Alex Henderson

Label Spotlight:

Jazzhus Disk

By Alex Henderson

When Chih-Yu Chen, president/founder of Jazzhus Disk, is asked to describe the label’s philosophy and vision, the Taiwan resident responds, “jazz around the world.” Indeed, the independent label has been very international in its approach, focusing heavily on reissues and live rarities (many of them previously unreleased) from European improvisers, not shy about unearthing lesser known recordings from the ‘50s-‘70s. Its catalogue has included CDs by a long list of European musicians that includes German pianist/keyboardist Wolfgang Dauner, British pianist Stan Tracey, French tenor saxophonist Barney Wilen, Italian pianist Romano Mussolini (youngest son of dictator Benito Mussolini), Norwegian pianist Svein Finnerud and the Danish Radio Jazz Group. Some of the Americans who have appeared in the Jazzhus catalogue include trumpeter Bill Coleman and pianist Bill Evans.

“Jazzhus is a label focusing on jazz music outside of the United States,” Chen explains. “We have reissued albums recorded in Romania, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Mexico, Jamaica, Argentina, the UK, France and Germany. For me, jazz music goes beyond geographical and racial boundaries. It was born in the United States, for sure, but jazz colors its life with people and cultures around the world.”

Having an international outlook appears to be giving Jazzhus a very international following. Chen estimates that Jazzhus’ customer base is roughly “60%in Asia, 20% in Europe, 20% in North America.” Although Chen grew up in Taiwan and now lives in the Taiwanese capital of Taipei, the Jazzhus founder has spent a considerable amount of time in New York City and it was in 2006 that Jazzhus was started in Brooklyn. At first, the company’s focus was distributing independent jazz CDs and jazz books in China. But in 2007, Chen started to envision Jazzhus as an actual record company instead of strictly a distributor. During a trip to Europe that year, Chen met the late Danish bassist Erik Moseholm and got permission to reissue his rare Jazz Journey album. Jazzhus released eight CDs in 2008 and the label’s identity as a provider of rare jazz recordings from the past took hold. But Jazzhus’ plans were derailed––at least temporarily.

“Unfortunately, the global financial crisis took place that fall, starting from NYC and soon went worldwide,” Chen recalls. “That affected our CD sales a lot. That year, I moved back to Taiwan for a new job and postponed the entire reissue project for almost two years. Jazzhus Disk didn’t release any other CDs until the winter of 2010.”

2010 was not only the year in which Jazzhus resumed its reissue program, it was also the year Chen met British jazz drummer Barry Martyn (who founded the New Orleans-based Crescent City Productions in 1976) and was excited to hear about the wealth of live recordings he had in his vaults. In addition to licensing previously released titles from Bellaphon/L&R Records in Germany (which Chen says hasn’t been difficult), Jazzhus has purchased an abundance of live master tapes from Crescent Jazz, Martyn helping Jazzhus make them CD-friendly with his editing and digital remastering. Chen notes that those old live analog recordings “need a lot of efforts to transfer them into the digital format…Barry is a really good sound engineer and editor too.”

Chen’s partner at Jazzhus is Mark Zhao, based in Beijing, whose responsibilities include recording and promoting live concerts. Other participants include graphic designers Claire Lin and Shibo Hsu, Masahiro Maeda (who is with Ultra-Vybe Records in Japan and helps Jazzhus with distribution and marketing in that country) and C. Chang (a consultant who helps with packaging and marketing).

A major turning point for Jazzhus came in 2012, when it released German saxophonist/clarinetist Peter Brötzmann’s China Live 2011. That CD/DVD marked the first time that Jazzhus put out a new recording. And according to Chen, new recordings will be a high priority for Jazzhus in the future, anticipating that at some point CD output will “hopefully” consist of “30% older recordings, 70% new or previously unreleased ones.”

Although jazz has been Jazzhus’ focus so far, Chen sees the company getting into other types of music in the future. One of Jazzhus’ goals, Chen says, is “introducing Taiwanese and Chinese musicians to the world”––and that will include not only jazz, but also, rock (including punk), electronica, world music and folk.

One thing that Chen stresses will not change is Jazzhus’ preference for physical CDs. Unlike many labels, Jazzhus isn’t selling digital downloads at all.

“We love physical stuff and have never considered the digital format since the first day we started this tiny business,” Chen explains.

Jazzhus’ biggest sellers so far have included German trombonist Albert Mangelsdorff’s Now Jazz Ramwong (originally released in 1965) and British pianist Stan Tracey’s UK Live 1967, Volumes 1 and 2 (which boast tenor saxophonists Ben Webster and Ronnie Scott). When Chen is looking for rare studio recordings or previously unreleased live recordings to put out, what exactly goes into the selection process?

Chen responds: “I think I was attracted to the uniqueness and personality of certain jazz artists, sometimes to the nostalgia of the distant past. Like the real world, the jazz scene has superstars, such as Miles Davis, and underrated figures at the same time. Everybody loves stars, but I always have more fun when listening to the body of works of those less known jazz musicians. They might not leave many materials behind. I usually need to reconstruct their lives by the information from liner notes, old magazines or pictures. A jazz collector, like an archaeologist, enjoys digging [into] things, but the difference is one looks for fossils and the other for the smell and rhythm of the time.”

Chen continues: “I think the criteria involved in deciding to spotlight certain musicians are very personal, but in one way or another, it represents what Jazzhus Disk looks like. If you ask me what this label looks like, I’d say it’s an outsider––just like these jazz artists were in their time.”

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