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| Leo Records | |
|---|---|
| Name | Leo Records |
| Founded | 1979 |
| Founder | Leo Feigin |
| Genre | Jazz; Free jazz; Improvised music |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Location | London |
Leo Records is an independent record label specializing in jazz and free improvisation with a focus on avant-garde artists from Russia, United States, United Kingdom, Japan and Europe. Founded in 1979 by Leo Feigin in London, the label became notable for releasing work by émigré and underground musicians associated with scenes in Moscow, St. Petersburg, New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles and Tokyo. Its catalog includes collaborations with artists connected to institutions such as the Institute of Contemporary Arts, festivals like the Montreux Jazz Festival, and venues including the Vortex Club.
Leo Records emerged during an era when labels such as ECM Records, Blue Note Records, Impulse! Records and Enja Records shaped the international jazz market. Operating contemporaneously with entities like Soul Note and Black Saint, the label built relationships with musicians who had performed at events including the Moers Festival, Bologna Jazz Festival and Kongsberg Jazzfestival. Distribution networks linked releases to retailers servicing audiences of New York Philharmonic patrons, collectors frequenting shops in Soho, and listeners attending concerts at the South Bank Centre.
The label was founded by Leo Feigin, a broadcaster associated with BBC Radio who had contacts across the Soviet Union music community and the diaspora of artists moving between Moscow and London. Early releases documented sessions recorded in studios like Abbey Road Studios and on clandestine stages in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg), featuring musicians who had associations with ensembles linked to the Union of Soviet Composers and underground circles around Vilnius and Riga. Partnerships with promoters at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club and curators from ICA aided publicity.
The label's roster has included artists with ties to major figures and groups: connections to Ornette Coleman-influenced scenes, alumni of Thelonious Monk-centred workshops, musicians who collaborated with members of Sun Ra Arkestra, and players from ensembles connected to Anthony Braxton and Cecil Taylor. Notable names appearing on releases have ties to the Moscow Conservatory, the New England Conservatory, the Juilliard School, and collectives associated with Anthony Braxton's compositions. Ensembles and soloists with releases have previously performed alongside acts at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Berliner Philharmonie and Tokyo Dome City Hall.
Releases emphasize free jazz techniques, extended instrumental techniques inspired by figures such as Cecil Taylor, Albert Ayler, John Coltrane and Ornette Coleman, and approaches linked to European free improvisation pioneered by musicians involved with the FMP (Free Music Production) circle and the European Jazz Ensemble. The label has supported cross-cultural projects intersecting with composers connected to Arnold Schoenberg’s legacy, contemporary practitioners influenced by Iannis Xenakis, and improvisers who have appeared on festivals like WOMAD and the Darmstadt Summer Course.
The catalog spans studio albums, live recordings, archival documents, and compilations paralleling releases from Hat Hut Records and Leo Records’ contemporaries in independent circles. Issued formats include LPs and CDs distributed to outlets servicing collectors of releases from labels like ESP-Disk and Black Saint/Soul Note. Releases include recordings captured at venues such as the Civic Theatre, sessions produced in studios modeled on those used by Blue Note-era engineers, and live sets recorded at festivals including North Sea Jazz Festival and Vancouver Jazz Festival.
Operations have navigated relationships with distributors that move product to retailers in Europe, North America, and Asia, interfacing with wholesalers servicing shops in Shibuya and Berlin as well as mailorder services catering to subscribers of magazines like The Wire and DownBeat. The label’s editorial decisions have paralleled curatorial practices at institutions such as the British Library’s sound archives and archival projects associated with the Smithsonian Institution.
Critics writing for publications such as The Wire, Jazzwise, DownBeat and The Guardian have noted the label’s role in documenting otherwise underrepresented improvisers from Russia and the wider Eastern Europe region. Scholars affiliated with universities like Goldsmiths, University of London, Columbia University, University of California, Berkeley and King's College London have cited releases in studies of transnational jazz exchange. The label’s impact is visible in retrospectives at venues such as the Southbank Centre and academic conferences hosted by the Royal Musical Association.
Category:British record labels Category:Jazz record labels