Nocturne Records was an American

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 ...

record company and label founded in 1954 by Roy Harte, a drummer, and

Harry Babasin Yervant Harry Babasin, Jr. (19 March 1921 – 21 May 1988) was an American jazz bassist. His nickname was "The Bear". Biography Babasin was born in Dallas, Texas to an American mother and an Armenian father. He attended North Texas State Universit ...

, a bassist. Based in

Hollywood, California Hollywood is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios, such as Columbia Pictures, ...

, Nocturne concentrated on

West Coast jazz West Coast jazz refers to styles of jazz that developed in Los Angeles and San Francisco during the 1950s. West Coast jazz is often seen as a subgenre of cool jazz, which consisted of a calmer style than bebop or hard bop. The music relied rela ...

. On March 28, 1955, Nocturne merged with

Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

and issued the Nocturne catalog under the Liberty label, as the "Jazz in Hollywood" series. Babasin, president of Nocturne, remained to supervise the repertoire."Liberty Merger with Nocturne," ''

Billboard Magazine ''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the musi ...

'', June 4, 1955, p. 18 Roy Harte also co-founded Pacific Jazz Records in 1952. In 1988,

Fresh Sound Fresh Sound, or Fresh Sound New Talent, is a jazz record label established in Barcelona, Spain, by Jordi Pujol. The label was initially founded as a reissue label. The catalog includes work by musicians both major and minor that was recorded be ...

reissued a digitally remastered CD box-set of ''The Complete Nocturne Recordings: Jazz in Hollywood Series''.

Roster

* Peggy Connelly *

Bob Enevoldsen Robert Martin Enevoldsen (September 11, 1920 – November 19, 2005) was a West Coast jazz tenor saxophonist and valve trombonist born in Billings, Montana, known for his work with Marty Paich. Career Enevoldsen recorded did sessions with Art ...

Virgil Gonsalves Virgil Gonsalves (September 5, 1931 – October 20, 2008) was an American jazz saxophonist and clarinetist, though primarily a baritone saxophonist. Career Born in Monterey, California, Gonsalves was a baritone saxophonist with the orchestras ...

* Bob Gordon * Conley Graves * Earl Hines *

Herbie Harper Herbert Harper (2 July 1920 — 21 January 2012) was an American jazz trombonist of the West Coast jazz school. Born in Salina, Kansas, he played swing music with Benny Goodman and Charlie Spivak in the 1940s and 1950s. Working on the West Coas ...

* Lou Levy *

Bud Shank Clifford Everett "Bud" Shank Jr. (May 27, 1926 – April 2, 2009) was an American alto saxophonist and flautist. He rose to prominence in the early 1950s playing lead alto and flute in Stan Kenton's Innovations in Modern Music Orchestra and thro ...

* Steve White

References

Record labels established in 1954 Jazz record labels {{US-record-label-stub