IPO Recordings

We started IPO in 2004 to document the continuingly brilliant playing of great musicians from the era of “classic modern jazz.” We think of “classic modern jazz” as jazz as it was played in the period extending from the mid-1940’s to around 1970, when modal and crossover styles of playing came to dominate the music. We have showcased players who were part of the first generation of classic modern jazz, who learned the music on the bandstand with people like Dizzy Gillespie, Count Basie and Thad Jones, and who themselves made original contributions to the style. Nine of the artists we’ve recorded have been elected Jazz Masters of the National Endowment for the Arts, the nation’s highest form of recognition in the field of jazz. In most cases, these are the first (and only) recordings in which these artists played together.

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We started IPO in 2004 to document the continuingly brilliant playing of great musicians from the era of “classic modern jazz.” We think of “classic modern jazz” as jazz as it was played in the period extending from the mid-1940’s to around 1970, when modal and crossover styles of playing came to dominate the music. We have showcased players who were part of the first generation of classic modern jazz, who learned the music on the bandstand with people like Dizzy Gillespie, Count Basie and Thad Jones, and who themselves made original contributions to the style. Nine of the artists we’ve recorded have been elected Jazz Masters of the National Endowment for the Arts, the nation’s highest form of recognition in the field of jazz. In most cases, these are the first (and only) recordings in which these artists played together.

We realized that some of the greatest musicians of this period, still masterful performers regardless of whether they conformed to the transient popular styles, were being marginalized by the recording industry. They had either not recorded for many years (in a couple of instances actually never had a session under their leadership) or had recorded under conditions (studio time constraints, inferior equipment and sound engineering, mistaken A&R choices etc.) that didn’t do full justice to the quality of their music. It was disturbing to realize that jazz was being denied the recorded legacy of some of its best musicians, whose playing gave mature expression to their first-hand experience with one of the music’s most creative and productive periods.

If you are new to the IPO label, it may be due to the fact that from the start we have been committed to putting our resources into the studio rather than marketing. Our philosophy has been to provide our artists with the best available recording venues, equipment and engineers, giving them the freedom to create without time constraints and with absolute minimum interference from non-musicians. We have also made a dedicated effort to bring together musicians who may not have previously recorded with each other, mixing contemporaries and colleagues from organizations like the Gillespie and Jones-Lewis bands and frequently adding outstanding players from later generations.

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