Relative Pitch Records is an American

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

specializing in

free jazz Free jazz is an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventions, such as regular tempos, tones, and chord changes. Musicians dur ...

and

avant-garde jazz Avant-garde jazz (also known as avant-jazz and experimental jazz) is a style of music and improvisation that combines avant-garde art music and composition with jazz. It originated in the early 1950s and developed through to the late 1960s. Orig ...

free improvisation Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any rules beyond the logic or inclination of the musician(s) involved. The term can refer to both a technique (employed by any musician in any genre) and as a recognizable genre in it ...

, and

experimental music Experimental music is a general label for any music or music genre that pushes existing boundaries and genre definitions. Experimental compositional practice is defined broadly by exploratory sensibilities radically opposed to, and questioning of, ...

. Run by Kevin Reilly, Relative Pitch has been ranked among the top jazz record labels in ''

The New York City Jazz Record ''The New York City Jazz Record'' is a monthly New York City based publication that includes features, reviews and concert announcements regarding jazz music. It is available in print form (black and white hardcopy) as well as online at www.nycjaz ...

'' and ''

DownBeat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...

'' year-end lists, and praised by publications and organizations including ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'',

NPR Music NPR Music is a project of National Public Radio, an American privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization, that launched in November 2007 to present public radio music programming and original editorial content for music ...

, ''

The Brooklyn Rail ''The Brooklyn Rail'' is a publication and platform for the arts, culture, humanities, and politics. The ''Rail'' is based out of Brooklyn, New York. It features in-depth critical essays, fiction, poetry, as well as interviews with artists, criti ...

'', and in ''Bandcamp Daily'''s label profile, "Relative Pitch is Built on Enthusiasm for Experimental Music".

History

Co-founders Kevin Reilly and Mike Panico first met waiting in line at a show and later spent time together as volunteers at The Stone, an experimental music space then located in the East Village. They eventually decided to start a record label, and co-founded Relative Pitch in 2011. Both Reilly and Panico attended a large number of avant-jazz performances, as noted by many of the label's artists. In a 2013 feature,

Mary Halvorson Mary Halvorson (born October 16, 1980) is an American avant-garde jazz composer and guitarist from Brookline, Massachusetts. Among her many collaborations, she has: led a trio with and Ches Smith, and a quintet with the addition of Jon Irabag ...

asserted that “What Kevin and Mike share is an unrelenting dedication to and passion for music, which is evident from the sheer number of concerts they attend"; said, "what makes

elative Pitch Elative can refer to: * Elative case, a grammatical case in Finno-Ugric languages and others * Elative (gradation), an inflection used in Arabic for the comparative and the superlative *The absolutive superlative (a superlative used without an ...

so special in my mind, is that the people that run the label are faces in the crowd of 90% of the shows you play in New York", and described the two as "missionary in their desire to get the music they think is transcendent out to people that don't have the chance or impetus to go to six or seven shows a week in Brooklyn". They traveled to see shows as well, and the label's roster includes both local and international artists; Reilly has said, "I like the idea that you could look at our catalogue and not know where the label is based". In 2018, Panico's body was found in

Flushing Bay Flushing Bay is a tidal embayment in New York City. It is located on the south side of the East River and stretches to the south near the neighborhood of Flushing, Queens. It is bordered on the west by LaGuardia Airport and the Grand Central Parkw ...

; his death was ruled a suicide. A memorial concert was held at Brooklyn performing arts space

Roulette Roulette is a casino game named after the French word meaning ''little wheel'' which was likely developed from the Italian game Biribi''.'' In the game, a player may choose to place a bet on a single number, various groupings of numbers, the ...

, with performances by a number of artists on the Relative Pitch label. Reilly took over operations following Panico's death.

Reception

'' has described Relative Pitch as "a label whose roster is the perfect place to start if you're looking to take the pulse of the best jazz and improv players currently on the scene".

has called Relative Pitch "a small label that has made a big impact in avant-garde and free-improv circles", saying its roster "includes some of the most acclaimed artists in the style

f avant-garde jazz F, or f, is the sixth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounced ), and the plural is ''efs''. Hist ...

like guitarists

and

Susan Alcorn Susan Alcorn (born 1953) is an American composer, improvisor, and pedal steel guitarist. Life Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Alcorn started playing guitar at the age of twelve and quickly immersed herself in folk music, blues, and the pop music of th ...

; bassists

Joëlle Léandre Joëlle Léandre (born 12 September 1951 in Aix-en-Provence, France) is a French double bassist, vocalist, and composer active in new music and free improvisation. In the field of contemporary music, she has performed with Pierre Boulez's Ens ...

and

Michael Bisio Michael Bisio (March 4, 1955 Troy, New York) is an American jazz double bassist, composer, and bandleader. Since 2009 he has been the bassist for the Matthew Shipp Trio. Bisio appears on over 100 CDs, leading on 12 CDs and co-leading on anothe ...

; and saxophonists

Evan Parker Evan Shaw Parker (born 5 April 1944) is a British tenor and soprano saxophone player who plays free improvisation. Recording and performing prolifically with many collaborators, Parker was a pivotal figure in the development of European free ...

Vinny Golia Vinny Golia (born March 1, 1946) is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist specializing in woodwind instruments. He performs in the genres of contemporary music, jazz, free jazz, and free improvisation. Career As a composer, Golia fuse ...

and

Matana Roberts Matana Roberts (born 1975) is an American sound experimentalist, visual artist, jazz saxophonist and clarinetist, composer and improviser based in New York City. They have previously been an active member of the Association for the Advancement ...

". The publication also noted

Matthew Shipp Matthew Shipp (born December 7, 1960) is an American pianist, composer, and bandleader. Early life and education Shipp was raised in Wilmington, Delaware, and began playing piano at six years old. His mother was a friend of trumpeter Clifford ...

Bill Frisell William Richard Frisell (born March 18, 1951) is an American jazz guitarist, composer and arranger. Frisell first came to prominence at ECM Records in the 1980s, as both a session player and a leader. He went on to work in a variety of context ...

Ingrid Laubrock Ingrid Laubrock (born 24 September 1970) is a German jazz saxophonist, who primarily plays tenor saxophone but also performs and records on soprano, alto, and baritone saxophones. She studied with Jean Toussaint, Dave Liebman and at the Guildha ...

Tom Rainey Tom Rainey (born 1957) is an American jazz drummer. Career After attending Berklee College of Music he moved to New York in 1979. He has played with Tim Berne, Nels Cline, Drew Gress, Mark Helias, Fred Hersch, Tony Malaby, Simon Nabatov, ...

, and Kirk Knuffke as among the "dozens of prominent artists who have released albums on the label". Wooley invited cofounder Reilly to contribute to "The Listeners Issue" of the journal ''Sound American'', describing him as "represent nga model of listening: the critical audience member" who "approaches every concert and, as you will see, every recording with the rigor of an academic and the intensity of a man possessed".

Notable releases

The annual

Jazz Critics Poll has included

's ''Reverse Blue'' (2014), James Brandon Lewis's ''An UnRuly Manifesto'' (2019), and the

Quintet's ''Pedernal'' (2020). Lewis's ''An UnRuly Manifesto'' was also included in year-end lists in ''

JazzTimes ''JazzTimes'' is an American magazine devoted to jazz. Published 10 times a year, it was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1970 by Ira Sabin as the newsletter ''Radio Free Jazz'' to complement his record store. Coverage After a decade of grow ...

'', ''

'', and ''DownBeat''; the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' counted Alcorn's ''Pedernal'' in their Best Jazz Albums of 2020. Along with Lewis, many Relative Pitch releases have received a top rating in ''

'': ''Continuum'' (2012) by Book of Three, the trio of

Taylor Ho Bynum Taylor Ho Bynum (born 1975) is a musician, composer, educator and writer. His main instrument is the cornet, but he also plays numerous similar instruments, including flugelhorn and trumpet. Early life Bynum was born in BaltimoreWilmoth, Charli" ...

, John Hébert, and Gerald Cleaver;

Greg Cohen Greg Cohen (born July 13, 1953) is an American jazz bassist who has been a member of John Zorn's Masada quartet and worked with numerous other noted musicians for over four decades. Career Cohen plays traditional jazz and other styles, includin ...

's ''Golden State'' (2014); Evan Parker and

Sylvie Courvoisier Sylvie Courvoisier (born 30 November 1968) is a composer, pianist and improviser. Career Courvoisier, originally from Lausanne, Switzerland, has lived in Brooklyn, New York for years. She has led several groups over the years, recorded 10 al ...

's ''

Either Or And ''Either Or And'' is an album by British jazz saxophonist Evan Parker and Swiss pianist Sylvie Courvoisier, which was recorded in studio after their 2013 performance at The Stone and released on Relative Pitch Records. Reception The ''Down ...

'' (2015); Courvoisier and Halvorson's ''Crop Circles'' (2017); and John Butcher's ''Last Dream Of The Morning'' (2018). Other critically-acclaimed albums include

and

's '' Floating Ice'' (2012);

Jemeel Moondoc Jemeel Moondoc (August 5, 1946 – August 29, 2021) was a jazz saxophonist who played alto saxophone. He was a proponent of a highly improvisational style. He was born in Chicago, Illinois, United States, and studied clarinet and piano befo ...

's ''

The Zookeeper's House ''The Zookeeper's House'' is an album by American jazz saxophonist Jemeel Moondoc, which was recorded in 2013 and released on Relative Pitch Records. It was his first album leading a full band in over a decade. Music Moondoc plays the ballad "For ...

'' (2014); Tomas Fujiwara's ''Variable Bets'' (2014); the Matthew Shipp Trio's ''

Root of Things ''Root of Things'' is an album by American jazz pianist Matthew Shipp, which was recorded in 2013 and released on Relative Pitch. It was the second studio recording by his trio with Michael Bisio on bass and Whit Dickey on drums. Reception In a ...

'' (2014);

' ''Always'' (2015); Halvorson's ''Reverse Blue'' (2015); Alcorn's ''Soledad'' (2015); ''Pulverize The Sound'', the self-titled debut of trio Peter Evans, Tim Dahl, and Mike Pride (2015); Mette Ramussen and

Chris Corsano Chris Corsano is an American drummer, improviser, and composer. Career Alongside his solo work, Corsano has performed on over one hundred records with artists including Evan Parker, Sunburned Hand of the Man, Six Organs of Admittance, Dredd ...

's ''All The Ghosts At Once'' (2015); Bisio and Kirk Knuffke's ''Row for William O.'' (2016); ''The Out Louds'', the eponymous debut of trio Halvorson, Fujiwara, and Ben Goldberg (2016); Steph Richards' ''Fullmoon'' (2018); ''Geometry of Caves'' (2018) and ''Geometry of Distance'' (2019), both by the improvisational quartet of

Tomeka Reid Tomeka Reid (born 1977) is an American composer, improviser, cellist, curator, and teacher. Reid has performed and recorded with the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Nicole Mitchell, Anthony Braxton, the AACM Great Black Music Ensemble, Mike Reed's ...

Kyoko Kitamura Kyoko Kitamura is a vocal improviser and composer residing in New York City. Background Kitamura is a Japanese-American musician born in New York City and raised partially in Tokyo. She studied piano at the Juilliard School of Music pre-college d ...

, and Joe Morris; and Gregg Belisle-Chi's ''‘Koi’: Performing the Music of Tim Berne'' (2021). Relative Pitch also released Nate Wooley's quartet project with Laubrock, Matt Moran, and Courvoisier in the albums ''Battle Pieces'' (2015), ''Battle Pieces 2'' (2017), and ''Battle Pieces 4'' (2019).

Discography

Relative Pitch Records (RPR)

Relative Pitch Records: Solo Series (RPRSS)

Relative Pitch Records: Digital Only (RPRDL)

References

{{reflist Experimental music record labels American jazz record labels Jazz record labels American independent record labels American record labels Noise music record labels