Igloo Records is a record label run by the concert hall running company ''Sowarex'' in Brussels, Belgium that concentrates on

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 world music. Igloo is the best-known of five imprints run by Sowarex. According to one of its founders, the label was developed when the local scene was enhanced by the arrival of American jazzmen that included JR Montrose and

Chet Baker Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. He is known for major innovations in cool jazz that led him to be nicknamed the "Prince of Cool". Baker earned much attention and ...

. * Igloo, created in 1978, has released albums by Belgian jazz musicians

Anne Wolf Anne Wolf (born May 31, 1967) is a Belgian jazz pianist. She studied classical piano for ten years before entering the conservatory in 1985, where she was taught by Michel Petrucciani, Eric Legnini, and Charles Loos. She plays as well alone as ...

, Charles Loos,

Diederik Wissels Diederik Wissels (born December 1960, in Rotterdam, Netherlands) is a Dutch jazz pianist. In 1968, he moved to Brussels, Belgium and later attended Boston's Berklee College of Music. In his early career, he played with Chet Baker, Joe Henderson ...

, Eric Legnini, Félix Simtaine, Ivan Paduart,

Jacques Pelzer Jacques Pelzer (24 June 1924 – 6 August 1994) was a Belgian musician. He played alto saxophone and flute. Notably, his performance with Chet Baker Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz t ...

, Mélanie De Biasio,

Michel Herr Michel Herr (born 16 February 1949 in Brussels) is a Belgian jazz pianist, composer and arranger. In addition to releasing jazz albums, composing for jazz ensembles and touring widely as a performing musician, he has also composed scores for ...

Nathalie Loriers Nathalie Loriers (born 27 October 1966, Namur) is a Belgian jazz pianist and composer. Music career In 1991 Loriers formed her own quartet with Kurt Van Herck (saxophone), Philippe Aerts (double bass) and Mimi Verderame (drums). She also has he ...

Pascal Schumacher Pascal Schumacher (born 12 March 1979 in Luxemburg) is a Luxembourgish jazz musician, composer and percussionist who has founded a number of groups including the Pascal Schumacher Quartet. He also plays and composes classical chamber music. Educ ...

Philip Catherine Philip Catherine (born 27 October 1942) is a Belgian jazz guitarist. Biography Philip Catherine was born in London, England, to an English mother and Belgian father, and was raised in Brussels, Belgium. His grandfather was a violinist in the ...

Philippe Aerts Philippe Aerts (born 21 June 1964) is a Belgian jazz double bassist. He taught himself guitar and electric bass guitar when he was 11 and started playing the double bass at age 14. He is a member of Philip Catherine trio and the Ivan Paduart tri ...

Manu Louis Manu Louis is a Belgian musician, singer-songwriter, and composer, influenced equally by pop, jazz, 8-bit electronica, and 20th-century classical music. Career In 2017 he released his debut album, ''Kermesse Machine'', on Igloo Records. The ...

, drummer Antoine Pierre (Urbex) and

Steve Houben Steve Houben (born 19 March 1950 in Liège, Belgium) is a Belgian jazz saxophonist and flutist. Biography In the mid-1970s, Houben attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston. When he returned to Belgium, he established the jazz seminar at ...

. * Rainland released English-speaking projects by

Klaus Klang Klaus Klang, real name Claude Ongena (born 26 September 1959), is a musician from Brussels, Belgium. He was drummer in the punk band X-Pulsion. After that band split in 1978, he went on to found the band Klang with his brother Kurt Klang (bass), ...

, Tom Wolf, Owen Curtiz and others but folded in 1994. * IglooMondo was set up in 2005 and is home to world-based projects such as

Mokoomba Mokoomba is a Zimbabwean musical group, originally from Chinotimba township, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. The group sings in a number of languages including English, Luvale language, Luvale, Tonga language (Zambia and Zimb ...

Majid Bekkas Majid Bekkas (, born 1957 in Salé, Morocco), also known as Abdelmajid Bekkas, is a Moroccan musician on guembri, oud, guitar and vocals, who is internationally known for his contributions to World music and Ethno jazz with North African roots ...

, the late

Wendo Kolosoy Antoine Wendo Kolosoy (April 25, 1925 – July 28, 2008), known as Papa Wendo, was a Congolese musician. He is considered the "Father" of Congolese rumba, also known as soukous, a musical style blending son cubano, beguine, waltz, tango and cha ...

and

Manou Gallo Manou N'Guessan Gallo (born 31 August 1972 in Divo, Côte d'Ivoire), is a West African singer, bandleader and musician of African popular music, playing the Bass guitar, electric bass guitar. Life and career Brought up by her grandmother, Gal ...

. * Iglectic releases left-field material such as Flat Earth Society,

X-Legged Sally X-Legged Sally (XLS) is a Belgian avant-garde rock/jazz-band founded in 1988 by composer Peter Vermeersch, and disbanded in 1997. They were one of the first bands from Belgium to combine a set of very different musical styles (jazz, rock, improvis ...

and L'Ensemble Musique Nouvelles. * Factice, created in 2013, showcases Belgian French-speaking artists such as Mochélan, Karim Gharbi and Tomassenko. Together, the labels have released almost 350 CDs over a period spanning 40 years.

References

External links

Official company website

Discography on Discogs
Belgian record labels Jazz record labels {{Belgium-record-label-stub