Gilt-Edge was a short-lived American

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

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California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. It was founded by Richard A. Nelson in 1944 and remained active until March 1946 when it was subsumed into 4 Star Records; another record company to which Nelson was attached. Gilt-Edge was primarily a

race record Race records is a term for 78-rpm phonograph records marketed to African Americans between the 1920s and 1940s.Oliver, Paul. "Race record". Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. 13 Feb. 2015. They primarily contained race music, comprising v ...

company which had a target audience of African-Americans. Artists who made records with them included

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

musician

Cecil Gant Cecil Gant (April 4, 1913 – February 4, 1951) was an American blues singer, songwriter and pianist, whose recordings of both ballads and "fiery piano rockers" were successful in the mid- and late 1940s, and influenced the early development of r ...

and jazz musician

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. However, the record label also had other types of musicians in its roster, including country singer

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. Gilt-Edge's artists were transferred to 4 Star Records when it ceased operation.

References

{{reflist Defunct record labels of the United States Record labels established in 1944