JSP Records is a British
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 ...
, founded in 1978 by John Stedman (John Stedman Promotions), releasing recordings by
blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
musicians such as
Professor Longhair,
Buddy Guy
George "Buddy" Guy (born July 30, 1936) is an American blues guitarist and singer. He is an exponent of Chicago blues who has influenced generations of guitarists including Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, Stevie Ray V ...
,
Jimmy Witherspoon
James Witherspoon (August 8, 1920 – September 18, 1997) was an American jump blues singer.
Early life, family and education
Witherspoon was born in Gurdon, Arkansas. His father was a railroad worker who sang in local choirs, and his mot ...
,
Louisiana Red
Iverson Minter (March 23, 1932 – February 25, 2012), known as Louisiana Red, was an American blues guitarist, harmonica player, and singer, who recorded more than 50 albums. He was best known for his song "Sweet Blood Call".
Biography
Born ...
,
Deitra Farr
Deitra Farr (born August 1, 1957) is an American blues, soul and gospel singer-songwriter.
Life and career
She was born in Chicago, Illinois, United States, and Farr began singing in the mid-1970s with various soul bands. Deitra graduated fr ...
,
Charlie Sayles,
Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson
Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson (born Edward L. Vinson Jr.; December 18, 1917 – July 2, 1988) was an American jump blues, jazz, bebop and R&B alto saxophonist and blues shouter. He was nicknamed Cleanhead after an incident in which his hair was ...
,
Kansas City Red
Arthur Lee Stevenson (May 7, 1926 – May 7, 1991), known as Kansas City Red, was an American blues drummer and vocalist who played a major role in the development of urban blues. He performed and recorded with many notable blues artists, such as ...
,
Eddie Taylor
Eddie Taylor (January 29, 1923 – December 25, 1985) was an American electric blues guitarist and singer.
Biography
Born Edward Taylor in Benoit, Mississippi, as a boy Taylor taught himself to play the guitar. He spent his early years playing ...
, and
Big John Wrencher
Big John Wrencher (February 12, 1923 – July 15, 1977), also known as One Arm John, was an American blues harmonica player and singer, well known for playing at the Maxwell Street Market in Chicago in the 1960s. He toured Europe in the 1970s.Ha ...
. The label is based in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
.
JSP now predominantly releases remastered CDs of
public domain
The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work
A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...
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 blues recordings. In the case of old
Paramount
Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to:
Entertainment and music companies
* Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...
recordings (including those by
Charley Patton
Charley Patton (April 1891 (probable) – April 28, 1934), also known as Charlie Patton, was an American Delta blues musician and songwriter. Considered by many to be the "Father of the Delta Blues", he created an enduring body of American mus ...
and
Blind Blake
Arthur Blake (1896 – December 1, 1934), known as Blind Blake, was an American blues and ragtime singer and guitarist. He is known for recordings he made for Paramount Records between 1926 and 1932.
Early life
Little is known of Blake's life. ...
), the original records were made from
shellac
Shellac () is a resin secreted by the female lac bug on trees in the forests of India and Thailand. It is processed and sold as dry flakes and dissolved in alcohol to make liquid shellac, which is used as a brush-on colorant, food glaze and ...
which made them susceptible to damage. JSP's releases from this material are remastered versions.
Their release of
Louis Armstrong
Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...
's ''
Hot Fives & Sevens
''Hot Fives & Sevens'' is a 2000 box set collection of recordings made by American jazz trumpeter and singer Louis Armstrong with his Hot Five, Hot Seven, and other groups between 1925 and 1930. First released on JSP Records on 22 August 2000, th ...
'' is often considered to be one of the most essential jazz releases available.
The label has an extensive catalog of original recordings, but their recording program continues to this day, with
Lucky Peterson
Judge Kenneth Peterson (December 13, 1964 – May 17, 2020), known professionally as Lucky Peterson, was an American musician who played contemporary blues, fusing soul, R&B, gospel and rock and roll. He played guitar and keyboards
Keyboard ma ...
,
Johnnie Marshall
Johnnie B. Marshall Jr. (born June 2, 1961) is an American electric blues guitarist, songwriter, and singer. His best known songs are "''Found Another Woman''" and "''98 Cents in the Bank''". Discovered by Johnny Rawls in the mid 1990s, Marshall ...
,
Randy McAllister
Randy McAllister is an American blues and Americana drummer, harmonica player, singer and songwriter. He was nominated for a Grammy Award for his 2002 album, ''Givers and Takers''.
''Living Blues'' noted that McAllister is a "first rate drumm ...
, and other contemporary artists.
Concerts have also been promoted at concert halls such as
The New London Theatre,
The Collegiate Theatre and at the
100 Club
The 100 Club is a music venue located at 100 Oxford Street, London, England, where it has been hosting live music since 24 October 1942. It was originally called the Feldman Swing Club, but changed its name when the father of the current owner ...
. Several American musicians were brought to the UK for concerts and tours, including
rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...
artists such as
Roy Brown,
Jimmy McCracklin
James David Walker Jr. (August 13, 1921 – December 20, 2012), better known by his stage name Jimmy McCracklin, was an American pianist, vocalist, and songwriter. His style contained West Coast blues, Jump blues, and R&B. Over a career tha ...
,
Bob Kirkpatrick,
Charles Brown and Professor Longhair. Some musicians 'discovered' by JSP and have since moved to larger labels, for example
Larry Garner
Larry Garner (born July 8, 1952 in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States) is a Louisiana blues musician best known for his 1994 album ''Too Blues''., quote: "
One music journalist noted "If you define 'blues' by the rigid categories of structur ...
,
Guitar Shorty,
Chris Beard,
Lil' Dave Thompson,
Tutu Jones and
Andrew "Jr. Boy" Jones.
See also
*
List of record labels
File:Alvinoreyguitarboogie.jpg
File:AmMusicBunk78.jpg
File:Bingola1011b.jpg
Lists of record labels cover record labels, brands or trademarks associated with marketing of music recordings and music videos. The lists are organized alphabetically, b ...
References
External links
Official site(emphasis on albums)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jsp Records
Blues record labels
British record labels
Jazz record labels
Reissue record labels
Record labels established in 1978