Onyx Records
Onyx Records | |
---|---|
Founded | July 15, 1971 |
Founder | Joe Fields and Don Schlitten |
Defunct | 1978 |
Status | Defunct |
Genre | Jazz, blues |
Country of origin | U.S. |
Location | New York City |
Onyx Records, Inc., was a small, independent American record label based in Manhattan, New York, co-founded on July 15, 1971, by Joe Fields[1][2] (1929–2017) and Don Schlitten (born 1932)[3] and managed by Gentry McCreary (born 1941). Its address was at 160 West 71st Street on the Upper West Side.
History
Onyx flourished from its founding through 1978, re-issuing recordings, including those of
Corporate background
Onyx Records was founded as a New York corporation on July 15, 1971, under the name of Avatar Productions, Inc. The name was changed to Onyx Records, Inc., in 1973. Onyx was owned equally by Joe Fields and Don Schlitten. Onyx was in the business of securing rights in "classic" jazz master recordings and manufacturing and distributing phono records derived from such master recordings.
Selected discography
Newman's collection
Newman,
- Best Improvised Jazz Solo and one for Best Liner Notes, written by Morgenstern
- Newman's recordings have been issued as unauthorized records, variously over the years, but none were done so with the permission or participation of the artists or their estates.[6] The commercial value of the recordings were nil; and those who acquired them viewed the market as one of historic preservation.
Re-release of broadcast transcriptions of KFBI radio, Wichita
The
- Charlie Parker (1920–1955) (alto sax),
- Buddy Anderson (1919–1997) (trumpet)
- Orville "Piggy" Minor (1917–1999) (trumpet)
- Bud Gould (né James Frederick Gould; 1917–2002) (trombone, violin)
- William James Scott ("Scotty", grew-up in Kansas City) (tenor sax) †
- Jay McShann (1916–2006) (piano)
- Gene Ramey (1913–1984) (bass)
- Gus Johnson (1913–2000) (drums)
- Onyx ORI 221
- † Replaced for the second sessions by Bob Mabane (né Robert Lee Mcbane, Jr.; 1914–1991) (tenor sax)
Charlie Parker
A compilation album, Charlie Parker – First Recordings! (ORI 221), which included the KFBI sessions of November 30, 1940, and December 2, 1940, plus an
- Sam "The Man" Taylor (tenor saxes); Eddie de Verteuil (bari sax); Arnold Jarvis (piano); Leroy Kirkland (guitar); Carl Pruitt (double bass); Sylvester "Vess" Payne (drum kit); Tony Warren (vocalist)
Onyx principals
- Don Schlitten, president, was an RCA producer who, at the time, had been producing RCA Vintage Series
- Gentry McCreary, general manager
- Fields was also the sole shareholder of Blanchris, Inc., the parent company of Muse Records (co-founded by both Fields and Schlitten). Muse was primarily in the business of recording and distributing contemporary jazz records.
Selected artists
- Louis Armstrong[7]
- Dave Bailey
- Louis Bellson
- Sonny Berman
- Don Byas
- Sid Catlett
- Charlie Christian
- Kenny Clarke
- Buck Clayton
- Teddy Edwards
- Roy Eldridge
- Duke Ellington
- Tommy Flanagan
- Slim Gaillard
- Vivien Garry
- Dexter Gordon
- Wardell Gray
- Bobby Hackett
- Edmond Hall
- Clyde Hart
- Coleman Hawkins
- J.C. Heard
- Johnny Hodges
- Russell Jacquet
- Nat Jaffe
- Barney Kessel
- Dodo Marmarosa
- Jay McShann
- Mills Blue Rhythm Band
- Theloneous Monk
- Clark Monroe
- Hot Lips Page
- Charlie Parker
- Leo Parker
- Flip Phillips
- Art Pepper
- Don Redman
- Red Rodney
- Jimmy Rushing
- Tony Scott
- Charlie Shavers
- Slam Stewart
- Maxine Sullivan
- Art Tatum
- Joe Thomas
- Dave Tough
- Ben Webster
- Cootie Williams
- Mary Lou Williams
- Lester Young
See also
- Muse Records had no label or business connection with Onyx, but, nonetheless, was co-founded by the same people.[8][9]
- Xanadu Records was a label founded by Don Schlitten
- HighNote Records has re-issued some recordings from Onyx's catalog
- Legal case
- Onyx Club in dictionary
- "Ars Gratia Tatum: A Brief Biographical Sketch Of Art Tatum, The Greatest Pianist In Jazz," by Ron Davis, Toronto (1978; 2009)
Other labels with a similar name
- Onyx Records, an American rockabilly label from the late 1950s, owned by Jerry Winston. The label was known for having recorded The Velours.
- Onyx International Records, a gospel label
Notes and references
Notes
- ^ Bill Fox (aka Bill Mink, Bill Wolf/Wolfe), Jerry Newman, and Seymour Weiss (né Seymour Michael Wyse; born 1923 in London) founded the Esoteric Record Corporation in 1949 in New York. In 1957 the label was renamed Counterpoint; and after being first sold to Eichler Records Corporation in 1960, and then to Everest Record Group in 1963, to Counterpoint / Esoteric Records. Earlier, in 1948, Newman and Wyse founded Greenwich Music Shop. In 1964, Fox moved to Vanguard Records, to become the production coordinator. Fox had been Newman's business partner with the Greenwich Music Shop
Discography references
- Art Tatum (1909–1956) (piano), Frankie Newton (1906–1954) (trumpet), Chocolate Williams (bass); Ebenezer Paul (1919–1947) (bass)
1940: November 11
1941: May 7, July 26–27, September 16
Minton's, Harlem
Re-issued:OCLC 41634272
Inline citations
- Down Beat, March 4, 2014
- ^ "Industry Q&A: Joe Fields, HighNote Records et al." (cover article, Part 1 of 2 interviews), interviewed by Tad Hendrickson, JazzWeek, Vol. 2, No. 50, November 13, 2006 (Joe Fields on the cover), pps. 9-11
- ^ "Onyx Formed; Schlitten Chief," Billboard, July 1, 1972, pg. 3
- ISSN 0093-3686
- OCLC 20490203
- ^ "Homage To Jerry Newman," by John A. Schott (born 1966), John Schott's blog at WordPress, July 27, 2015 (retrieved January 20, 2016)
- ^ The Jazz Discography online (retrieved November 21, 2018)
- ^ "No Onyx Connection," Billboard, October 12, 1974, pg. 10
- ^ "A Guide to Muse Records," by Andy Thomas, Red Bull Music Academy Daily, April 13, 2015 (retrieved January 21, 2016)