Clef Records

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Clef 78er with the trumpeter logo designed by David Stone Martin : Billy Holiday - "Stormy" / "Tenderly" (1952)

Clef Records was an American jazz record label that was founded by Norman Granz in 1946 and existed until 1956.

The Clef label

The American impresario and producer Norman Granz founded his first record label in 1946; on Clef , the musicians who appeared at the Jazz at the Philharmonic tour concerts organized by Granz , such as Roy Eldridge , Billie Holiday , Gene Krupa , Charlie Parker , Oscar Peterson , Flip Phillips and Lester Young , but also Charlie Barnet , appeared on Clef . Count Basie , Buddy DeFranco , Stan Getz , Bud Powell , Illinois Jacquet , Art Tatum, and Artie Shaw . Many of the LP covers were designed by Granz 'longtime friend David Stone Martin .

Billie Holiday, photographed by Carl van Vechten

One of the first clef records were pieces from the first JATP concert in the Los Angeles Philharmonic with Coleman Hawkins , Shorty Sherock , Neal Hefti and Charles Mingus on February 12, 1945. Granz began his releases initially in the form of 78 singles ,

  • the 89100 Series - First release was a recording of Harry Sweets Edison , Dexter Gordon and Nat King Cole from 1943 or 44 as Clef 8900 ("I've Found a New Baby")
  • the 11000 Series from 1947 onwards as 10 inch (with 78 rpm) or 7 inch (with 45 rpm) record, on which JATP recordings, titles by Lu Watters and the Mercury recordings by Charlie Parker appeared; Then the first 10-inch LPs appeared on Clef , in the form of the Clef series 100 (from 1947), 500 (from 1949) and 600/700 (from 1952), such as the Billie Holiday productions Solitude and Music for Torching as well as Bud Powell's first album.

In 1953 Clef also released 12-inch long-playing records; the first album was the Gene Krupa Trio at JATP . On the 1000 Series Granz released some Fred Astaire albums ; the 4000 Series was reserved for the Norman Granz Jam Session series and The Jazz Scene publication . The last recordings for Clef were made in mid-1956, such as the recording of the Oscar Peterson Trio with Herb Ellis and Ray Brown ( The Oscar Peterson Trio at the Stratford Shakepearean Festival ) and Harry Sweets Edison's album Sweets in September 1956; However, these were no longer published by Clef Records , but on the successor label Verve Records , founded that year , for which Norman Granz had the first tracks recorded by Anita O'Day and Ella Fitzgerald in January 1956 . Clef Records as well as its sister label Norgran Records , created in 1953, were then incorporated into the Verve label.

Important clef albums

  • 1946 - The Lester Young Trio Vol. 1 & 2 (MGC 104/135)
  • 1950 Bud Powell: The Genius Of Bud Powell (MGC 739)
  • 1951 Charlie Parker: The Magnificent Charlie Parker (MGC 646) (Au Privave)
  • 1952 - Stan Getz Plays (MGC 137)
  • 1952 - Billie Holiday: Solitude (MGC 690)
  • 1954 - Art Tatum: The Genius of Art Tatum (MGC 655-661, 711)
  • 1954 - Roy Eldridge / Dizzy Gillespie: Roy and Diz (MGC 641)
  • 1955 - Billie Holiday: Music for Torching (MGC 669)
  • 1956 Billie Holiday: Lady Sings the Blues (MGC 721)

One of the most important publications by Norman Granz was the Clef anthology ( MG VOL.1 ) Various Artists - The Jazz Scene ; In addition to some of the musicians mentioned, it contained music from the jazz scene of the time by Sonny Berman , Bill Harris , Hal McKusick , Herbie Steward , Lucky Thompson , Dodo Marmarosa , Don Lamond , Ralph Burns , Pete Candoli , Willie Smith , Barney Kessel , John LaPorta , Charlie Parker, Manny Albam , Tony Aless , Curly Russell , Shelly Manne , Coleman Hawkins ("Picasso"), Mario Bauzá , Machito , Hank Jones , Oscar Pettiford and Duke Ellington ("Frustration"). Slim Gaillard's collaboration with Granz is documented in the compilation Groove Juice: The Norman Granz Recordings + More .

Norgran

From 1953, Norman Granz had the musicians of modern jazz appear primarily on his newly created label Norgran ; Clef 'was more reserved for the veterans of swing and mainstream jazz ; however, Norgran released the two 10-inch LPs Lester Young with the Oscar Peterson Trio # 1 6 2 . During the short phase of its existence, the sister label released recordings as 12-inch LPs (in the 1000, 1100, 2000 and 3500 series ) and a. by Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, Kenny Drew senior , Tal Farlow , Bud Powell, Buddy DeFranco , Ben Webster , Anita O'Day , Johnny Hodges , Howard Roberts and the Modern Jazz Quartet .

Web links

Oscar Peterson (1977)

literature

  • Michel Ruppli: The Clef / Verve Labels: A Discography; Volume I. (Greenwood Pub Group Inc, 1986) ISBN 0-313-25294-7