RogueArt (also written Rogueart and Rogue Art) is a French
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 ...
based in Paris. It was founded by record producer Michel Dorbon in 2005 and specialises in jazz and improvised music.
History
RogueArt was founded by record producer Michel Dorbon in 2005, and its first release was the album, ''Bindu'' by jazz percussionist
Hamid Drake
Hamid Drake (born August 3, 1955) is an American jazz drummer and percussionist.
By the close of the 1990s, Hamid Drake was widely regarded as one of the best percussionists in jazz and improvised music. Incorporating Afro-Cuban, Indian, and Afr ...
.
In the 1960s and 1970s, Dorbon listened to rock groups like Cream,
Soft Machine
Soft Machine are a British rock band from Canterbury formed in mid-1966 by Mike Ratledge (keyboards, 1966–1976), Robert Wyatt (drums, vocals, 1966–1971), Kevin Ayers (bass, guitar, vocals, 1966–1968) and Daevid Allen (guitar, 1966–196 ...
improvisation
Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...
. His first exposure to free jazz was at an Archie Shepp concert in the 1970s. His interest in this type of jazz led him to start working for various record labels. In the late 1990s he began producing records for Bleu Regard, a French record label. After several years, Dorbon decided he wanted more control of the production process, and in 2005, he established his own record label, RogueArt in Paris.
Dorbon said RogueArt' is a natural name for a label that provides shelter for music that is outside the mainstream." He wanted the RogueArt covers to be "original, sober, noticeable and beautiful", and asked artist Max Schoendorff for ideas. Schoendorff proposed a design of a white cover with no images or pictures, plain red and black text in the middle, and red and black stripes on the left and right borders. Dorbon accepted the design without any changes and used it for all RogueArt's releases.
RogueArt features some European musicians, but mostly American artists because of Dorbon's "love for American, and particularly New York, jazz". RogueArt had released over 100 albums. Included in their catalogue is ''Passages'' (2012), a concept album by cellist Didier Petit and writer Alexandre Pierrepont. It was made during a 2011 trip across America during which they stopped at Los Angeles, Woodstock, Chicago and New York City to improvise and record with local musicians, including Drake, Gerald Cleaver, Marilyn Crispell, Nicole Mitchell and
Michael Zerang
Michael Zerang (born November 16, 1958) is an American jazz percussionist and drummer.
Career
Zerang's parents both emigrated to the United States from the Middle East; his father is Iranian and his mother Iraqi.William Parker. The three volumes comprise photographs and interviews conducted by Parker. All RogueArt books have the same white covers with red and black text as their albums.