Concord Records is an American
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 prod ...
owned by
Concord and based in
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wo ...
. Concord Records was launched in 1995 as an imprint designed to reach beyond the company's foundational
Concord Jazz label.
The label's artists have won 14
GRAMMY Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...
s and 88 GRAMMY nominations.
The original logo, a stylized
eighth note incorporating the C and J of "Concord Jazz", was created by Bay Area graphic designer Dan Buck, who also worked on several album covers for the company.
History
In 1999, Concord Records was purchased by a consortium led by Hal Gaba and television producer
Norman Lear. Its offices were moved from Concord, California to Beverly Hills in 2002. That same year, Concord partnered with
Starbucks
Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is the world's largest coffeehouse chain.
As of November 2021, the company had 33,833 stores in 80 ...
to release
Ray Charles's ''
Genius Loves Company'', which won eight GRAMMY Awards, including Album of the Year.
Concord Records purchased the Fantasy Label Group in 2004, and in December 2006 announced the reactivation of the
Stax Records label as a forum for newly recorded music.
In 2005, it was announced that Concord Records had purchased
Telarc Records and its subsidiary Heads Up, in a deal whose terms were not divulged.
In 2007, Concord Records started the
Hear Music label in association with Starbucks, signing such artists as
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. On ...
,
Joni Mitchell, and
John Mellencamp
John J. Mellencamp (born October 7, 1951), previously known as Johnny Cougar, John Cougar, and John Cougar Mellencamp, is an American singer-songwriter. He is known for his catchy brand of heartland rock, which emphasizes traditional instrumen ...
. Although Starbucks ceased to be an active partner a year later, Concord kept Hear active, having a Top 5 album in 2010 with
Carole King and James Taylor's ''
Live at the Troubadour''.
In 2008, Village Roadshow Pictures Group and Concord Music Group completed their merger, resulting in the creation of the Village Roadshow Entertainment Group.
Kenny G signed to Concord in early 2008,
Herb Alpert in early 2009. On June 5, 2009,
Dave Koz signed to Concord.
In 2010, it was announced that Paul McCartney's solo and
Wings
A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is exp ...
catalogs would be globally distributed by Concord Music Group.
Current artists
*
Ben Williams
*
Benny Reid
Benny Reid (born October 7, 1980) is a jazz saxophonist, music producer, and composer.
Reid was born in Westfield, New Jersey, and his parents exposed him to the music of John Coltrane and Miles Davis. His high school teacher was Andy Fusco, sa ...
*
Bill Evans
*
Billy Gibbons
*
Boney James
*
Bud Shank
Clifford Everett "Bud" Shank Jr. (May 27, 1926 – April 2, 2009) was an American alto saxophonist and flautist. He rose to prominence in the early 1950s playing lead alto and flute in Stan Kenton's Innovations in Modern Music Orchestra and thr ...
*
Cal Tjader
*
Carl Fontana
*
Castlecomer
*
Charlie Byrd
*
Chick Corea
Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea (June 12, 1941 – February 9, 2021) was an American jazz composer, pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and occasional percussionist. His compositions "Spain", "500 Miles High", "La Fiesta", "Armando's Rhumba", and " ...
*
Christian Scott
*
Clare Fischer
*
Danielle Nicole
Danielle Nicole (born Danielle Nicole Schnebelen) is an American blues/soul musician from Kansas City, Missouri, United States. Her self-titled solo debut EP was released March 10, 2015 on Concord Records. The self-titled EP features Grammy A ...
*
Dave Brubeck
*
Dave Koz
*
Dave McKenna
*
David Pack
*
Dee Bell
Dee Bell (born July 16, 1950) is an American jazz singer.
Personal life
Bell grew up in a musical family and began playing music at home. She played clarinet in the Plainfield High School band and performed in an a cappella trio from age ten th ...
*
Dennis Rowland
Dennis Rowland is a jazz vocalist born and raised in Detroit.
Career
Having grown up in a household of jazz enthusiasts, Rowland developed an appreciation for jazz music at an early age. At the age of five or six Rowland heard the vocals of Joe ...
*
Dirty Dozen Brass Band
*
Elbow
*
Elvis Costello
*
Ernestine Anderson
*
Esperanza Spalding
*
Fantasia Barrino
*
Fourplay
*
Frank Vignola
*
Fraser MacPherson
*
Gene Harris
*
George Benson
George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist.
A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the 1960s, pla ...
*
George Shearing
*
Herb Ellis
*
Jake Hanna
*
James Taylor
James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, hav ...
*
Jamison Ross
*
Javier Colon
Javier Colon (stylized as Colón; born April 29, 1978) is an American acoustic singer-songwriter. He has referred to his style of music as being "acoustic soul." He was a member of EmcQ and The Derek Trucks Band, and worked with many musicians ...
*
Jonny Lang
*
Karrin Allyson
*
Kate Higgins
*
Ken Peplowski
*
Kenny G
*
Kenny Wayne Shepherd
*
Kristin Chenoweth
*
Kurt Elling
*
L.S. Dunes
*
Lindsey Stirling
*
Lizz Wright
*
Michael Feinstein
*
Molly Ringwald
*
Nnenna Freelon
*
The Offspring
The Offspring is an American rock band from Garden Grove, California, formed in 1984. Originally formed under the name Manic Subsidal, the band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Bryan "Dexter" Holland, lead gui ...
*
Paul Simon
*
Poncho Sanchez
*
Postmodern Jukebox
Postmodern Jukebox, also widely known by the initialism PMJ, is a rotating musical collective founded by arranger and pianist Scott Bradlee in 2011. PMJ is known for reworking popular modern music into different vintage genres, especially early 2 ...
*
Quiana Lynell
Quiana Lynell (born April 16, 1981) is an American blues and jazz singer, arranger and songwriter.
Early life
Lynell was born in Tyler, Texas. She grew up in a religious home and was exposed to gospel music from a young age. During high school ...
*
Rachael MacFarlane
*
Ramsey Lewis
*
Rob McConnell
*
Rosemary Clooney
*
Santana
*
Stefon Harris
*
Steve Perry
*
Stokley Williams
*
Sérgio Mendes
*
The New Pornographers
*
The Record Company
*
Valerie June
Valerie June Hockett (born January 10, 1982),Hubbell, John (2009),, ''The Commercial Appeal'', May 28, 2009.(aged 27 in May 2009). known as Valerie June, is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist from Memphis, Tennessee, United ...
*
Tears For Fears
*
Zella Day
Former artists
*
AFI
*
Barry Manilow
*
Casey Abrams
*
Haley Reinhart
*
Michael Bolton
*
Terence Blanchard
Terence Oliver Blanchard (born March 13, 1962) is an American trumpeter and composer. He started his career in 1982 as a member of the Lionel Hampton Orchestra, then The Jazz Messengers. He has composed more than forty film scores and performed ...
*
Tony Bennett
*
Dionne Warwick
Marie Dionne Warwick (; born December 12, 1940) is an American singer, actress, and television host.
Warwick ranks among the 40 biggest U.S. hit makers between 1955 and 1999, based on her chart history on ''Billboards Hot 100 pop singles ch ...
See also
*
List of record labels
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
*
American record labels
Jazz record labels
Labels distributed by Universal Music Group
Record labels based in California
Companies based in Los Angeles County, California
Companies based in Beverly Hills, California