Okka Disk is an independent American jazz record company and label founded in Chicago by Bruno Johnson in 1994.
Okka began as a rock music label, but Johnson soon changed direction to record
free jazz
Free jazz is an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventions, such as regular tempos, tones, and chord changes. Musicians duri ...
.
[Bruno Johnson interview](_blank)
at Delmark Records
at NPR ''
Vintage Duets'' are the unreleased tapes recorded in 1980 by saxophonist
Fred Anderson with drummer
Steve McCall, and ''
Caffeine
Caffeine is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant of the methylxanthine class. It is mainly used recreationally as a cognitive enhancer, increasing alertness and attentional performance. Caffeine acts by blocking binding of adenosine to ...
'', a trio featuring Chicago scene instigator
Ken Vandermark
Ken Vandermark (born September 22, 1964) is an American composer, saxophonist, and clarinetist.
A fixture on the Chicago-area music scene since the 1990s, Vandermark has earned wide critical praise for his playing and his multilayered compos ...
. These were the albums that started the label.
[Bruno Johnson, jazz messenger](_blank)
at Chicago Reader Okka Disk released many key early works by Ken Vandermark and was partly responsible for Fred Anderson's late-career renaissance.
[Okka Disk turns 15](_blank)
at Chicago Reader
The label also recorded European free jazz musicians such as
Peter Brötzmann
Peter Brötzmann (born 6 March 1941) is a German saxophonist and clarinetist.
Biography Early life
Brötzmann was born in Remscheid, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. He studied painting in Wuppertal and was involved with the Fluxus movement ...
, documenting his transatlantic Chicago Octet and Tentet over ten albums. Since 2009, it organizes the Okka Fest, held in Milwaukee, where Johnson moved in 2002.
[Okka Fest reignites jazz](_blank)
at WUWM
Releases
* OD12001
Fred Anderson/
Steve McCall – ''
Vintage Duets''
* OD12002 Caffeine – ''
Caffeine
Caffeine is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant of the methylxanthine class. It is mainly used recreationally as a cognitive enhancer, increasing alertness and attentional performance. Caffeine acts by blocking binding of adenosine to ...
''
* OD12003
Marilyn Crispell
Marilyn Crispell (born March 30, 1947) is an American jazz pianist and composer. Scott Yanow described her as "a powerful player... who has her own way of using space... She is near the top of her field." Jon Pareles of The New York Times wrot ...
/Fred Anderson/
Hamid Drake – ''
Destiny
Destiny, sometimes referred to as fate (from Latin ''fatum'' "decree, prediction, destiny, fate"), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual.
Fate
Although often ...
''
* OD12004
Peter Brötzmann
Peter Brötzmann (born 6 March 1941) is a German saxophonist and clarinetist.
Biography Early life
Brötzmann was born in Remscheid, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. He studied painting in Wuppertal and was involved with the Fluxus movement ...
/Hamid Drake– ''
The Dried Rat–Dog''
* OD12005 Steelwool Trio – ''
International Front''
* OD12006
Mats Gustafsson
Mats Olof Gustafsson (born 29 October 1964) is a Swedish free jazz saxophone player.
Career
Gustafsson came to the attention of lovers of improvised music as part of a duo with Christian Munthe (started in 1986), as member of Gunter Chri ...
– ''Parrot Fish Eye''
* OD12007
Fred Anderson – ''
Birdhouse''
* OD12008
Hamid Drake/
Michael Zerang
Michael Zerang (born November 16, 1958) is an American jazz percussionist and drummer.
Career
Zerang's parents both emigrated to the United States from the Middle East; his father is Iranian and his mother Iraqi.[Mats Gustafsson
Mats Olof Gustafsson (born 29 October 1964) is a Swedish free jazz saxophone player.
Career
Gustafsson came to the attention of lovers of improvised music as part of a duo with Christian Munthe (started in 1986), as member of Gunter Chri ...]
/
Barry Guy
Barry John Guy (born 22 April 1947, in London) is an English composer and double bass player. His range of interests encompasses early music, contemporary composition, jazz and improvisation, and he has worked with a wide variety of orchestras ...
/
Paul Lovens
Paul Lovens (born 6 June 1949) is a German musician. He plays drums, percussion, singing saw, and cymbals. He has performed with the Aardvark Jazz Orchestra and Berlin Contemporary Jazz Orchestra.
He was born in Aachen, Germany. In the early ...
– ''Mouth Eating Trees and Related Activities''
* OD120012 DKV Trio – ''
Baraka
Baraka or Barakah may refer to:
* Berakhah or Baraka, in Judaism, a blessing usually recited during a ceremony
* Barakah or Baraka, in Islam, the beneficent force from God that flows through the physical and spiritual spheres
* Baraka, full ''ḥ ...
''
* OD120013
Peter Brötzmann
Peter Brötzmann (born 6 March 1941) is a German saxophonist and clarinetist.
Biography Early life
Brötzmann was born in Remscheid, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. He studied painting in Wuppertal and was involved with the Fluxus movement ...
/
Mahmoud Gania/
Hamid Drake – ''
The Wels Concert''
* OD120014 Fred Anderson/ DKV Trio – ''Fred Anderson/DKV Trio''
* OD120016
Joe McPhee
Joe McPhee (born November 3, 1939) is an American jazz multi-instrumentalist born in Miami, Florida, a player of tenor, alto, and soprano saxophone, the trumpet, flugelhorn and valve trombone. McPhee grew up in Poughkeepsie, New York, and is ...
/
Ken Vandermark
Ken Vandermark (born September 22, 1964) is an American composer, saxophonist, and clarinetist.
A fixture on the Chicago-area music scene since the 1990s, Vandermark has earned wide critical praise for his playing and his multilayered compos ...
/
Kent Kessler
Kent Kessler (born January 28, 1957) is an American jazz double-bassist.
Career
Although born in Crawfordsville, Indiana, Kessler grew up on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. He began playing trombone at age ten. When he was thirteen, he moved with his f ...
– ''
A Meeting in Chicago''
* OD120017
Evan Parker
Evan Shaw Parker (born 5 April 1944) is a British tenor and soprano saxophone player who plays free improvisation.
Recording and performing prolifically with many collaborators, Parker was a pivotal figure in the development of European free ja ...
– ''
Chicago Solo''
* OD120018
Anthony Braxton
Anthony Braxton (born June 4, 1945) is an American experimental composer, educator, music theorist, improviser and multi-instrumentalist who is best known for playing saxophones, particularly the alto. Braxton grew up on the South Side of Ch ...
/Georg Gräwe – ''
Duo (Amsterdam) 1991''
* OD120019 FJF – ''
Blow Horn''
* OD120022
Peter Brötzmann
Peter Brötzmann (born 6 March 1941) is a German saxophonist and clarinetist.
Biography Early life
Brötzmann was born in Remscheid, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. He studied painting in Wuppertal and was involved with the Fluxus movement ...
– ''The Chicago Octet/Tentet''
* OD120023 Fred Anderson – ''
Live at the Velvet Lounge
''Live at the Velvet Lounge'' is an album by American jazz saxophonist Fred Anderson with German free jazz bassist Peter Kowald and long-time collaborator drummer Hamid Drake. The record documents a June 1998 performance at the Chicago club owne ...
''
* OD120024 Georg Gräwe – ''Melodie und Rhythmus''
* OD120025
Joe McPhee
Joe McPhee (born November 3, 1939) is an American jazz multi-instrumentalist born in Miami, Florida, a player of tenor, alto, and soprano saxophone, the trumpet, flugelhorn and valve trombone. McPhee grew up in Poughkeepsie, New York, and is ...
/
Jeb Bishop
Jeb Bishop (born 1962) is an American jazz trombone player.
He grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina, and attended Jesse O. Sanderson High School. He has studied music (classical trombone performance) at Northwestern University, engineering and ...
– ''
The Brass City
''The Brass City'' is an album by multi-instrumentalist and composer Joe McPhee with trombonist Jeb Bishop recorded in 1997 and first released on the Okka Disk label. ''
* OD120027
Joe Morris/DKV Trio – ''
Deep Telling''
* OD120028
Evan Parker
Evan Shaw Parker (born 5 April 1944) is a British tenor and soprano saxophone player who plays free improvisation.
Recording and performing prolifically with many collaborators, Parker was a pivotal figure in the development of European free ja ...
/Georg Gräwe – ''
Unity Variations''
* OD120029
Jeb Bishop
Jeb Bishop (born 1962) is an American jazz trombone player.
He grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina, and attended Jesse O. Sanderson High School. He has studied music (classical trombone performance) at Northwestern University, engineering and ...
– ''Jeb Bishop Trio''
* OD120030 DKV Trio – ''
Live in Wels & Chicago, 1998''
* OD120032 Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet – ''Stone/Water''
* OD120033
Evan Parker
Evan Shaw Parker (born 5 April 1944) is a British tenor and soprano saxophone player who plays free improvisation.
Recording and performing prolifically with many collaborators, Parker was a pivotal figure in the development of European free ja ...
/
Joe McPhee
Joe McPhee (born November 3, 1939) is an American jazz multi-instrumentalist born in Miami, Florida, a player of tenor, alto, and soprano saxophone, the trumpet, flugelhorn and valve trombone. McPhee grew up in Poughkeepsie, New York, and is ...
– ''
Chicago Tenor Duets''
* OD120034 Loos – ''Armstrong''
* OD120035 AALY Trio/DKV Trio – ''Double or Nothing''
* OD120036 Joe McPhee/Hamid Drake – ''Emancipation Proclamation: A Real Statement of Freedom''
* OD120037 School Days – ''Crossing Divisions''
* OD120038
Kent Kessler
Kent Kessler (born January 28, 1957) is an American jazz double-bassist.
Career
Although born in Crawfordsville, Indiana, Kessler grew up on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. He began playing trombone at age ten. When he was thirteen, he moved with his f ...
– ''
Bull Fiddle''
* OD120039 Jeb Bishop – ''Afternoons''
* OD120040 Territory Band 1 – ''Transatlantic Bridge''
* OD120041 School Days – ''In Our Times''
* OD120042 DKV Trio – ''Trigonometry''
* OD120043
Peter Brötzmann
Peter Brötzmann (born 6 March 1941) is a German saxophonist and clarinetist.
Biography Early life
Brötzmann was born in Remscheid, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. He studied painting in Wuppertal and was involved with the Fluxus movement ...
Chicago Tentet + 2 – ''Broken English''
* OD120044 Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet + 2 – ''Short Visit to Nowhere''
* OD120045 Triage – ''Twenty Minute Cliff''
* OD120046
Ken Vandermark
Ken Vandermark (born September 22, 1964) is an American composer, saxophonist, and clarinetist.
A fixture on the Chicago-area music scene since the 1990s, Vandermark has earned wide critical praise for his playing and his multilayered compos ...
– ''Furniture Music''
* OD120047 Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet – ''Images''
* OD120048 Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet – ''Signs''
* OD120049 Atomic/School Days– ''Nuclear Assembly Hall''
* OD120050 Territory Band 2 – ''Atlas''
* OD120051 FME – ''Underground''
* OD120052 Triage – ''American Mithology''
* OD120053 Sonore – ''No One Ever Works Alone''
* OD120056 Jim Baker/
Steve Hunt
Steven Hunt (born 1958) is an American jazz pianist and composer. He has released two studio albums, recorded extensively, and toured the world.
Music career
In 1977, Hunt graduated from Brazoswood High School in Clute, Texas. He then atten ...
/Brian Sandstrom/
Mars Williams
Mars Williams (born May 29, 1955) is an American jazz and rock saxophonist. Exposed to big band and dixieland jazz by his trumpet-playing father, Williams played classical clarinet for ten years, then migrated to saxophone in his last year of hi ...
– ''Extraordinary Popular Delusions''
* OD120057
Jeb Bishop
Jeb Bishop (born 1962) is an American jazz trombone player.
He grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina, and attended Jesse O. Sanderson High School. He has studied music (classical trombone performance) at Northwestern University, engineering and ...
/
Dave Rempis/Nate McBride/Tim Daisy – ''
The Engines
''The Engines'' is the eponymous debut album by the collaborative free jazz quartet consisting of saxophonist Dave Rempis, trombonist Jeb Bishop, bassist Nate McBride and drummer Tim Daisy. It was recorded in 2006 and released on Okka Disk. ''
* OD120059 Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet – ''Be Music, Night''
* OD120060 Territory Band 3 – ''Map Theory''
* OD120061 FME – ''Cuts''
* OD120062 Peter Brötzmann/Joe McPhee/Kent Kessler/Michael Zerang – ''GUTS''
* OD120065 Ken Vandermark/
Pandelis Karayorgis – ''Foreground Music''
* OD120067 Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet – ''American Landscapes 1''
* OD120068 Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet – ''American Landscapes 2''
* OD120070 Territory Band 4 – ''Company Switch''
* OD120071 FME – ''Montage''
* OD120072 Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet – ''At Molde 2007''
* OD120073 Atomic/School Days – ''DISTIL''
* OD120075 Ken Vandermark – ''Collecting Fiction''
* OD120076 Peter Brötzmann – ''Hairy Bones''
* OD120077 Artifact iTi – ''Live in St. Johann''
* OD120078 The Frame Quartet – ''35 mm''
* OD120079 The Engines – ''Wire and Brass''
* OD120080 Territory Band 5 – ''New Horse for the White House''
* OD120083 Sonore – ''Call Before You Dig''
* OD120090 Territory Band 6 – ''Collide''
* OD99721 Ken Vandermark Topology Nonet – ''Impressions of PO Music''
* ODMAR001 The Margots – ''Pescado''
Limited edition releases
* ODL10001 DKV Trio - ''DKV Live''
* ODL10002 Günter Christmann /
Mats Gustafsson
Mats Olof Gustafsson (born 29 October 1964) is a Swedish free jazz saxophone player.
Career
Gustafsson came to the attention of lovers of improvised music as part of a duo with Christian Munthe (started in 1986), as member of Gunter Chri ...
- ''One to (Two)...''
* ODL10003
Hamid Drake / Mats Gustafsson - ''For Don Cherry''
* ODL10005
Peter Brötzmann
Peter Brötzmann (born 6 March 1941) is a German saxophonist and clarinetist.
Biography Early life
Brötzmann was born in Remscheid, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. He studied painting in Wuppertal and was involved with the Fluxus movement ...
/ Hamid Drake /
Kent Kessler
Kent Kessler (born January 28, 1957) is an American jazz double-bassist.
Career
Although born in Crawfordsville, Indiana, Kessler grew up on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. He began playing trombone at age ten. When he was thirteen, he moved with his f ...
- ''
Live at the Empty Bottle
''Live at the Empty Bottle'' is a live album by saxophonist Peter Brötzmann, drummer Hamid Drake, and bassist Kent Kessler. It was recorded on July 22, 1996, at The Empty Bottle in Chicago, and was released in 1999 by Okka Disk as a limited-editi ...
''
* ODL10006 Peter Brötzmann / Hamid Drake /
Fred Hopkins
Fred Hopkins (October 11, 1947 – January 7, 1999) was an American double bassist who played a major role in the development of the avant-garde jazz movement. He was best known for his association with the trio Air with Henry Threadgill and S ...
- ''The Atlanta Concert''
* ODL10007 FME - ''Live at the Glenn Miller Cafe''
* ODL10008
Dave Rempis / Tim Daisy - ''Back to the Circle''
* ODL10009
Paul Lytton
Paul Lytton (born 8 March 1947, London) is an English free jazz and free improvising percussionist.
Lytton began on drums at age 16. He played jazz in London in the late 1960s while taking lessons on the tabla from P.R. Desai. In 1969 he began ...
/
Ken Vandermark
Ken Vandermark (born September 22, 1964) is an American composer, saxophonist, and clarinetist.
A fixture on the Chicago-area music scene since the 1990s, Vandermark has earned wide critical praise for his playing and his multilayered compos ...
/
Phil Wachsmann
Philipp John Paul Wachsmann (born 5 August 1944) is an African avant-garde jazz/ jazz fusion violinist born in Kampala, Uganda, probably better known for having founded his own group Chamberpot. He has worked with many musicians in the free jazz i ...
- ''CINC''
* ODL10010 Peter Brötzmann/
Sonny Sharrock
Warren Harding "Sonny" Sharrock (August 27, 1940 – May 25, 1994) was an American jazz guitarist. He was married to singer Linda Sharrock, with whom he recorded and performed.
One of only a few prominent guitarists who participated in the fir ...
- ''Fragments''
* ODL10011 Full Blast + Friends - ''Crumbling Brain''
References
*
Notes
External links
Official site
{{Authority control
American record labels
Jazz record labels
Record labels established in 1994