Milestone Records is a United States based 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...

 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,...

, founded in 1966

1966 in music

-Events:*January 3 – Hullabaloo shows promotional videos of The Beatles songs "Day Tripper" and "We Can Work it Out".*January 8 – Shindig! airs for the last time on ABC, with musical guests the Kinks and the Who...

 by Orrin Keepnews

Orrin Keepnews

Orrin Keepnews is an American writer and jazz record producer. In June 2010, he received a lifetime achievement award from the National Endowment for the Arts.- Career :...

 and Dick Katz

Dick Katz

Dick Katz was an American jazz pianist and arranger. He freelanced throughout much of his career, and worked in a number of ensembles. He co-founded Milestone Records in 1966 with Orrin Keepnews....

 in New York City. The company was incorporated into Fantasy Records

Fantasy Records

Fantasy Records is a United States-based record label that was founded by Max and Sol Weiss in 1949 in San Francisco, California. They had previously operated a record-pressing plant called Circle Record Company before forming the Fantasy label...

 in 1972, since then it has been used for reissues as well as for new recordings.

Sonny Rollins

Sonny Rollins

Theodore Walter "Sonny" Rollins is a Grammy-winning American jazz tenor saxophonist. Rollins is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. A number of his compositions, including "St...

 and McCoy Tyner

McCoy Tyner

McCoy Tyner is a jazz pianist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, known for his work with the John Coltrane Quartet and a long solo career.-Early life:...

 are among the major musicians who have recorded for the label.

Milestone has also reissued many historic jazz recording sessions, including the Jelly Roll Morton

Jelly Roll Morton

Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe , known professionally as Jelly Roll Morton, was an American ragtime and early jazz pianist, bandleader and composer....

, King Oliver, and New Orleans Rhythm Kings

New Orleans Rhythm Kings

The New Orleans Rhythm Kings were one of the most influential jazz bands of the early-to-mid 1920s. The band was a combination of New Orleans and Chicago musicians who helped shape Chicago Jazz and influenced many younger jazz musicians....

 sides originally made in the 1920s for Gennett Records

Gennett Records

Gennett was a United States based record label which flourished in the 1920s.-Label history:Gennett records was founded in Richmond, Indiana by the Starr Piano Company, and released its first records in October 1917. The company took its name from its top managers: Harry, Fred and Clarence Gennett....

.

They also released a relatively small amount of blues

Blues

Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...

 albums, mostly produced by Pete Welding

Pete Welding

Pete Welding was an American blues historian, archivist and record producer.Born Peter J. Welding in Philadelphia, he worked as a journalist for Down Beat magazine and occasionally freelanced for other publications including Rolling Stone...

, e.g. Driftin' Slim

Driftin' Slim

Driftin' Slim was an African American blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player.Born Elmon Mickle in Keo, Arkansas, he not only recorded as Driftin' Slim, but also as Model 'T' Slim and under his real name...

 & His Blues Band's Somebody Hoo-Doo'd The Hoo-Doo Man.

Another company called Milestone Records was active in the late 1950s, releasing music by acts such as The Jodimars

The Jodimars

The Jodimars was an American rock and roll band that was formed in the summer of 1955 and remained active until 1958. The band was created by former members of Bill Haley & His Comets who had quit that group in a salary dispute...

 and The Blue Jays

The Blue Jays

The Blue Jays were a short-lived American doo wop ensemble from Venice, California.The Blue Jays formed in 1961, and after performing at an amateur's night at the Fox Theatre, they were asked by Werly Fairburn to sign to his Milestone Records...

. This label was owned by rockabilly

Rockabilly

Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, dating to the early 1950s.The term rockabilly is a portmanteau of rock and hillbilly, the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style's development...

 star Werly Fairburn

Werly Fairburn

Werley Fairburn was an American rockabilly musician.Fairburn listened to the Grand Ole Opry and played guitar as a youngster, learning to play from a local blues musician alongside the hillbilly music he heard on the radio...

.

External links

• Milestone at Concord Music Group
• Milestone Records listing
• Illustrated Milestone Records discography (emphasis on blues recordings)