PRESTIGE RECORDS CELEBRATES 65 YEARS OF LEGENDARY JAZZ WITH SPECIAL REISSUES, A VIDEO SERIES AND A NEW WEBSITE

Concord Music Group will commemorate the 65th anniversary of revered jazz label Prestige Records with a plethora of special reissues, a new video series and a website dedicated to the pioneering jazz label and its incredible roster of groundbreaking artists. The year culminates with a 90th birthday celebration honoring legendary recording engineer Rudy Van Gelder, who made a monumental contribution to the label and to jazz in general.
Throughout 2014, Concord is set to release hi-resolution digital reissues of sixty Rudy Van Gelder Remasters series titles along with more than thirty vinyl reissues of Prestige classics. Digital releases include Soultrane (John Coltrane); Saxophone Colossus (Sonny Rollins); Cookin’ With Miles Davis Quintet (Miles Davis Quintet); Outward Bound (Eric Dolphy),We Three (Roy Haynes, Phineas Newborn, Paul Chambers); At Ease With Coleman Hawkins (Coleman Hawkins) and more. Vinyl reissues include Mose Allison Sings (Mose Allison); The Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis Cookbook, Vol. 1 (Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis); Thelonious Monk Trio (Thelonious Monk Trio) and more. Several classic titles, the first released in April, are being made available each month through the end of the year. “These are not only some of the most influential artists and important recordings on the Prestige label, they’re also some of the most iconic artists and recordings in the history of jazz, period,” says Nick Phillips, Concord Music Group’s Vice President of Catalog Development/A&R and co-producer of the Rudy Van Gelder Remasters series. “It’s a pleasure to be reintroducing this timeless music and legendary label to jazz fans, old and new.”

In addition, Concord has produced a video series titled Prestige Lives!, which will present both contemporary and legendary artists discussing the label’s influence and the essential contribution of engineer Van Gelder. Created by Bret Primack, the videos are being made available on a special website, developed in collaboration with DownBeat magazine that is designed to provide a front row seat through the history of the iconic label. Prestige merchandise is available with select vendors around the globe, and live events celebrating Van Gelder and Prestige Records will be announced soon.

Counting some of the genre’s most classic recordings, Prestige Records is one of the most revered jazz labels in the world. Prestige founder Bob Weinstock started out as a traditional jazz fan but soon found himself standing at the cutting edge of “modern jazz.” Prestige Records helped define a classic era of jazz developing the careers of such musical giants as Miles Davis, Stan Getz and Sonny Rollins. Known for its distinctive bop, hard bop and soul-jazz, Prestige was a playground of spontaneity and honest self-expression. The label further prospered through the introduction of the free jazz movement in the ’60s and into the sound of fusion in the latter part of the decade. In the early ’70s, Weinstock sold the label to Fantasy Records, which was acquired by Concord Music Group in 2004. Concord continues to honor the jewels of the label through its Original Jazz Classics series and this year highlights the incredible breadth of material this catalog has to offer.