Debut Records
Debut Records was a United States jazz record label, founded in 1952 by bassist Charles Mingus, his then-wife Celia and drummer Max Roach.[1]
This short-lived label was an attempt to avoid the compromises of working for major companies. Intended to showcase work by new musicians, only about two dozen albums were issued before the company was wound up in 1957.[2] Nonetheless, several prominent jazz musicians made their first recordings as leaders for Debut, including pianist Paul Bley, and trumpeters Kenny Dorham and Thad Jones. Saxophonist Hank Mobley made his recording debut on the label, as a sideman with Roach.[3] Teo Macero, later a producer with Miles Davis, recorded his first album as a leader as a saxophonist for Debut, an album described by critic Dan Morganstern[4] as an oddball fusion of Lennie Tristano and Anton Webern.
Debut was the label on which the Jazz at Massey Hall concert album was first issued. Recorded in Toronto, it features Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, Mingus and Roach, and was the last recorded meeting of long-term musical partners Parker and Gillespie.
When Celia Mingus married Saul Zaentz, later head of Fantasy Records, Charles Mingus gave the Zaentzes control of the Debut catalog as a wedding gift. Mingus thought the gift fitting as Celia had handled the bulk of Debut's business affairs, and most of the seed money came from Celia's mother.[4]
A 12-CD set of the Debut recordings featuring Mingus, the majority of the label's output, was issued by Fantasy Records in 1992. A four-CD sequence entitled Mingus Rarities (Original Jazz Classics) collected some of the more obscure material featuring Mingus.
Discography
Debut Ten Inch series (10 inch LP)
- DLP 1 Charles Mingus/Spaulding Givens - Strings and Keys
- DLP 2 The Quintet - Jazz at Massey Hall, Vol. 1
- DLP 3 Bud Powell Trio - Jazz At Massey Hall, Vol. 2
- DLP 4 The Quintet - Jazz at Massey Hall, Vol. 3
- DLP 5 Trombone Rapport - Jazz Workshop, Vol. 1
- DLP 6 Teo Macero - Explorations
- DLP 7 Paul Bley - Introducing Paul Bley
- DLP 8 Oscar Pettiford - The New Oscar Pettiford Sextet
- DLP 9 Kenny Dorham - Kenny Dorham Quintet
- DLP 10 John LaPorta - The John LaPorta Quintet
- DLP 11 Sam Most - Sam Most Quartet Plus Two
- DLP 12 Thad Jones - The Fabulous Thad Jones
- DLP 13 Max Roach - The Max Roach Quartet featuring Hank Mobley
- DLP 14 Trombone Rapport - Jazz Workshop, Vol. 2
- DLP 15 Ada Moore - Jazz Workshop, Vol. 3
- DLP 16 Hazel Scott - Relaxed Piano Moods
- DLP 17 Thad Jones/Charles Mingus - Jazz Collaborations, Vol. 1
Debut Twelve Inch series (12 inch LP):
- DEB 120 Miles Davis - Blue Moods
- DEB 121 John Dennis - New Piano Expressions
- DEB 122 John LaPorta - Three Moods
- DEB 123 Charles Mingus - Mingus at the Bohemia
- DEB 124 The Quintet - Jazz at Massey Hall
- DEB 125 Alonzo Levister - Manhattan Monodrama
- DEB 126 Four Trombones
- DEB 127 Thad Jones - Thad Jones
- DEB 128 Charles Mingus - Chazz! (not released)
- DEB 129 Jimmy Knepper - New Faces (some of the material appeared on Debut DL 101 - Danish EP)
- DEB 198 Jazz Workshop - Autobiography in Jazz
See also
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Debut Records discography accessed January 2, 2012
- ↑ Pekar, H. A View of Debut, Metro, Oct. 30-Nov. 5, 1997
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 See Morganster's notes for the 4-CD set The Debut Records Story
