Savoy Records
Encyclopedia
Savoy Records is an American
record label
specializing in jazz, R&B and gospel. Starting in the mid 1940s, Savoy played an important part in popularizing bebop
.
(A separate, now defunct label with the same name was once based in Manchester
, UK
. The UK label primarily released rock recordings.)
As of 2011, the Savoy library is primarily controlled by Nippon Columbia, a public company in Tokyo that bought Savoy in 1991, and distributes in the U.S. through its wholly owned Savoy Jazz label.
label issued many of the important early bebop
jazz
albums. With the rise of rock and roll
, Lubinsky shifted to focus more on gospel music
, recording many of the finest groups of the 1950s and cementing Savoy's preeminence in this field through its association with James Cleveland
and his Gospel Music Workshop of America. Artistic directors were Buck Ram
, Teddy Reig, Ralph Bass
(from Black and White, 1948–1952), Fred Mendelsohn
(in 1953), and, from 1954 to 1962, Ozzie Cadena
(father of punk rock musician Dez Cadena
).
After Lubinsky's death in 1974, Clive Davis
(then manager of Arista Records
) acquired the label's catalogue. The current owner of its jazz and blues material is Columbia Music Entertainment of Japan
, which operates in the USA as Savoy Label Group (SLG). In 1986, Malaco Records
acquired Savoy's gospel titles and contracts.http://www.malaco.com/story.php
African American
artists never liked Herman Lubinsky, who they believed grossly underpaid them for their work. Tiny Price, a journalist for the black newspaper The Newark Herald News said of Savoy and Lubinsky:
In the early 1960s Savoy recorded a number of avant-garde jazz artists giving them important early exposure. These included Paul Bley
, Ed Curran, Bill Dixon
, Marc Levin
, Charles Moffett
, Perry Robinson
, Joseph Scianni, Archie Shepp
, Sun Ra
, Marzette Watts
, and Valdo Williams
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
specializing in jazz, R&B and gospel. Starting in the mid 1940s, Savoy played an important part in popularizing bebop
Bebop
Bebop differed drastically from the straightforward compositions of the swing era, and was instead characterized by fast tempos, asymmetrical phrasing, intricate melodies, and rhythm sections that expanded on their role as tempo-keepers...
.
(A separate, now defunct label with the same name was once based in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. The UK label primarily released rock recordings.)
As of 2011, the Savoy library is primarily controlled by Nippon Columbia, a public company in Tokyo that bought Savoy in 1991, and distributes in the U.S. through its wholly owned Savoy Jazz label.
History
Savoy was founded in 1942 by Herman Lubinsky. The Newark, New JerseyNewark, New Jersey
Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
label issued many of the important early bebop
Bebop
Bebop differed drastically from the straightforward compositions of the swing era, and was instead characterized by fast tempos, asymmetrical phrasing, intricate melodies, and rhythm sections that expanded on their role as tempo-keepers...
jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
albums. With the rise of rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
, Lubinsky shifted to focus more on gospel music
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
, recording many of the finest groups of the 1950s and cementing Savoy's preeminence in this field through its association with James Cleveland
James Cleveland
The Reverend Dr. James Cleveland was a gospel singer, arranger, composer and, most significantly, the driving force behind the creation of the modern gospel sound, bringing the stylistic daring of hard gospel and jazz and pop music influences to arrangements for mass choirs...
and his Gospel Music Workshop of America. Artistic directors were Buck Ram
Buck Ram
Buck Ram was an American songwriter, and popular music producer and arranger.-Biography:...
, Teddy Reig, Ralph Bass
Ralph Bass
Ralph Bass , born in The Bronx, New York of an Italian-American-Catholic father, and a German-American-Jewish mother, was an influential rhythm and blues record producer and talent scout for several independent labels and was responsible for many hit records. He was a pioneer in bringing black...
(from Black and White, 1948–1952), Fred Mendelsohn
Fred Mendelsohn
Fred Mendelsohn, president of Savoy Records for 42 years, was the first man to ever record, promote and market black gospel music as a national company. His dedication and contributions built the historic foundation for the black gospel music industry.Many of today's major gospel artists started...
(in 1953), and, from 1954 to 1962, Ozzie Cadena
Ozzie Cadena
Oscar "Ozzie" Cadena was an American record producer with Savoy Records and Prestige Records who recorded gospel and jazz music in the 1950s, 60s and 70s, and helped popularize jazz music in Los Angeles.-Background:...
(father of punk rock musician Dez Cadena
Dez Cadena
Dez Paul Cadena is an American punk rock singer and guitarist. He was the third vocalist and later rhythm guitarist for hardcore punk band Black Flag. Since 2001 Cadena has played guitar with the Misfits...
).
After Lubinsky's death in 1974, Clive Davis
Clive Davis
Clive Davis is an American record producer and music industry executive. He has won five Grammy Awards and is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer. From 1967 to 1973 he was the President of Columbia Records. He was the founder and president of Arista Records from 1975...
(then manager of Arista Records
Arista Records
Arista was an American record label. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment and operated under the RCA Music Group. The label was founded in 1974 by Clive Davis, who formerly worked for CBS Records...
) acquired the label's catalogue. The current owner of its jazz and blues material is Columbia Music Entertainment of Japan
Columbia Music Entertainment
is a Japanese record label founded in 1910 as . It affiliated itself with the Columbia Graphophone Company of the United Kingdom and adopted the standard UK Columbia trademarks in 1931. The company changed its name to Nippon Columbia Co., Ltd. in 1946. It used the Nippon Columbia name until...
, which operates in the USA as Savoy Label Group (SLG). In 1986, Malaco Records
Malaco Records
Malaco Records is an independent record label based in Jackson, Mississippi. Malaco is and has been the home of various major soul, blues and gospel acts, such as Johnnie Taylor, Bobby Bland, ZZ Hill, Denise LaSalle, Benny Latimore, Dorothy Moore, Little Milton, Shirley Brown, Marvin Sease, and the...
acquired Savoy's gospel titles and contracts.http://www.malaco.com/story.php
African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
artists never liked Herman Lubinsky, who they believed grossly underpaid them for their work. Tiny Price, a journalist for the black newspaper The Newark Herald News said of Savoy and Lubinsky:
There's no doubt everybody hated Herman Lubinsky. If he messed with you, you were messed. At the same time, some of those people—many of them Newark's top singers and musicians—would never have been exposed to records if he didn't do what he did. Except for Lubinsky, all the hot little numbers, like Buddy Johnson's 'Cherry' would have been lost. The man may have been hated, but he saved a lot of our history—for us and for future generations.
In the early 1960s Savoy recorded a number of avant-garde jazz artists giving them important early exposure. These included Paul Bley
Paul Bley
Paul Bley, CM is a pianist known for his contributions to the free jazz movement of the 1960s as well as his innovations and influence on trio playing.-Biography:...
, Ed Curran, Bill Dixon
Bill Dixon
Bill Dixon was an American musician, composer, visual artist, and educator. Dixon was one of the seminal figures in the free jazz movement. He played the trumpet, flugelhorn, and piano, often using electronic delay and reverberation as part of his trumpet playing.-Biography:Dixon hailed from...
, Marc Levin
Marc Levin
Marc Levin is an independent film producer and director. He is best known for his Brick City TV series, which won the 2010 Peabody award and was nominated for an Emmy for Exceptional Merit in Nonfiction Filmmaking and his dramatic feature film, SLAM, which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance...
, Charles Moffett
Charles Moffett
Charles Moffett was a free jazz drummer.Moffett began his musical career as a trumpeter before switching to drums. He is probably best known for his part in Ornette Coleman's trio with David Izenzon in the 1960s. He also appeared on other important albums of that period, such as Archie Shepp's...
, Perry Robinson
Perry Robinson
Perry Morris Robinson is an American jazz clarinetist and composer. He is the son of the noted composer Earl Robinson. -Biography:...
, Joseph Scianni, Archie Shepp
Archie Shepp
Archie Shepp is a prominent African-American jazz saxophonist. Shepp is best known for his passionately Afrocentric music of the late 1960s, which focused on highlighting the injustices faced by the African-Americans, as well as for his work with the New York Contemporary Five, Horace Parlan, and...
, Sun Ra
Sun Ra
Sun Ra was a prolific jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, poet and philosopher known for his "cosmic philosophy," musical compositions and performances. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama...
, Marzette Watts
Marzette Watts
Marzette Watts was an American jazz alto saxophonist. He had a brief career in music but is revered for his 1966 self-titled free jazz release....
, and Valdo Williams
Valdo Williams
Valdo Williams was a little-known post bop free jazz pianist best known for his trio work with Reggie Johnson and Stu Martin, who recorded together for the Savoy record label. He also appeared on Canadian television with Charlie Parker in the 1950s and later with Hal Singer in the 1960s.-References:...
.
Savoy recording artists
- Inez AndrewsInez AndrewsInez Andrews is an American gospel singer and recording artist.-Biography:In 1957, Andrews became a member of the gospel group The Caravans; she auditioned for Albertina Walker and Dorothy Norwood, and they sent for her in Chicago...
- The Angelic Choir
- Errol Garner
- Cannonball Adderley
- Bill BarronBill Barron (musician)Bill Barron was an American jazz tenor and soprano tenor saxophonist.-Biography:...
- Alex BradfordAlex BradfordProfessor Alex Bradford was a multi-talented gospel composer, singer, arranger and choir director who was a great influence on artists such as Little Richard, Bob Marley and Ray Charles and who helped bring about the modern mass choir movement in gospel.Born in Bessemer, Alabama, he first appeared...
- Nappy BrownNappy BrownNapoleon Brown Goodson Culp better known by his stage name Nappy Brown, was an American R&B singer. His hits include the 1955 Billboard chart #2, "Don't Be Angry" and "Night Time Is the Right Time"...
- Saucy MonkySaucy MonkySaucy Monky are an indie rock band based in Los Angeles, California.The band is fronted by Dublin-born singer and guitarist Ann Marie Cullen and East Coast singer Cynthia Catania...
- Solomon BurkeSolomon BurkeSolomon Burke was an American singer-songwriter, entrepreneur, mortician, and an archbishop of the United House of Prayer For All People. Burke was known as "King Solomon", the "King of Rock 'n' Soul", and as the "Bishop of Soul", and described as "the Muhammad Ali of soul", and as "the most...
- Donald ByrdDonald ByrdDonaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II, is an American jazz and rhythm and blues trumpeter. A sideman for many other jazz musicians of his generation, Byrd is best known as one of the only bebop jazz musicians who successfully pioneered the funk and soul genres while simultaneously remaining a...
- Al CaiolaAl CaiolaAl Caiola is a guitarist who plays jazz, country, rock, western, and pop music. He has been both a studio musician and stage performer...
- The CaravansThe CaravansThe Caravans is a Jubilee Gospel group that was started by Albertina Walker . The group reached its peak popularity during the 1950s and 1960s, launching the careers of a number of artists, including: Delores Washington, Albertina Walker, Bessie Griffin, Cassietta George, Dorothy Norwood, Inez...
- Carolina SlimCarolina SlimCarolina Slim was an American Piedmont blues guitarist and singer. His best known tracks were "Black Cat Trail" and "I'll Never Walk in Your Door". He used various pseudonyms during his relatively brief recording career, including Country Paul, Jammin' Jim, Lazy Slim Jim and Paul Howard...
- Mattie Moss ClarkMattie Moss ClarkDr. Mattie Moss-Clark was an American gospel choir director and the mother of The Clark Sisters, a world-renowned gospel vocal group...
- James ClevelandJames ClevelandThe Reverend Dr. James Cleveland was a gospel singer, arranger, composer and, most significantly, the driving force behind the creation of the modern gospel sound, bringing the stylistic daring of hard gospel and jazz and pop music influences to arrangements for mass choirs...
- Dorothy Love CoatesDorothy Love CoatesDorothy Love Coates was an American gospel singer.-Early years:Born Dorothy McGriff in Birmingham, Alabama, her early years were hard, . Her minister father left the family when she was six, divorcing her mother thereafter...
- John ColtraneJohn ColtraneJohn William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...
- Sonny CrissSonny CrissWilliam "Sonny" Criss was an American jazz musician.An alto saxophonist of prominence during the bebop era of jazz, he was one of many players influenced by Charlie Parker.-Biography:...
- Miles DavisMiles DavisMiles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
- The Davis SistersThe Davis SistersThe Davis Sisters was an American gospel group founded by Ruth Davis and featuring her sisters Thelma, Audrey and Alfreda. Imogene Greene joined the group in 1950, and was later replaced by Jackie Verdell when Greene left to join the Caravans....
- Varetta DillardVaretta DillardVaretta Dillard was an American rhythm and blues singer in the 1950s whose biggest hit was "Mercy, Mr. Percy".-Life and career:...
- Kenny DorhamKenny DorhamMcKinley Howard Dorham was an American jazz trumpeter, singer, and composer born in Fairfield, Texas. Dorham's talent is frequently lauded by critics and other musicians, but he never received the kind of attention from the jazz establishment that many of his peers did...
- Booker ErvinBooker ErvinBooker Telleferro Ervin II was an American tenor saxophone player. He was perhaps best known for his association with bassist Charles Mingus....
- Tommy Flanagan
- The Four BuddiesThe Four BuddiesThe Four Buddies were a major American doo wop group, based out of Baltimore. They recorded in the early to mid-1950s, and focused on melodious and laid-back ballads...
- Stan GetzStan GetzStanley Getz was an American jazz saxophone player. Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of his idol, Lester Young. Coming to prominence in the late 1940s with Woody Herman's big band, Getz is described by critic Scott...
- Dexter GordonDexter GordonDexter Gordon was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and an Academy Award-nominated actor . He is regarded as one of the first and most important musicians to adapt the bebop musical language of people like Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Bud Powell to the tenor saxophone...
- Gospel Music Workshop of AmericaGospel Music Workshop of AmericaGospel Music Workshop of America is an international music convention founded by Rev. James Cleveland along with Albertina Walker in 1967.-GMWA membership:...
- Tiny GrimesTiny GrimesLloyd "Tiny" Grimes was an American jazz and R&B guitarist. He was a member of the Art Tatum Trio from 1943 to 1944, was a backing musician on recording sessions, and later led his own bands, including a recording session with Charlie Parker...
- Gigi GryceGigi GryceGigi Gryce was an American saxophonist, flautist, clarinetist, composer, arranger, educator, and big band bandleader.His performing career was relatively short and, in comparison to other musicians of his...
- Lenny Hambro Quintet
- Wilbur HardenWilbur HardenWilbur Harden was an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist and composer.Harden is most known for his recordings with saxophonists Yusef Lateef and John Coltrane, and also with trombonist Curtis Fuller. One of the first jazz trumpeters to double on flugelhorn, Harden started playing less...
- Wilbert HarrisonWilbert HarrisonWilbert Harrison was an American rhythm and blues singer, pianist, guitarist and harmonica player.Born in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, Harrison had a Billboard #1 record in 1959 with the song "Kansas City". The song was written in 1952 and was one of the first credited collaborations...
- Milt JacksonMilt JacksonMilton "Bags" Jackson was an American jazz vibraphonist, usually thought of as a bebop player, although he performed in several jazz idioms...
- The Jive BombersThe Jive BombersThe Jive Bombers were an American R&B group from New York City.The Jive Bombers consisted of members of two previous vocal groups, Sonny Austin & the Jive Bombers and The Palmer Brothers. They first recorded under the name The Sparrows in 1949 for Coral Records, and changed their name to The Jive...
- J. J. Johnson
- Yusef LateefYusef LateefDr. Yusef Lateef is an American Grammy Award-winning jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, educator and a spokesman for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community after his conversion to the Ahmadiyya sect of Islam in 1950.Although Lateef's main instruments are the tenor saxophone and flute, he is known for...
- Donnie McClurkinDonnie McClurkinDonald Andrew McClurkin, Jr. is an American gospel music singer and minister. He has won three Grammy awards, ten Stellar awards, two BET awards, two Soul Train awards, one Dove award and one NAACP Image award for his work....
- Roberta MartinRoberta MartinRoberta Martin was an American gospel composer, singer, pianist, arranger and choral organizer, helped launch the careers of many other gospel artists through her group, The Roberta Martin Singers.-Early years:...
- Big MaybelleBig MaybelleMabel Louise Smith , known professionally as Big Maybelle, was an American R&B singer and pianist. Her 1956 hit single "Candy" received the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1999.-Biography:...
- Big Jay McNeelyBig Jay McNeelyBig Jay McNeely is an American rhythm and blues saxophonist.-Biography:...
- Charles MingusCharles MingusCharles Mingus Jr. was an American jazz musician, composer, bandleader, and civil rights activist.Mingus's compositions retained the hot and soulful feel of hard bop and drew heavily from black gospel music while sometimes drawing on elements of Third stream, free jazz, and classical music...
- Hank MobleyHank MobleyHenry Mobley was an American hard bop and soul jazz tenor saxophonist and composer. Mobley was described by Leonard Feather as the "middleweight champion of the tenor saxophone", a metaphor used to describe his tone that was neither as aggressive as John Coltrane nor as mellow as Stan Getz...
- Lee MorganLee MorganEdward Lee Morgan was an American hard bop trumpeter.-Biography:...
- Fats NavarroFats NavarroTheodore "Fats" Navarro was an American jazz trumpet player. He was a pioneer of the bebop style of jazz improvisation in the 1940s. He had a strong stylistic influence on many other players, most notably Clifford Brown.-Life:Navarro was born in Key West, Florida, to Cuban-Black-Chinese parentage...
- Dorothy NorwoodDorothy NorwoodDorothy Norwood is an American gospel singer. She began touring with her family at the age of eight, and in 1956, began singing with Mahalia Jackson. In the early 1960s she was a member of ]The Caravans, and in 1964, she embarked on a solo career, recording her first album, Johnny and Jesus...
- Tiger OnitsukaTiger Onitsukais Japanese jazz drummer, who holds the Guinness World Record for being "The World's Youngest Professional Jazz Drummer" after releasing his first album, Tiger! on the Columbia/Savoy label at the age of 9 years old in April 2008....
- Charlie ParkerCharlie ParkerCharles Parker, Jr. , famously called Bird or Yardbird, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer....
- Steve Reynolds
- Jimmy Scott
- Hal SingerHal SingerHarold Joseph "Hal" Singer is an American R&B and jazz bandleader and saxophonist.-Biography:Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Singer studied violin as a child but, as a teenager, switched to clarinet and then tenor saxophone, which became his instrument of choice...
- Southern California Community ChoirSouthern California Community ChoirThe Southern California Community Choir is a choir founded by the Rev. James Cleveland.The Choir has appeared on several recording by artists such as Aretha Franklin, Kansas, Elton John and Arlo Guthrie.- Awards :The Choir has received the following awards:...
- The TemptationsThe TemptationsThe Temptations is an American vocal group having achieved fame as one of the most successful acts to record for Motown Records. The group's repertoire has included, at various times during its five-decade career, R&B, doo-wop, funk, disco, soul, and adult contemporary music.Formed in Detroit,...
- Lennie TristanoLennie TristanoLeonard Joseph Tristano was a jazz pianist, composer and teacher of jazz improvisation. He performed in the cool jazz, bebop, post bop and avant-garde jazz genres. He remains a somewhat overlooked figure in jazz history, but his enormous originality and dazzling work as an improviser have long...
- Donald Vails
- Clara WardClara WardClara Ward was an American gospel artist who achieved great success, both artistic and commercial, in the 1940s and 1950s as leader of The Famous Ward Singers....
- Albertina WalkerAlbertina Walker-Early years:Walker was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Ruben and Camille Coleman Walker. Her mother was born in Houston County, Georgia, and her father in Bibb County, Georgia. They moved to Chicago between 1917-1920 where they lived out their lives. Albertina had four siblings born in Bibb County...
- Paul WilliamsPaul Williams (saxophonist)Paul "Hucklebuck" Williams was an American blues and rhythm and blues saxophonist and songwriter. In his Honkers and Shouters, Arnold Shaw credits Williams as one of the first to employ the honking tenor sax solo that became the hallmark of rhythm and blues and rock and roll in the 1950s and...
- Ralph WillisRalph Willis (blues musician)Ralph Willis was an American Piedmont and country blues singer, guitarist and songwriter. Some of his Savoy records were released under pseudonyms, such as Alabama Slim, Washboard Pete and Sleepy Joe.-Biography:...
- Lester YoungLester YoungLester Willis Young , nicknamed "Prez", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and clarinetist. He also played trumpet, violin, and drums....
Savoy Records subsidiaries
- Acorn Records (1949 - 1951)
- Gospel Records (1958 - early 1970s)
- Regent Records (1947 - 1964)
- Sharp Records (1960 - 1964)
Further reading
- "The Savoy Label: A Discography," by Michel Ruppli & Bob Porter
- "Swing City:Newark Nightlife, 1925-1950," by Barbara K. Kukla.
External links
See also
- List of record labels
- Savoy Records artists with Wikipedia pages