|
Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZSPOTLITE labelBritish record label formed '68 by Tony Williams (no relation to the drummer) to issue the complete Dial recordings of Charlie Parker. The series of six LPs by Parker was a revelation, and the label reissued the entire Dial catalogue, but the very first release had been a limited edition of a broadcast by Billy Eckstine's big band; the Jazz off the Air series continued, and Spotlite began making new recordings '73, maintaining or rekindling interest in Americans such as Al Haig, Joe Albany and Red Rodney, and Brits such as Peter King and Don Rendell. There were over 100 LPs by '87, many of which were still available a decade later (e.g. Early Bird, including recordings made at a Wichita radio station by the Jay McShann band with Parker). The advent of the compact disc threw all small labels for a loop, but Spotlite's CD catalogue soon became impressive. The Parker recordings were issued in a two-CD set of the originally released masters with improved sound, or in an ultra-complete four-CD set, a masterpiece of the art of reissue, both with good booklets (leased to Stash in the USA); the Dial reissues continued with single CDs compiling Dexter Gordon, Howard McGhee, Dodo Marmarosa, Erroll Garner, Dizzy Gillespie/Sonny Berman/Fats Navarro, and Red Norvo (the legendary '45 session with Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Teddy Wilson). The title of guitarist Mick Hanson's CD Do You Have A Name? perhaps refers to the perception overseas of British jazz as a tired exercise in trad; Spotlite's CDs refute this utterly. Behind The Mask and Flamingo by reedman Pat Crumly (quartet, quintet and sextet tracks) can only be described as world class; Isn't It? by trumpeter Guy Barker features Julian Joseph, Alec Dankworth, Clark Tracey and Nigel Hitchcock; there are also excellent items by pianist Brian Dee, bassist Jim Richardson, Harry Beckett's Flugel Four, and much else. Best Of Paz is a compilation from three LPs by the Brazilian-influenced fusion band led by percussionist Dick Crouch. The label's most unusual release mid-'90s was a tribute to A. E. Housman by vocalist Jacqui Dankworth: to tunes by Duke Ellington, Gil Evans, Villa Lobos and others were added five tracks celebrating the poet (music by five different composers); Dankworth was accompanied by Extravaganza, led by reedman John Williams (not the guitarist or the film composer). The Stash and Jass labels were formed by Bernard Brightman (d 9 Nov. 2003 aged 82, Manhattan), a jazz fan and record collector who had time on his hands after retiring from a family business. He released Reefer Songs '76 on Stash, including 'Reefer Man' by Don Redman, 'Who put the Benzedrine in Mrs. Murphy's Ovaltine?' by Harry "The Hipster" Gibson etc. A later album was called Copulatin' Blues, and there were other themed compilations. He used the profits to issue albums by Claudio Roditi, Jack Walrath and Hilton Ruiz, singers Helen Forrest, Jackie Paris and Chris Connor, guitarists Bucky Pizzarelli and Gene Bertoncini, and many more, as well as licensed releases from the Spotlite. Brightman's labels closed up shop in the late 1990s. |