Keynote Records
Encyclopedia
Keynote Records was a record label
founded by record store owner Eric Bernay in 1940. The label's initial releases were folk and protest songs from the Soviet Union
and the Spanish Civil War
, and several anti-war
releases from American musicians followed. From 1943 the label released a large body of jazz
music produced by Harry Lim, and went bankrupt in 1948, coming under the control of Mercury Records
.
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,...
founded by record store owner Eric Bernay in 1940. The label's initial releases were folk and protest songs from the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
, and several anti-war
Anti-war
An anti-war movement is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term can also refer to pacifism, which is the opposition to all use of military force during conflicts. Many...
releases from American musicians followed. From 1943 the label released a large body of 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...
music produced by Harry Lim, and went bankrupt in 1948, coming under the control of Mercury Records
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...
.
Recorded artists
- The Almanac Singers
- George BarnesGeorge Barnes (musician)George Barnes was a world-renowned swing jazz guitarist, who claimed he played the first electric guitar in 1931, preceding Charlie Christian by six years. George Barnes made the first recording of an electric guitar in 1938 in sessions with Big Bill Broonzy.-Biography:George Barnes was born in...
- Count BasieCount BasieWilliam "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years...
- Barney BigardBarney BigardAlbany Leon Bigard, aka Barney Bigard, was an American jazz clarinetist and tenor saxophonist, though primarily known for the clarinet....
- Marc BlitzsteinMarc BlitzsteinMarcus Samuel Blitzstein, better known as Marc Blitzstein , was an American composer. He won national attention in 1937 when his pro-union musical The Cradle Will Rock, directed by Orson Welles, was shut down by the Works Progress Administration...
- Pete BrownPete BrownPeter Ronald Brown is an English performance poet and lyricist.Best known for his collaborations with Jack Bruce, Brown also worked with The Battered Ornaments, formed his own group Pete Brown & Piblokto!, and worked with Graham Bond and Phil Ryan. Brown also writes film scores and formed a film...
- Cozy ColeCozy ColeCozy Cole was an American jazz drummer who scored a #1 Cashbox magazine hit with the record "Topsy Part 2". "Topsy" peaked at number three on Billboard Hot 100, and at number one on the R&B chart. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. The track peaked at #29 in the UK...
- Corky Corcoran
- Irving FazolaIrving FazolaIrving Fazola was an American jazz clarinetist.-Biography:Fazola or Faz was born in New Orleans, Louisiana as Irving Henry Prestopnik. He got the nickname Fazola from his childhood skill at Solfege . He decided to use the nickname as his family name, and many fellow musicians were unaware that...
- Roy EldridgeRoy EldridgeRoy David Eldridge , nicknamed "Little Jazz" was an American jazz trumpet player. His sophisticated use of harmony, including the use of tritone substitutions, his virtuosic solos and his strong influence on Dizzy Gillespie mark him as one of the most exciting musicians of the swing era and a...
- Bud FreemanBud FreemanLawrence "Bud" Freeman was a U.S. jazz musician, bandleader, and composer, known mainly for playing the tenor saxophone, but also able at the clarinet. He had a smooth and full tenor sax style with a heavy robust swing. He was one of the most influential and important jazz tenor saxophonists of...
- Paul GonsalvesPaul GonsalvesPaul Gonsalves, was an American jazz tenor saxophonist best known for his association with Duke Ellington. At the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival, Gonsalves played a 27-chorus solo in the middle of Ellington's "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue"...
- Johnny GuarnieriJohnny GuarnieriJohnny Guarnieri was an American virtuoso jazz and stride pianist, born in New York City, perhaps best known for his big band stints with Benny Goodman in 1939 and with Artie Shaw in 1940...
- Bill HarrisBill Harris- Sports :*Bill Harris , American MLB pitcher*Bill Harris , Canadian MLB pitcher*Bill Harris American basketball coach, head coach India national basketball team...
- George Hartman
- Ann Hathaway
- Coleman HawkinsColeman HawkinsColeman Randolph Hawkins was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Hawkins was one of the first prominent jazz musicians on his instrument. As Joachim E. Berendt explained, "there were some tenor players before him, but the instrument was not an acknowledged jazz horn"...
- Herbie HaymerHerbie HaymerHerbie Haymer was an American jazz reedist, known primarily as a saxophonist in big bands.Haymer played alto saxophone from age 15 and picked up tenor at age 20...
- J.C. Heard
- Neal HeftiNeal HeftiNeal Hefti was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, tune writer, and arranger. He was perhaps best known for composing the theme music for the Batman television series of the 1960s, and for scoring the 1968 film The Odd Couple and the subsequent TV series of the same name.He began arranging...
- Earl HinesEarl HinesEarl Kenneth Hines, universally known as Earl "Fatha" Hines, was an American jazz pianist. Hines was one of the most influential figures in the development of modern jazz piano and, according to one source, is "one of a small number of pianists whose playing shaped the history of jazz".-Early...
- Milt HintonMilt HintonMilton John "Milt" Hinton , "the dean of jazz bass players," was an American jazz double bassist and photographer. He was nicknamed "The Judge".-Biography:...
- Danny Hurd
- Clyde HurleyClyde HurleyClyde Hurley was a trumpeter during the big band era. He was born in Fort Worth, Texas. Scott Yanow describes Hurley as "a trumpeter with a fat tone and a hard-driving style". He died in Fort Worth....
- Chubby JacksonChubby JacksonGreig Stewart 'Chubby' Jackson was an American jazz double-bassist and band leader.Born in New York City, Jackson began at the age of seventeen as a clarinetist, but quickly changed to bass....
- Little Jazz
- Jonah JonesJonah JonesJonah Jones was a jazz trumpeter who is perhaps best known for creating concise versions of jazz and swing standards that appealed to a mass audience. In jazz, he might be best appreciated for his work with Stuff Smith. He was sometimes referred to as "King Louis II," a reference to Louis Armstrong...
- Kansas City Seven
- The Keynoters
- Mannie Klein
- Bernie LeightonBernie LeightonBernie Leighton was an American jazz pianist.Leighton was born in West Haven, Connecticut. He first played professionally at the end of the 1930s. He played with Bud Freeman, Leo Reisman, Raymond Scott and Benny Goodman before serving in the Army...
- Al Menconi
- Benny MortonBenny MortonBenny Morton , born in New York City, was a jazz trombonist most associated with the swing genre. He was praised by fellow trombonist Bill Watrous among others. One of his first jobs was working with Clarence Holiday, and he appeared with Clarence's daughter Billie Holiday towards the end of her...
- Ted Nash
- Red NorvoRed NorvoRed Norvo was one of jazz's early vibraphonists, known as "Mr. Swing". He helped establish the xylophone, marimba and later the vibraphone as viable jazz instruments...
- Paul RobesonPaul RobesonPaul Leroy Robeson was an American concert singer , recording artist, actor, athlete, scholar who was an advocate for the Civil Rights Movement in the first half of the twentieth century...
- Earl RobinsonEarl RobinsonEarl Hawley Robinson was a singer-songwriter and composer from Seattle, Washington. Robinson is probably as well remembered for his left-leaning political views as he is for his music, including the songs "Joe Hill", "Black and White", and the cantata "Ballad for Americans"...
- Red RodneyRed RodneyRobert Roland Chudnick , who performed by the stage name Red Rodney, was an American bop and hard bop trumpeter.-Biography:...
- Harold Rome
- Arnold RossArnold RossArnold Ephraim Ross was a mathematician and educator who founded the Ross Mathematics Program at the Ohio State University.-Personal Life:...
- Babe RussinBabe RussinIrving "Babe" Russin was a tenor saxophone player.Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Russin played with some of the best known jazz bands of the 1930s and 1940s, including Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey and Glenn Miller. He led his own band briefly in the early 1940s...
- Gene SedricGene SedricGene Sedric was an American jazz clarinetist and tenor saxophonist. He acquired the nickname "Honey Bear" in the 1930s because of his large camelhair coat....
- Charlie ShaversCharlie ShaversCharles James Shavers , known as Charlie Shavers, was an American swing era jazz trumpet player who played at one time or another with Dizzy Gillespie, Roy Eldridge, Johnny Dodds, Jimmy Noone, Sidney Bechet, Midge Williams and Billie Holiday...
- Willie SmithWillie Smith (alto saxophonist)William McLeish Smith was one of the major alto saxophone players of the swing era. He also played clarinet and sang. He is generally referred to as Willie Smith.-Biography:...
- Rex StewartRex StewartRex Stewart was an American jazz cornetist best known for his work with the Duke Ellington orchestra....
- Billy Taylor (jazz bassist)Billy Taylor (jazz bassist)William Taylor Sr. was an American jazz bassist. He was born Washington, D.C. and died in Fairfax, Virginia.Taylor began playing tuba but later picked up bass alongside it...
- Joe ThomasJoe Thomas-Cleveland Browns:Thomas signed a 6-year contract worth $43 million, $23 million guaranteed, including a voidable year, with the Browns. Thomas won the starting left tackle job, with previous Browns left tackle Kevin Shaffer moving to right tackle. He made his NFL debut versus the Pittsburgh...
- Juan TizolJuan TizolJuan Tizol was a Puerto Rican trombonist and composer.He was born in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico. Music was a large part of his life from an early age. His first instrument was the violin, but he soon switched to valve trombone, the instrument he would play throughout his career...
- 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...
- Dinah WashingtonDinah WashingtonDinah Washington, born Ruth Lee Jones , was an American blues, R&B and jazz singer. She has been cited as "the most popular black female recording artist of the '50s", and called "The Queen of the Blues"...
- George WettlingGeorge WettlingGeorge Wettling was an American jazz drummer.He was one of the young white Chicagoans who fell in love with jazz as a result of hearing King Oliver's band at the Lincoln Gardens in Chicago in the early 1920s...
- Josh WhiteJosh WhiteJoshua Daniel White , better known as Josh White, was an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor, and civil rights activist. He also recorded under the names "Pinewood Tom" and "Tippy Barton" in the 1930s....
- Lester YoungLester YoungLester Willis Young , nicknamed "Prez", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and clarinetist. He also played trumpet, violin, and drums....