Avant Records was a

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

in Japan that specialized in

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. Ori ...

, avant rock, and experimental music. The label released more than 80 albums between 1992 and 2004.

History

New York saxophonist John Zorn was signed to Nonesuch, but his band Naked City recorded music that required a different label. He started Avant in 1992 as a division of DIW/Disk Union in Japan and produced its first albums. The label's roster included Derek Bailey,

Duck Baker Richard Royall "Duck" Baker IV (born July 30, 1949) is an American acoustic fingerstyle guitarist who plays in a variety of styles: jazz, blues, gospel, ragtime, folk, and Irish and Scottish music. He has written many instruction books for guitar ...

Cyro Baptista Cyro Baptista (born December 23, 1950) is a Brazilian percussionist in jazz and world music. He creates many of the percussion instruments he plays. Career Born in São Paulo, Brazil, Baptista arrived in the U.S. in 1980 with a scholarship to C ...

Joey Baron Bernard Joseph Baron (born June 26, 1955 in Richmond, Virginia) is an American avant-garde jazz drummer who plays frequently with Bill Frisell and John Zorn. Music career Baron was born on June 26, 1955, in Richmond Virginia. When he was nine, ...

Steve Beresford Steve Beresford (born 6 March 1950) is a British musician who graduated from the University of York He has played a variety of instruments, including piano, electronics, trumpet, euphonium, bass guitar and a wide variety of toy instruments, suc ...

Anthony Coleman Anthony Coleman (born August 30, 1955) is an avant-garde jazz pianist. During the 1980s and 1990s he worked with John Zorn on '' Cobra'', ''Kristallnacht'', '' The Big Gundown'', '' Archery'', and '' Spillane'' and helped push modern Jewish music ...

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 albu ...

, Dave Douglas, Mark Feldman,

Erik Friedlander Erik Friedlander is an American cellist and composer based in New York City. A veteran of New York City's experimental downtown scene, Friedlander has worked in many contexts, but is perhaps best known for his frequent collaborations with sax ...

Wayne Horvitz Wayne Horvitz (born 1955) is an American composer, keyboardist and record producer. He came to prominence in the Downtown scene of 1980s and '90s New York City, where he met his future wife, the singer, songwriter and pianist Robin Holcomb. He ...

Joe Maneri Joseph Gabriel Esther Maneri (February 9, 1927 – August 24, 2009), was an American jazz composer, saxophone and clarinet player. Violinist Mat Maneri is his son. Boston Microtonal Society In 1988, Maneri founded the Boston Microtonal Society ...

Misha Mengelberg Misha Mengelberg (5 June 1935 – 3 March 2017) was a Dutch jazz pianist and composer.Feather, Leonard & Gitler, Ira (2007) ''The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz'', p. 459. Oxford University Press. A prominent figure in post-WWII European Jazz ...

, William Parker,

Bobby Previte Bobby Previte (born July 16, 1951 in Niagara Falls, New York) is a drummer, composer, and bandleader. He earned a degree in economics from the University at Buffalo, where he also studied percussion. He moved to New York City in 1979 and began ...

, and

Min Xiao-Fen Min Xiao-Fen () is a Chinese-American pipa player, vocalist, and composer known for her work in traditional Chinese music, contemporary classical music, and jazz. Life Min Xiao-Fen studied with her father, Min Jiqian (闵季骞), a music profe ...

. In 1995 Zorn and Kazunori Sugiyama started

Tzadik Records Tzadik Records is a record label in New York City that specializes in avant-garde and experimental music. The label was established by composer and saxophonist John Zorn in 1995. He is the executive producer of all Tzadik releases. Tzadik is a n ...

in New York as a vehicle for Zorn's albums and for musicians who recorded for Avant.

Discography

* Avan 001: Naked City – '' Heretic'' * Avan 002: Naked City – ''

Grand Guignol ''Le Théâtre du Grand-Guignol'' (: "The Theatre of the Great Puppet")—known as the Grand Guignol–was a theatre in the Pigalle district of Paris (7, cité Chaptal). From its opening in 1897 until its closing in 1962, it specialised in natura ...

'' * Avan 003: Naked City – ''

Radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...

'' * Avan 004: Naked City – '' Absinthe'' * Avan 005: Various Artists – ''In His Own Sweet Way: A Tribute to Dave Brubeck'' * Avan 006: DNA – '' DNA (Last Live at CBGB's)'' * Avan 007:

Buckethead Brian Patrick Carroll (born May 13, 1969), known professionally as Buckethead, is an American guitarist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He has received critical acclaim for his innovative electric guitar playing. His music spans severa ...

– '' Bucketheadland'' * Avan 008: Fushitsusha – '' Allegorical Misunderstanding'' * Avan 009:

Anton Fier Anton Fier (June 20, 1956 – September 14, 2022) was an American drummer, producer, composer, and bandleader. Family Fier, known as Tony, was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to Ruthe Marie Fier and Anton J. Fier Jr., a former Marine and electrician. ...

– ''Dreamspeed'' * Avan 010:

Blind Idiot God Blind Idiot God is an American instrumental rock trio formed in 1982 in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, by guitarist Andy Hawkins, bassist Gabriel Katz and drummer Ted Epstein. The phrase "blind idiot god" comes from horror writer H. P. Lo ...

– ''

Cyclotron A cyclotron is a type of particle accelerator invented by Ernest O. Lawrence in 1929–1930 at the University of California, Berkeley, and patented in 1932. Lawrence, Ernest O. ''Method and apparatus for the acceleration of ions'', filed: Jan ...

'' * Avan 011:

– ''Disco by Night'' * Avan 012: Peter Garland – ''Nana & Victorio'' * Avan 013: David Shea – ''Shock Corridor'' * Avan 014: George E. Lewis – ''Voyager'' * Avan 015: Lee Hyla – ''In Double Light'' * Avan 016: John Oswald – ''Plexure'' * Avan 017: Rough Assemblage – ''Construction and Demolition'' * Avan 018:

Zeena Parkins Zeena Parkins (born 1956) is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist active in experimental, free improvised, contemporary classical, and avant-jazz music; she is known for having "reinvented the harp". Parkins performs on standard har ...

– ''Isabelle'' * Avan 019:

Dave Soldier David Sulzer (born November 6, 1956) is an American neuroscientist and musician. He is a professor at Columbia University Medical Center in the departments of psychiatry, neurology, and pharmacology. Sulzer's laboratory investigates the interact ...

– ''SMUT'' * Avan 020: David Weinstein – ''Perfume'' * Avan 021: Min Xiaofen – ''With Six Composers'' * Avan 022: Stephen Drury – ''Faith, The Loss of Faith, and the Return of Faith'' * Avan 023:

Romero Lubambo Romero Lubambo (born 1955) is a Brazilian jazz guitarist. Career He was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He grew up with American jazz and classical music in the house because his uncle played guitar, lived next door, and visited frequently. Luba ...

– ''Lubambo'' * Avan 024: John French – ''O Solo Drumbo'' * Avan 025: Naked City – ''Radio, Vol. 2'' (Never Recorded) * Avan 026: Boredoms – ''Wow 2'' * Avan 027: Pigpen – '' V as in Victim'' * Avan 028:

James Plotkin James Plotkin is an American guitarist and producer known for his role in bands such as Khanate and OLD but with an extensive catalogue outside these bands. He has played guitar for Phantomsmasher and Scorn and continues to remix tracks for ban ...

– ''The Joy of Disease'' * Avan 029: Cake Like – ''Delicious'' * Avan 030:

Ikue Mori (born 17 December 1953), also known as Ikue Ile, is a drummer, electronic musician, composer, and graphic designer. Mori was awarded a "Genius grant" from the MacArthur Foundation in 2022. Biography Ikue Mori was born and raised in Japan. She ...

– ''Painted Desert'' * Avan 031: Various – ''Disco Bhangra: Wedding Bands From Rajasthan'' * Avan 032: God Is My Co-Pilot – ''Mir Shlufn Nisht'' * Avan 033:

Marc Ribot Marc Ribot (; born May 21, 1954) is an American guitarist and composer. His work has touched on many styles, including no wave, free jazz, rock, and Cuban music. Ribot is also known for collaborating with other musicians, most notably Tom Wai ...

– ''

Shrek ''Shrek'' is a 2001 American computer-animated comedy film loosely based on the 1990 book of the same name by William Steig. It is the first installment in the ''Shrek'' franchise. The film was directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jen ...

'' * Avan 034:

Z'EV Z'EV (born Stefan Joel Weisser, February 8, 1951 – December 16, 2017) was an American poet, percussionist, and sound artist. After studying various world music traditions at CalArts, he began creating his own percussion sounds out of indust ...

– ''Heads & Tales'' * Avan 035:

Ben Goldberg Ben Goldberg is an American clarinet player and composer. Career In the early 1990s, Ben Goldberg performed alongside electric bassist Dan Seamans and percussionist Kenny Wollesen as the New Klezmer Trio. They went on to produce three albums an ...

– ''Twelve Minor'' * Avan 036:

's Empty Suits – ''

Slay the Suitors ''Slay the Suitors'' is an album by American drummer/composer Bobby Previte's group Empty Suits. The album was released on the Avant label in 1994.

'' * Avan 037: Phillip Johnston's Big Trouble – ''The Unknown'' * Avan 038:

Trio – ''Who's Bridge'' * Avan 039:

– ''

Signals for Tea ''Signals for Tea'' is a 1995 album by composer, musician and arranger Steve Beresford which was released on the Japanese Avant label.

'' * Avan 040:

– '' Spinning Song: Duck Baker Plays the Music of Herbie Nichols'' * Avan 041: Bob Ostertag – ''Fear No Love'' * Avan 042: Chris Cochrane – ''Bath'' * Avan 043: Weird Little Boy – '' Weird Little Boy'' * Avan 044:

Eugene Chadbourne Eugene Chadbourne (born January 4, 1954) is an American banjoist, guitarist and music critic. Life and career Chadbourne was born in Mount Vernon, New York, but grew up in Boulder, Colorado. He started playing guitar when he was eleven or twel ...

– ''Pain Pen'' * Avan 045:

Jenny Scheinman Jenny Scheinman is a jazz violinist. She has produced several critically acclaimed solo albums, including ''12 Songs'', named one of the Top Ten Albums of 2005 by ''The New York Times''. She has played with Linda Perry, Norah Jones, Nels Cline ...

Quartet – ''Live at Yoshi's'' * Avan 046: Liu Sola &

Wu Man Wu Man (; b. Hangzhou, Zhejiang, January 2, 1963) is a Chinese pipa player and composer. Trained in Pudong-style pipa performance at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, she is known for playing in a broad range of musical styles and i ...

– ''China Collage'' * Avan 047: Smarnamisa! – ''Resia Valley Music'' * Avan 048: Andy Haas – ''Arnhem Land'' * Avan 049: Makigami Koichi – '' John Zorn's Cobra: Tokyo Operations '94'' * Avan 050: Derek Bailey & Min Xiao–Fen – ''Viper'' * Avan 051: Dim Sum Clip Job – ''Harmolodic Jeopardy'' * Avan 052:

Jad Fair Jad Fair (born June 9, 1954) is an American singer, guitarist, graphic artist, and founding member of lo-fi alternative rock group Half Japanese. Biography Fair was born in Coldwater, Michigan. In 1974, he and his brother David formed the lo-f ...

& The Shapir–O'Rama – ''We Are The Rage'' * Avan 053: Prelapse – '' Prelapse'' * Avan 054: Pieces – ''I Need 5 Minutes Alone'' * Avan 055: Larval – ''Larval'' * Avan 056: Derek Bailey/ John Zorn/ William Parker – '' Harras'' * Avan 057:

– ''

Chimera Chimera, Chimaera, or Chimaira (Greek for " she-goat") originally referred to: * Chimera (mythology), a fire-breathing monster of Ancient Lycia said to combine parts from multiple animals * Mount Chimaera, a fire-spewing region of Lycia or Cilici ...

'' * Avan 058: Arcado String Trio – ''Live in Europe'' * Avan 059:

& Barondown – '' Crackshot'' * Avan 060: Derek Bailey – ''Guitar, Drums N Bass'' * Avan 061:

– '' Vira Loucos'' * Avan 062: Drums of Death * Avan 063: Bernard Woma – ''Live at the Pito Bar'' * Avan 064: Abdulai Bangoura – ''Sigiri'' * Avan 065: Mark Feldman &

– ''

Music for Violin and Piano ''Music for Violin and Piano'' is an album by violinist Mark Feldman and pianist Sylvie Courvoisier, which was released on the Avant label in 1999. Reception In his review for Allmusic, Mark W.B. Allender notes that "Both Feldman and Courvoisie ...

'' * Avan 066: Dave Douglas – ''

Sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a sa ...

'' * Avan 067:

– '' Paniots Nine'' * Avan 068:

Jamie Saft Jamie Saft is an American keyboardist and multi-instrumentalist and composer. He was born in New York City, and studied at Tufts University and the New England Conservatory of Music. Saft moved from Brooklyn to the Hudson Valley around 2007, and ...

Cuong Vu Cuong Vu (born 19 September 1969) is a Vietnamese-American jazz trumpeter. In addition to his own work as a bandleader, Vu was a member of the Pat Metheny Group. Biography Born in Saigon on September 19, 1969, Vu immigrated to Seattle with his ...

– '' Ragged Jack'' * Avan 069: Bruce Ackley – ''The Hearing'' * Avan 070: Marie McAuliffe – ''Plays the Music of Burt Bacharach'' * Avan 071: Whistling Hangmen – ''Barhopping'' * Avan 072: Alva – ''Fair-Haired Guilletine'' * Avan 073: EasSide Percussion – ''ESP'' * Avan 074:

Keiji Haino Keiji Haino ( ''Haino Keiji''; born May 3, 1952) is a Japanese musician and singer-songwriter whose work has included rock, free improvisation, noise music, percussion, psychedelic music, minimalism and drone music. He has been active since the ...

– ''An Unclear Trial: More Than This'' * Avan 075: Dragon Blue – ''Hades Park'' * Avan 076: Dying Ground – ''Dying Ground'' * Avan 077: David Watson – ''Skirl'' * Avan 078:

Harriet Tubman Harriet Tubman (born Araminta Ross, March 10, 1913) was an American abolitionist and social activist. Born into slavery, Tubman escaped and subsequently made some 13 missions to rescue approximately 70 slaves, including family and friends, u ...

– ''Prototype'' (2000) * Avan 079: Vivian Sisters – ''Vivian Sisters'' * Avan 080:

Four Plus One Ensemble – ''

From a Window "From a Window" is a song written by Paul McCartney, attributed to John Lennon and Paul McCartney, which was recorded by Billy J. Kramer with The Dakotas (band), The Dakotas. It was the last of six Lennon–McCartney compositions recorded by Kram ...

'' * Avan 081:

Bill Laswell William Otis Laswell (born February 12, 1955) is an American bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. His music draws from funk, ...

vs.

Submerged (DJ) Submerged (alias of Kurt Gluck) is a Brooklyn-based DJ, bassist, founder of the avant-garde drum and bass and experimental music label Ohm Resistance and co-founder of Obliterati, and a prolific multi-genre electronic music producer, first nota ...

– ''Brutal Calling''

References

{{Authority control Japanese independent record labels Record labels established in 1992 Jazz record labels Experimental music record labels