RIVERSIDE
Riverside Records is a United States record label specializing in jazz. Riverside was founded by Bill Grauer and Orrin Keepnews in 1953 in New York City. The label was to be a major presence in the Jazz Record industry for a decade.
Initially the company was dedicated to reissuing examples of early jazz which had fallen in to the public domain. Grauer and Keepnews started recording Modern Jazz, with pianist Randy Weston in 1955. About the same time the Prestige contract of Thelonious Monk was bought out for $108.24, and Monk was to record for Riverside for the next five years. Within a few years Cannonball Adderley, Bill Evans, Johnny Griffin and Wes Montgomery were to make a substantial contribution to Riverside’s catalog and their own major statements. Simultaneously, Chris Albertson supervised the companies Living Legends series of location recordings in New Orleans and Chicago, sustaining the labels connection with the pioneers of the music.
Grauer suffered a fatal automobile accident in 1963 and the company went in to liquidation the following year. Most of the companies masters were acquired by ABC-Paramount Records, who subsequently sold the company to Fantasy Records in 1972. Many of Riverside’s albums have been reissued on CD in the Fantasy groups Original Jazz Classics series.
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