At the end of WWII (1945) three large labels dominated the market: Columbia, RCA and Decca. Capital records was formed in 1942 and Mercury in 1945. Four new labels important to Jazz started before 1950: Blue Note, Savoy, Clef and Prestige.

The first half of the 1950s saw the emergence of a number of record labels that would become synonymous with “Modern Jazz”: Pacific, Emarcy, Riverside, Verve, Atlantic and Fantasy. Blue Note Records switched over to the 12 inch format in 1956. A couple of labels were added to this list in the early 1960s; Impulse! and ESP-Disk.

Near the end of our focus period, an industry shakeup saw many artists finding new homes. To over simplify, the first half of this era (‘55 to ‘68) was marked by a raw, adventurous spirt while the second half (‘69 to ‘82) was much more polished. ECM Records began in 1969 with the release of a very important recording by Mal Waldron called ‘Free at Last’. It went on to become the home for many important artists: Keith Jarrett, Jan Garbarek, Pat Metheny, Gary Burton, Chick Corea, John Abercrombie, Dave Liebman, Eberhard Weber, Ralph Townes. Other labels followed: SteepleChase, Hat Hut, Arista Freedom, Pablo as well as some labels started by the artists themselves like Cecil Taylor’s ‘Unit Core’.

After Miles Davis released ‘Bitches Brew’ in 1970, a number of established artists formed bands that played stadium size venues: Weather Report, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Return to Forever, Headhunters and Oregon. In Europe, labels like FMP and Incus promoted the music of avant-garde Jazz artists like Derek Bailey, Peter Brotzmann and Evan Parker.