Red Records
Red Records is an independent Italian jazz label founded in 1976 by Sergio Veschi (* 1943 at Urbino ), which is based in Milan .
History of the label
The jazz fan Sergio Veschi had begun in addition to his main job at Olivetti in the 70s to organize performances by American jazz musicians such as the Max Roach Quartet, Don Cherry , Mal Waldron , Sam Rivers and others in Milan; Veschi also initiated a jazz festival in the main hall of the University of Milan.
In 1973 he got the suggestion of the Artistic Director of the Umbria Jazz Festival, Alberto Alberti , to record the Sam Rivers Trio, which would perform at the Bergamo Jazz Festival . Veschi rented a studio and recorded the master tapes; all that remained was to market them. In search of opportunities for publication, Veschi made contact with Editoriale Sciascia , which initially distributed Red Records .
Between 1977 and 1980, Red Records was mainly marketed in Italy and was the first independent Italian label on the national jazz market. The Black Saint label, which was already in existence at the same time , ran into financial difficulties and was sold to the IREC group. Veschi later worked with Black Saint managing director Giovanni Bonandrini. The label's vinyl albums and CDs are now distributed via mail order.
The Red Records label, which specializes in jazz , has been producing albums of European and US jazz since the late 1970s; Since then, the label has made recordings by Kenny Barron , Paul Bley , Jerry Bergonzi , Flavio Boltro , Franco D'Andrea , Roberto Gatto , Steve Grossman , Julius Hemphill , Joe Henderson , Billy Higgins , Steve Lacy , Dave Liebman , Ray Mantilla , Steve Nelson , Woody Shaw , Jim Snidero , Giovanni Tommaso , Gianluigi Trovesi , Massimo Urbani , Abdul Wadud , Cedar Walton , Bobby Watson and Phil Woods .
Internationally known albums include Joe Henderson's trio album Standard Joe (1991), David Murray's early album Last of the Hipmen (1978) and Steve Lacy's Axieme (1975). Many of the Red productions were made in Milan, including Paul Bley's solo album Blues for Red 1989. The label also released a recording from Brooklyn with the Red All-Stars from 1998, to which u. a. Included are Bobby Watson, Jerry Bergonzi, Kenny Barron, Curtis Lundy, and Victor Lewis .
In his review in All about Jazz , Michael Bailey quotes Joe Henderson, who referred to the Red Records label as The Blue Note of Europe .