Mosaic Records is an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

record company and label established in 1982 by

Michael Cuscuna Michael Cuscuna (September 20, 1948 – April 20, 2024) was an American jazz record producer and writer. He was the co-founder of Mosaic Records and a discographer of Blue Note Records. Biography Career Cuscuna played drums, saxophone and flute ...

and Charlie Lourie. It produces limited-edition box sets. The sets recordings are leased from the major record companies, usually for a three- or five-year period, with the edition limited to a specific number of copies, typically 5,000. Sometimes the complete catalog of a label would appear: the complete masters of

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were contained in three sets consisting of some 66 LPs. In 2003, the company initiated the Select series of smaller sets, not necessarily "complete" in the usual sense. In 2006, the company began a third line, Mosaic Singles, a series dedicated to reissuing individual albums on CD that have not previously been available in US editions, or at all. In 2009, Mosaic returned to the vinyl format with the HQ Vinyl Series and began issuing three and four LP sets of 2,500-5,000 copies. Mosaic's sets are primarily sold and distributed directly to customers, initially promoted through leading jazz publications, then mail order catalog, and now the internet. The first three years of releases did not sell particularly well. In 1986, Cuscuna reached out to a record-producing acquaintance,

Fred Seibert Frederick G. Seibert is an American television producer and media proprietor. Seibert began his professional career as a jazz and blues record producer and audio engineer in the 1970s. He co-founded the record label Oblivion Records by 1972 an ...

, for help. With partner

Alan Goodman Alan Eliot Goodman is an American actor and media marketer. He is one of the founders of TESTD Inc, a health and data management products company. He was formerly a television writer and producer who has worked in media since 1981. Early life an ...

their company, Fred/Alan Inc. in New York, devised a catalog and strategy that immediately increased sales almost tenfold and put the company on a solid footing for the first time. Goodman continues to write the copy for all new release sales. Over 200 sets have now been issued by the company, with most sets' leases now expired, becoming sought after, expensive collectors' items. Over three decades the jazz press and general publications have recognized Mosaic, with the New York Times naming it “the most distinctive reissue label in jazz,”

All About Jazz ''All About Jazz'' is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, ''Jazz Near ...

calling the company “arguably the premier reissue label in jazz,” and

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suggesting it is “America’s most obsessive jazz label.”

References

External links

Official site

The first Mosaic catalog devised by Fred/Alan Inc.
{{Authority control American jazz record labels Record labels established in 1983 Reissue record labels

See also

References

External links