Flying Dutchman Records was an American jazz

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 ...

, which was owned by music industry executive, producer and songwriter

Bob Thiele Bob, BOB, or B.O.B. may refer to: Places *Mount Bob, New York, United States *Bob Island, Palmer Archipelago, Antarctica People, fictional characters, and named animals *Bob (given name), a list of people and fictional characters *Bob (surname) ...

History

Initially distributed by

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

, Thiele made a five-album deal in 1972 with

Mega Records Mega Records was a Nashville, Tennessee-based music label founded in 1970 by former RCA Records executive Brad McCuen along with Harry E. Pratt. Its most successful recording artist was Sammi Smith who also recorded the label's very first single. ...

to issue five albums in the Flying Dutchman Series. The deal was not renewed and distribution shifted to

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

, which took over the label in 1976. The label released albums until 1984 when Thiele established

Doctor Jazz Records Doctor Jazz Records was established by Bob Thiele in 1983 to release new material, historical recordings, and albums previously released on his Flying Dutchman, Signature A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a handwritten (and ofte ...

. Some of the musicians who recorded several albums for the label include singer

Leon Thomas Amos Leon Thomas Jr. (October 4, 1937 – May 8, 1999), known professionally as Leon Thomas, was an American jazz and blues vocalist, born in East St. Louis, Illinois, and known for his bellowing glottal-stop style of free jazz singing in the ...

, saxophonist

Gato Barbieri Leandro "Gato" Barbieri (November 28, 1932 – April 2, 2016) was an Argentine jazz tenor saxophonist who rose to fame during the free jazz movement in the 1960s and is known for his Latin jazz recordings of the 1970s. His nickname, Gato, is Spa ...

, arranger

Oliver Nelson Oliver Edward Nelson (June 4, 1932 – October 28, 1975) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, arranger, composer, and bandleader. His 1961 Impulse! album '' The Blues and the Abstract Truth'' (1961) is regarded as one of the most signifi ...

, saxophonist Tom Scott and pianist

Lonnie Liston Smith Lonnie Liston Smith Jr. (born December 28, 1940) is an American jazz, soul, and funk musician who played with such jazz artists as Pharoah Sanders and Miles Davis before forming Lonnie Liston Smith and the Cosmic Echoes, recording a number of ...

Gil Scott-Heron Gilbert Scott-Heron (April 1, 1949 – May 27, 2011) was an American Jazz poetry, jazz poet, singer, musician, and author, known primarily for his work as a spoken-word performer in the 1970s and 1980s. His collaborative efforts with musician ...

released three albums for the label, including his debut ''

Small Talk at 125th and Lenox ''A New Black Poet - Small Talk at 125th and Lenox'', also known simply as ''Small Talk at 125th and Lenox'', is the debut album of recording artist Gil Scott-Heron, released in 1970 on Flying Dutchman Records.

'' and ''

Free Will Free will is the capacity of agents to choose between different possible courses of action unimpeded. Free will is closely linked to the concepts of moral responsibility, praise, culpability, sin, and other judgements which apply only to actio ...

''. Flying Dutchman had three sublabels, Amsterdam, BluesTime, and Contact. Flying Dutchman is independently owned and since 2011 has been distributed and marketed by Ace Records.

Discography

10100 Series

Flying Dutchman Records commenced releasing LPs in 1969 with the 10100 Series that continued until 1973.

BluesTime Series

In 1969 Flying Dutchman established the BluesTime label to record blues music issuing ten albums between 1969 and 1970.

Amsterdam

The Amsterdam subsidiary label was established in 1970 and concentrated of popular music including the recordings of Thiele’s wife Teresa Brewer.

Reggae Series

In 1970 Flying Dutchman established the Reggae label to record reggae music issuing four albums.

Mega Records

Five albums produced under the Flying Dutchman Productions banner were released by the

Mega Mega or MEGA may refer to: Science * mega-, a metric prefix denoting 106 * Mega (number), a certain very large integer in Steinhaus–Moser notation * "mega-" a prefix meaning "large" that is used in taxonomy * Gravity assist, for ''Moon-Eart ...

label in 1972Both Sides Now: Mega Album Discography
accessed November 11, 2019

RCA Distributed Series

Starting in 1974, Flying Dutchman albums were released and distributed by RCA using their numbering system.Both Sides Now: Doctor Jazz Label Discography
accessed November 26, 2019

References

External links

Discogs
{{Authority control American record labels Jazz record labels Atlantic Records RCA Records