Dial Records was an American record company and

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product. Labels are most often affixed to packaging and containers using an adhesive, or sewing when affix ...

that specialized first in bebop jazz and then in

contemporary classical music Contemporary classical music is Western art music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st-century classical music, 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 Modernism (music), post-tonal music after the death of ...

. It was founded in

1946 1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th centur ...

by Ross Russell. Notable artists who recorded for Dial include

Charlie Parker Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz Saxophone, saxophonist, bandleader, and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of beb ...

, who signed an exclusive one-year recording contract with Russell on 26 February 1946, as well as

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...

Max Roach Maxwell Lemuel Roach (January 10, 1924 – August 16, 2007) was an American jazz drummer and composer. A pioneer of bebop, he worked in many other styles of music, and is generally considered one of the most important drummers in history. He wo ...

, and

Milt Jackson Milton Jackson (January 1, 1923 – October 9, 1999), nicknamed "Bags", was an American jazz vibraphonist. He is especially remembered for his cool swinging solos as a member of the Modern Jazz Quartet and his penchant for collaborating with ...

. Dial Records initially pressed its music for the Tempo Music Shop of

Hollywood, California Hollywood, sometimes informally called Tinseltown, is a List of districts and neighborhoods in Los Angeles, neighborhood and district in the Central Los Angeles, central region of Los Angeles County, California, within the city of Los Angeles. ...

, but soon relocated to New York City. In the summer of 1949, Ross Russell announced a change of focus, with the label turning to the release of classical music by contemporary composers. The first release in this new series was

Béla Bartók Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as Hunga ...

's Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion. This series, titled the Library of Contemporary Classics, was inspired when Russell obtained the master tape of a recording of

Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian and American composer, music theorist, teacher and writer. He was among the first Modernism (music), modernists who transformed the practice of harmony in 20th-centu ...

's Chamber Symphony No. 1 from Blue Star Records in Paris, in lieu of payment for a number of Dial jazz masters for European distribution. Russell's interests shifted focus again in 1953, when he made field recordings of calypso music in the British, French, and Netherlands West Indies. This resulted in the Dial Ethnic Series (Dial 400 label) of ten ten-inch rpm discs, issued between June and November 1953. Dial also continued to release material from jazz sessions recorded earlier, but in 1954 Russell sold his jazz recordings to Concert Hall Records, sending them the masters, pressing lists, and log sheets on June 3, 1954.

Mosaic Records Mosaic Records is an American jazz record company and label established in 1982 by Michael Cuscuna and Charlie Lourie. It produces limited-edition box sets. The sets recordings are leased from the major record companies, usually for a three- or f ...

released a limited edition box-set (CD) of Dial recordings called ''The Complete Dial Modern Jazz Sessions''.

Releases

*Dial 1002: " A Night in Tunisia" and "

Ornithology Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...

." Both tracks were recorded by the Charlie Parker Septet on 28 March 1946. On its release, ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' considered it "A collector's item"."Record Reviews" (18 May 1946)
''

'' at

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical charac ...

. Retrieved 29 April 2013. *Dial 1035: " Get Happy" and "Congo Blues." Session led by vibraphonist

Red Norvo Red Norvo (born Kenneth Norville; March 31, 1908 – April 6, 1999) was an American musician, one of jazz's early vibraphonists, known as "Mr. Swing". He helped establish the xylophone, marimba, and vibraphone as jazz instruments. His recor ...

, featuring

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie ( ; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improvisation, improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy El ...

(tp),

(as), Flip Phillips (ts),

Teddy Wilson Theodore Shaw Wilson (November 24, 1912 – July 31, 1986) was an American jazz pianist. Described by critic Scott Yanow as "the definitive Swing music, swing pianist", Wilson's piano style was gentle, elegant, and virtuosic. His style was high ...

(p), Slam Stewart (b), Specs Powell (d), recorded at WOR Studios, NYC, June 6, 1945. *Dial 1045: "Sing Hallelujah" and "Bird's Blues." Same session as Dial 1035 *Dial LP 903: Re-release of Dial 1035/1045, with "Sing Hallelujah" renamed "Hallelujah" and "Bird's Blues" renamed "Slam Slam Blues."

Library of Contemporary Classics

*Dial No. 1:

, Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion. William Masselos and Maro Ajemian, pianos; Saul Goodman and Abe Marcus, percussion. Recorded New York, 1949. *Dial No. 2:

, Chamber Symphony No. 1. Orchestre des Concerts Pasdeloup, conducted by Pierre Dervaux. Recorded Paris, 1949. *Dial No. 3: Arnold Schoenberg, '' Ode to Napoleon Buonaparte'', Op. 41; String Trio, Op. 45. Villers String Quartet; Jacques Monod, piano; Ellen Adler (recitation), conducted by

René Leibowitz René Leibowitz (; ; 17 February 1913 – 29 August 1972) was a Polish and French composer, conductor, music theorist and teacher. He was historically significant in promoting the music of the Second Viennese School in Paris after the Second Wo ...

; Koldofsky Trio. *Dial No. 4: Arnold Schoenberg, Third String Quartet, Op. 30. Pro Arte Quartet ( Rudolf Kolisch, Albert Rahier, Bernard Milofsky, Ernst Friedlander). *Dial No. 5:

Alban Berg Alban Maria Johannes Berg ( ; ; 9 February 1885 – 24 December 1935) was an Austrian composer of the Second Viennese School. His compositional style combined Romantic lyricism with the twelve-tone technique. Although he left a relatively sma ...

, '' Lyric Suite''. Pro Arte Quartet ( Rudolf Kolisch, Albert Rahier, Bernard Milofsky, Ernst Friedlander). *Dial No. 6: Alan Hovhaness, Piano Concerto (''Lousadzak''); ''Tzaikerk'', for flute, violin, timpani, and strings; ''Achtamar'', for piano solo; ''Shatakh'', for piano and violin. Maro Ajemian, piano; Anahid Ajemian, violin; Phillip Kaplan, flute; Saul Goodman, timpani; Manhattan Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Alan Hovhaness. *Dial No. 7:

Anton Webern Anton Webern (; 3 December 1883 – 15 September 1945) was an Austrian composer, conductor, and musicologist. His music was among the most radical of its milieu in its lyric poetry, lyrical, poetic concision and use of then novel atonality, aton ...

, 5 Movements for String Quartet; 6 Bagatelles; Symphony op. 21. Pro Arte String Quartet, Paris Chamber Orchestra, conducted by

. *Dial No. 8:

Olivier Messiaen Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (, ; ; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithology, ornithologist. One of the major composers of the 20th-century classical music, 20th century, he was also an ou ...

, Visions de L'Amen *Dial No. 9:

, Chamber Concerto for Violin, Piano, and Thirteen Wind Instruments. Roland Charny, violin; Jacques-Louis Monod, piano; Orchestre de chambre Paul Kuentz, conducted by René Leibowitz. *Dial No. 10:

Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century c ...

, Suite no. 1; Renard; Volga Boatman; Elegy;Berceuse du Chat. Milofsky, Carmin, Conducted by Robert Craft. *Dial No. 11: Gosta Nystroem, Sinfona del Mare. Ingrid Eksell, Stockholm Orchestra, conducted by Tor Mann. *Dial No. 12:

, Mavra *Dial No. 13:

, Woodwind Quintet op. 26. Metropolitan Wind Quintet. *Dial No. 14:

, Fantasy op. 49a, 6 Little Piano Pieces, 5 Piano Pieces op. 23.

Gwendolyn Koldofsky Gwendolyn Koldofsky (née Williams; November 1, 1906 – November 12, 1998) was a Canadian piano accompanist and music educator who became renowned in her field, a Professor Emerita at USC . Born Gwendolyn Williams in Bowmanville, Ontario, sh ...

Eduard Steuermann Eduard Steuermann (June 18, 1892, Sambor, Austria-Hungary – November 11, 1964, New York City) was an Austrian-born American pianist and composer. Steuermann studied piano with Vilém Kurz at the Lemberg Conservatory and Ferruccio Busoni in ...

. *Dial No. 15: Alban Berg, Seven Songs of Youth; " Schliesse mir die Augen beide"; ''An Leukon''; Four Songs Op. 2 (orch. Leibowitz); Four Pieces for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 5. Bethany Beardslee, soprano; Jacques-Louis Monod, piano. Irene Joachim, soprano; chamber orchestra conducted by René Leibowitz; Earl Thomas, clarinet; Jacques-Louis Monod, piano. Recorded 1951. *Dial No. 16:

, Pierrot Lunaire, conducted by

. *Dial No. 17:

, Concerto for Nine Instruments, conducted by

. *Dial Nos. 19-20:

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and Extended technique, non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one ...

, '' Sonatas and Interludes'' for prepared piano. Maro Ajemian, prepared piano. Recorded New York, 1951.

Releases

Library of Contemporary Classics

See also

References

Further reading