vol 1   Label: Innovation LP1   10" LP 1955
 
 

 Jacques Pelzer: Innovation en Jazz, vol 2   Label: Innovation LP2   10" LP 1955
 
 

 Herman Sandy: Innovation en Jazz, vol 3   Label: Innovation LP3   10" LP 1955
 
 

 Herman Sandy / Jacques Pelzer: Jazz for Moderns   Label: Fiesta 10.043   10" LP 1956
 
 


CZECHOSLOVAKIA

 Ianci Körössy: Jazz Recital   Label: Supraphon SUG 25115   10" LP 1953
 
 

 Ianci Körössy: Studio 5 Ensemble - Gustav Brom Combo. Jazz Souvenirs  
Label: Supraphon SUG 35545   7" EP 1963
 
 


JAPAN

 Yosuke Yamashita Trio: Dancing   Label: Maro Records 46-20   12" LP 1969
 
 

 Circle-2: Gathering   Label: CBS Sony SOPL 20-XJ. 12" LP 1971. First issued in Japan
 Design Eiko Ishioka - Yoshio Nakanishi
 
 

 Don Cherry   Label: BYG YX-4012-13. 12" LP 1971. First issued in Japan
 Design Shigo Yamaguchi
 
 

 Anthony Braxton: Town Hall 1972   Label: Trio Records PA 3008-9. 12" LP 1972.
First issued in Japan.   Design Toshio Sakai
 
 

 Weather Report: Live in Tokyo   Label: CBS Sony SOPJ 12-13. 12" LP 1972.
First issued in Japan.   Design Eiko Ishioka - Yoshio Nakanishi
 
 

 Miles Davis: Black Beauty   Label: CBS Sony SOPJ 39-40. 12" LP 1973.
First issued in Japan.   Design Shuichi Yoshida - Teruhisa Tajima
 
 

 Cecil Taylor: Akisakkila   Label: Trio Records 3004-5. 12" LP 1973.
First issued in Japan.   Design: Toshio Sakai - Tamio Maejima   Photo: Hiroshiu Satoh
 
 

 Miles Davis: Dark Magus   Label: CBS Sony 40AP741. 12" LP 1974.
First issued in Japan.   Art Work and Design: Teruhisa Tajima
 
 

 Miles Davis: Pangaea   Label: CBS Sony SOPZ 96-97. 12" LP 1975.
First issued in Japan.   Art Work and Design: Teruhisa Tajima
 
 

 Mototeru Takagi: Mosura Freight!   Label: Interval ILP 101. 12" LP 1975.
  Design and Photo: Seiicchi Asao
 
 

 Yosuke Yamashita: Montreux Afterglow   Label: Frasco 7014. 12" LP 1976.
  Design: Hideomi Ishikawa   Photo: Takumi Uchida
 
 

 Yosuke Yamashita: Sunayama   Label: Frasco 7025. 12" LP 1978.
  Design: Kohga Hirvano   Illustration: Kuchi Tsutaya
 
 

 Peter Brötzmann and Han Bennink: Atsugi Concert   Label: Gua-Bungue GBLP-3388-01.
12" LP 1980   Design: Shin-Ichi Okumura - Susumu Ogawa
 
 


ROMANIA

 Guidi Manusardi: Free Jazz - Avangarda   Label: Electrecord   10" LP 1968
 Design: Iuliv Sinpetru   Photo: Sorin Radu
 
 


SPAIN

    The spanish pianist Tete Montoliu made his first recordings in Barcelona in 1958. They were issued on the two EPs above: vol. 1 (Saef Jazz SP-1000), and vol. 2 (Saef Jazz SP-1001)
 
 

    EPs from mid 1960s with Tino Contreras: Y su jazz latino (Berta 00-11),
and Flamenco Jazz (Sesion CS-014)
 
 

 Alfonso Carlos Santisteban: Bossa ´68   Label: Sintonia LP-41200   12" LP 1968
 
 

 Tete Montoliu Trio   Label: Discophone S4335   12" LP 1972
 
 


SWITZERLAND

    Elsie Bianchi Trio (Disko-Ton AL1937)   7" EP 1962,
and Bruno Spörri Quintet featuring Hans Kennel (Swiss Jazz SJEP 0164)   7" EP 1964
 
 

 Elsie Bianchi Trio   Label: Atlantis Basel 6   10" LP 1962
 
 

 Boillat Therace Quintet   Label: PMP 10.001   12" LP 1974
 
 

 Boillat Therace Quintet: My Greatest Love   Label: M Records MLP 10.218   12" LP 1975
 
 


YUGOSLAVIA

 Dusko Gojkovic with Kenny Clarke   Label: RTB 402   10" LP 1962
 
 

 Dusko Gojkovic: Belgrade Blues   Label: RTB 4201   12" LP 1973
 
 

 
      
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