ESP-Disk is a New York-based 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, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed ...

founded in 1963 by lawyer Bernard Stollman.

History

Though it originally existed to release Esperanto-based

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...

, beginning with its second release (Albert Ayler's ''

Spiritual Unity ''Spiritual Unity'' is a studio album by American free jazz saxophonist Albert Ayler. It was recorded on July 10, 1964 in New York City, and features bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Sunny Murray. It was the first album recorded for Bernard Stollm ...

''), ESP became the most important exponent of what is commonly referred to as free jazz. Early releases included albums by

Paul Bley Paul Bley, CM (November 10, 1932 – January 3, 2016) was a jazz pianist known for his contributions to the free jazz movement of the 1960s as well as his innovations and influence on trio playing and his early live performance on the Moog and ...

, Pharoah Sanders and

Sun Ra Le Sony'r Ra (born Herman Poole Blount, May 22, 1914 – May 30, 1993), better known as Sun Ra, was an American jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, and poet known for his experimental music, "cosmic" philosophy, prolific ou ...

. ESP also released recordings by uncommercial underground rock acts including the Fugs, The Godz and Pearls Before Swine. The label's motto is "The artists alone decide what you will hear." Bernard Stollman faced allegations of not paying royalties to the artists that were signed to ESP-Disk. Tom Rapp of the band Pearls Before Swine claimed that: "We never got any money from ESP. Never, not even like a hundred dollars or something. My real sense is that he tollmanwas abducted by aliens, and when he was probed it erased his memory of where all the money was". Peter Stampfel of the band

Holy Modal Rounders The Holy Modal Rounders was an American folk music group, originally the duo of Peter Stampfel and Steve Weber, who began performing together on the Lower East Side of New York City in the early 1960s. Their unique blend of folk music reviva ...

and The Fugs claimed that Stollman told him that "the contract says that all rights belong to me. You have no royalties ever, ever, ever. The publishing is mine. You don't own the songs anymore. We don't owe you anything". Members of The Fugs have also stated claims that they received an unfavourable record contract. Ed Sanders said that "our royalty rate was less than 3%, one of the lower percentages in the history of western civilization". ''801 Magazine'', which featured an interview with Stollman in 2008, said that Stollman claimed that "he paid all the recording costs and gave the musicians small advances", and that "he never made any money from the music".

Discography

References

External links

Official site

Official Myspace

Liner notes for an ESP-Disk mash-up by

Wu Ming Wu Ming, Chinese for "anonymous", is a pseudonym for a group of Italian authors formed in 2000 from a subset of the Luther Blissett community in Bologna. Four of the group earlier wrote the novel '' Q'' (first edition 1999). Unlike the open n ...

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an esp-disk' discography
at Wesleyan University {{DEFAULTSORT:Esp-Disk Alternative rock record labels American record labels Experimental music record labels Jazz record labels Record labels established in 1964

History

Discography

See also

References

External links