Novus Records (later Arista Novus and RCA Novus) was 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 label run by Steve Backer. Backer worked at
Impulse! Records until 1974, when
Clive Davis, founder of
Arista Records
Arista Records ( ) is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously a division of Bertelsmann Music G ...
, asked him to oversee the jazz division at Arista.
Backer left Arista in the early 1980s, worked for
Windham Hill Records, and then went to
RCA to run Novus.
Novus's roster included
Muhal Richard Abrams,
Warren Bernhardt,
Steve Coleman,
Larry Coryell,
Oliver Lake,
Steve Lacy,
James Moody,
Hilton Ruiz, and
Henry Threadgill. Beginning in 1989, Backer signed
Marcus Roberts,
Roy Hargrove,
Danilo Pérez,
Antonio Hart, and
Christopher Hollyday. The label closed in the mid-1990s.
The catalogue is now managed by
Sony Masterworks through its Masterworks Jazz imprint.
Discography
3000-N (RCA) series
*3000:
Muhal Richard Abrams – ''
Lifea Blinec''
*3001:
Warren Bernhardt – ''Solo Piano''
*3002:
Air – ''
Open Air Suit''
*3003:
Oliver Lake – ''Life Dance of Is''
*3004: Baird Hersey – ''Looking for That Groove''
*3005:
Larry Coryell – ''European Impressions''
*3006:
Ran Blake – ''Rapport''
*3007:
Muhal Richard Abrams – ''
Spiral Live at Montreux 1978''
*3008:
Air – ''
Montreux Suisse''
*3009:
Mike Mainieri &
Warren Bernhardt – ''Free Smiles''
*3010:
Oliver Lake – ''Shine''
*3011:
Warren Bernhardt – ''Floating''
*3012:
Michael Gregory – ''Gifts''
*3013:
Henry Threadgill – ''
X-75 Volume 1''
*3014:
Air – ''
Air Lore''
*3015:
Michael Gregory – ''Heart and Center''
*3016: Baird Hersey – ''Have You Heard?''
*3017:
Larry Coryell – ''Tributaries''
*3018:
John Scofield – ''
Who's Who?''
*3019:
Ran Blake – ''Film Noir''
*3020:
Warren Bernhardt – ''Manhattan Update''
*3021:
Pharoah Sanders &
Norman Connors – ''
Beyond a Dream''
*3022:
John Scofield – ''
Bar Talk''
*3023:
Steve Khan
Steve Khan (born Steven Harris Cahn;
April 28, 1947) is an American jazz guitarist.
Career
Steven Harris Cahn was born in Los Angeles. His father, lyricist Sammy Cahn, "loved to hear any and all versions of his songs". He took piano lessons as a ...
– ''Evidence''
*3024:
Larry Coryell – ''Standing Ovation''
*3025:
Henry Threadgill – ''
Easily Slip Into Another World''
*3032:
Michael Shrieve &
Steve Roach – ''The Leaving Time''
*3054:
Chet Baker
Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. He is known for major innovations in cool jazz that led him to be nicknamed the "Prince of Cool".
Baker earned much attention and ...
– ''
Let's Get Lost''
*3070:
Hugh Masekela – ''
Uptownship''
*3084:
Opafire – ''Opafire featuring Zachary Norman E.''
*3115:
John Hicks
Sir John Richard Hicks (8 April 1904 – 20 May 1989) was a British economist. He is considered one of the most important and influential economists of the twentieth century. The most familiar of his many contributions in the field of economics ...
,
Cecil McBee &
Elvin Jones
Elvin Ray Jones (September 9, 1927 – May 18, 2004) was an American jazz drummer of the post-bop era. Most famously a member of John Coltrane's quartet, with whom he recorded from late 1960 to late 1965, Jones appeared on such albums as ''My Fa ...
– ''
Power Trio
A power trio is a rock band format having a lineup of electric guitar, bass guitar and drum kit, leaving out a dedicated vocalist or an additional rhythm guitar or keyboard instrument that are often used in other rock music bands that are quart ...
''
63000 (BMG) series
*63119:
Steve Coleman and Five Elements – ''
Black Science''
*63125: Steve Coleman – ''
Rhythm in Mind''
*63136:
Hugh Masekela – ''
Beatin' Aroun de Bush''
*63141:
John Hicks
Sir John Richard Hicks (8 April 1904 – 20 May 1989) was a British economist. He is considered one of the most important and influential economists of the twentieth century. The most familiar of his many contributions in the field of economics ...
- ''
Friends Old and New''
*63144: Steve Coleman and Five Elements – ''
Drop Kick''
*63153:
Mulgrew Miller – ''
Hand in Hand''
*63160: Steve Coleman and Five Elements – ''
The Tao of Mad Phat''
*63171:
Mulgrew Miller – ''
With Our Own Eyes''
*63176:
Opafire – ''Without a Trace''
*63188:
Mulgrew Miller – ''
Getting to Know You''
References
External links
Arista/Novus at Discogs.comNovus at Discogs.com– Some albums are erroneously filed there, such as AN 3007 - Muhal Richard Abrams - ''Spiral: Live at Montreux 1978''
Article by Robert Christgau
{{Authority control
American jazz record labels
Defunct record labels of the United States
Record labels established in 1978