FMR Records is a British record label. Founded by Trevor Taylor in 1987, it specialises in

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 m ...

and

improvised music Musical improvisation (also known as musical extemporization) is the creative activity of immediate ("in the moment") musical composition, which combines performance with communication of emotions and instrumental technique as well as spontaneous ...

Origins

Taylor is a drummer and percussionist who became increasingly interested in avant garde music. In the early 1970s he started Future Music, which was a record shop that expanded to seven branches. He founded the FMR (short for Future Music Records) label in 1987.

Label history

FMR's first release was by saxophonist

Tim Garland Tim Garland (born 19 October 1966) is a British jazz saxophonist, composer, and bandleader. His compositions draw from modern jazz and classical concert music. Career Garland was born in Ilford, Essex and grew up in Canterbury, Kent. He starte ...

. This set the pattern for the label's early years, concentrating on British jazz musicians. Taylor also purchased the right to issue CD versions of successful albums released by other British musicians, including

Mike Osborne Michael Evans Osborne (28 September 1941 – 19 September 2007) was an English jazz alto saxophonist, pianist, and clarinetist who was a member of the band Brotherhood of Breath in the 1960s and 1970s. Biography Mike Osborne was born in Her ...

, Howard Riley,

John Surman John Douglas Surman (born 30 August 1944) is an English jazz saxophone, bass clarinet, and synthesizer player, and composer of free jazz and modal jazz, often using themes from folk music. He has composed and performed music for dance performanc ...

and John Taylor; sales of these provided FMR with a financial boost. "By 2007 there were 250 CDs, DVDs and books in the catalogue". Over time, the founder felt that mainstream jazz lacked originality and that the label needed a narrower focus to succeed, so he concentrated more on releasing improvised music. He observed in 2017 that recordings by British musicians were in the minority of FMR's releases. The label has also had to adapt to the industry reality of falling CD sales: in 2017, "FMR and the artist split the costs and the output 50/50, with the artist being responsible for promotion while the record company has to recoup its investment through the website or via a diminishing band of distributors." Some items from the catalogue can be bought as downloads from subradar.no, following an agreement between FMR and the Norway-based website. Some musicians have had a large number of albums released by FMR. These include

Paul Dunmall Paul Dunmall (born 6 May 1953) is a British jazz musician who plays tenor and soprano saxophone, as well as the baritone and the more exotic saxello and the Northumbrian smallpipes. He has played with Keith Tippett and Barry Guy. In the ea ...

(more than 70) and

Frode Gjerstad Frode Gjerstad (born 24 March 1948) is a Norwegian jazz musician with alto saxophone as principal instrument, but he also plays other saxophones, clarinet, and flute. He has collaborated with Paal Nilssen-Love, Borah Bergman, Peter Brötzmann, ...

(over 40).

Production and habits

Taylor selects music for release based on how well it matches the label's ethos. After that, he does not interfere with the recording: he commented that, "Occasionally I have suggested changing the order of tracks but that's it". Catalogue numbers have "'Visions' – prefixed 'V' – for original new music and 'Legacy' – prefixed 'L' – to re-issue on CD long out-of-print recordings of British jazz".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fmr Records British record labels Jazz record labels Record labels established in 1987

Origins

Label history

Production and habits

See also

References