Creative Works Records is an independent Swiss

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 ...

History

The label ''Creative Works Records'' was founded in 1983 by Mike Wider in

Root In vascular plants, the roots are the organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often below the sur ...

(

canton of Lucerne The canton of Lucerne (german: Kanton Luzern rm, Chantun Lucerna french: Canton de Lucerne it, Canton Lucerna) is a canton of Switzerland. It is located in the centre of Switzerland. The population of the canton (as of ) is . , the populati ...

). Wider, who at that time had helped build up a recording studio in

Lucerne Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic German, High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label=Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking po ...

and was active as a music producer, recorded the American alto saxophonist Marion Brown on his first album. With the solo LP he then travelled to record stores and also to a trade fair in Paris, where he was personally welcomed by the French Minister of Culture Jack Lang for his commitment.Tom Gsteige
''Der Mäzen ohne Goldesel'' (2006)
Since then the label has released between two and four productions a year. In particular modern and contemporary

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, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

and

avant-garde music Avant-garde music is music that is considered to be at the forefront of innovation in its field, with the term "avant-garde" implying a critique of existing aesthetic conventions, rejection of the status quo in favor of unique or original elemen ...

are released. The label is run by Wider on a part-time basis and is not profit-oriented: All profits made are always fully invested in the next productions.

Concept of the label

Musicians released on the label include

Corin Curschellas Corin Curschellas (; born 2 July 1956) is a Swiss singer-songwriter, vocalist (jazz, folk music, world music, chanson), free improvisation, actress (theatre, film, musical), voice actress in (radio drama and audio books) as well as voice instruc ...

, , John Wolf Brennan,

Christy Doran Christy Doran (born 1949) is a jazz guitarist born in Dublin, Ireland, and raised in Lucerne, Switzerland. Doran founded OM with Fredy Studer, Urs Leimgruber, and Bobby Burri in the 1970s; this ensemble recorded for ECM. He and Studer also wo ...

Urs Leimgruber Urs Leimgruber (1 January 1952 in Lucerne) is a Swiss saxophonist. He lived in Paris from 1988 to 2005. Then he came back to his home town, Lucerne. His fields of activity are improvisation, Jazz and 20th-century classical music. Discography ...

, Evan Parker,

Alfred Harth Alfred Harth, now known as Alfred 23 Harth or A23H, is a German multimedia artist, band leader, multi-instrumentalist musician, and composer who creatively mixes genres. Career Harth founded a free improvisation band, Just Music (1967 to 1972) ...

, Marion Brown, ,

Peter Schärli Peter Schärli (29 May 1955) is a Swiss jazz trumpeter. Biography When he was ten years old, he started to learn trumpet. He continued his studies at the Lucern jazz school while working as a clerk. He joined the blues band Exodus as a sing ...

Ned Rothenberg Ned Rothenberg (born September 15, 1956) is an American multi-instrumentalist and composer. He specializes in woodwind instruments, including the alto saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet, flute, and shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute). He is known ...

, , , and Franz Koglmann. Albums by the late musicians Klaus Koch and Werner Lüdi were also published by the label. Both records and DVDs have been released. Currently the focus is on Swiss musicians of the jazz and Free improvisation scene, such as , Christy Doran and , and the Swiss composers who work around

Marianne Schroeder Marianne Schroeder (born 1949 in Reiden) is a Swiss pianist and composer. She studied with Giacinto Scelsi. She played at Carnegie Hall, Lucerne Festival and Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. She worked with John Cage and Shigeru Kan-no. She ...

and Brennan in the Groupe Lacroix (for example in collaboration with the

Moscow Rachmaninov Trio The Moscow Rachmaninov Trio is a piano trio that emerged in 1994 from the Moscow Ensemble for Contemporary Music. Its members are Victor Yampolsky (piano), Mikhail Tsinman (violin) and Natalia Savinova (cello). The trio is named after the Russian co ...

from Russia and the Ensemble Sortisatio from Germany). Today, it is part of the label's philosophy to "accompany a band or an artist over several years and to offer them the opportunity to introduce themselves with different projects at different intervals." Thus, the label has developed among others John Wolf Brennan's five solo albums for piano as well as his exhibition were published by the label ''I.N.I.T.I.A.L.S.''This exhibition goes back to 1991, se
Interview with Brennan
Concerto 4/2006 In doing so, the label focuses on building up the musicians over a longer period of time without restricting their artistic freedom. Quote Wider: "In certain productions I'm already involved in the creation process, but I'm not one to talk up everywhere. But it is important for me to find a personal connection to the musicians." Unlike many other labels, the rights remain with the musicians.

Literature

* K. D. Zeh: ''20 Jahre Creative Works Records: Wider den seichten Pop.'' 5/2004: 28

References

External links

Website of Creative Works Records
(engl.)
Creative Works Records on Discogs
{{Authority control Swiss independent record labels Classical music record labels Jazz record labels Companies based in the canton of Lucerne