Cellar Live Records is a contemporary jazz label located in Vancouver, British Columbia. Jazz saxophonist and producer Cory Weeds founded the label in 2001, one year after purchasing The Cellar Restaurant and Jazz Club (later renamed Cory Weeds' Jazz Cellar). Since that time, Cellar Live Records has released over seventy albums.
Performers at Cory Weeds' Jazz Cellar are some of the most important names in Canadian jazz, as well as major international artists. These include Joey DeFrancesco, Kenny Barron, Dr. Lonnie Smith, and Benny Golson, to name just a few. Owing both to the visiting artists and local Vancouver talent, the club was named in the Top 100 Jazz Clubs Worldwide by Downbeat on several occasions.
Cellar Live Records documents many of the seminal performances occuring at the club. Cellar Live releases are often, but not exclusively, recordings from concert events at the Jazz Cellar venue. Additional releases include recordings from other venues and studio sessions. With a steadily growing catalogue and distribution worldwide, Cellar Live Records contributes significantly to the availability of high quality music from established artists and emerging talent from all genres and varieties of jazz.
All About Jazz: Tell us about yourself and the Jazz Cellar.
Cory Weeds: I was born and raised in Vancouver (Burnaby actually) and, other than a lot of touring and a year at The University Of North Texas, I have lived here all my life. I guess I started appearing on the scene around 1996. The Jazz Cellar is a jazz club at 3611 West Broadway that I bought in 2000. I changed the name to Cory Weeds' Cellar Jazz Club in 2009. Unfortunately, the club will be closing on February 26, 2014.
AAJ: What factors contributed to closing the club? Will the label be affected by these same factors?
CW: The label will continue to run regardless of the club closing. As for the factors of the club closing, it had a lot to do with personal choice. Our landlord had become difficult. I am very tired of the food and beverage side of the industry, and am very tired in general after 13.5 years in the business.
AAJ: How did Cory Weeds' Cellar Jazz Club come to be and who was involved?
CW: Originally it was just myself as the sole owner with some help from my dad. Over time we had an additional five investors, three of which have been bought out. There are three remaining investors, including me.
It came about in 2000 because I was tired of not being able to hear quality jazz music in a listener friendly environment. There were clubs but not 'real' clubs. I thought that I had enough of a business sense and trust in the musicians to make it work. We didn't really have a dedicated jazz club in Vancouver, hence my desire to open one. Before my ownership The Cellar had jazz but was far from dedicated.
Read more: http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=46577#.UxNBItzSx3g
0 Comments:
Post a Comment