Inner City Records
Jazz label founded by Irv Kratka in New York City.
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Inner City Records, a jazz label launched in New York City by Irv Kratka in 1976, operated as a division of Music Minus One and also controlled Classic Jazz. Beginning with reissues, it expanded to produce new recordings across jazz styles. Between 1976 and 1980, the label issued more than 60 albums and earned the 1979 International Jazz Critics Poll’s Record Label of the Year award.
Background
Inner City Records began as a reissue label before expanding into original productions. Many of its albums were also issued on the Japanese East Wind Records, including Sam Morrison's Dune, The Three (Joe Sample, Ray Brown, Shelly Manne), and albums from Japanese musicians Sadao Watanabe and Terumasa Hino. The label licensed recordings from international labels like SteepleChase Records, Black & Blue, Vogue, and Enja for US release. A three-volume series of Django Reinhardt recordings licensed from Pathe Marconi included 'Quintet of the Hot Club of France,' which was nominated for a Grammy for Best Historical Recording.
Original Inner City Records productions included releases by Eddie Jefferson, Jeff Lorber, Dan Siegel, Listen featuring Mel Martin, Dry Jack, Sun Ra, Michel Urbaniak, Urzula Dudziak, and Susannah McCorkle. The label also released non-jazz music under the Inner City Records umbrella through the imprints Aural Explorer and City Sounds.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Inner City Records (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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