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 during ...

.Bruno Johnson interview
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 t ...

'', 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 composi ...

. These were the albums that started the label.Bruno Johnson, jazz messenger
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
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
at WUWM

Releases

* OD12001 Fred Anderson/ Steve McCall – '' Vintage Duets'' * OD12002 Caffeine – ''

'' * 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 Hamid Drake (born August 3, 1955) is an American jazz drummer and percussionist. By the close of the 1990s, Hamid Drake was widely regarded as one of the best percussionists in jazz and improvised music. Incorporating Afro-Cuban, Indian, and Afr ...

– ''

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

/Hamid Drake– ''

The Dried Rat–Dog ''The Dried Rat–Dog'' is an album by saxophonist Peter Brötzmann and drummer Hamid Drake. It was recorded in May 1994 at Sparrow Sound Design in Chicago, and was released in 1995 by Okka Disk. Regarding the album title, producer John Corbett w ...

'' * 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

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

Mahmoud Gania Mahmud is a transliteration of the male Arabic given name (), common in most parts of the Islamic world. It comes from the Arabic triconsonantal root Ḥ-M-D, meaning ''praise'', along with ''Muhammad''. Siam Mahmud *Mahmood (singer) (born 199 ...

– ''

The Wels Concert ''The Wels Concert'' is a live album by German saxophonist Peter Brötzmann, Moroccan guembri player Mahmoud Guinia, and American drummer Hamid Drake. It was recorded in November 1996 at the Schlachthof cultural center in Wels, Austria, and was re ...

'' * 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 ...

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 ''A Meeting in Chicago'' is an album by trumpeter/saxophonist Joe McPhee, reedist Ken Vandermark and bassist Kent Kessler, which was released in 1997 on Eighth Day Music and reissued the following year with new artwork by Okka Disk. The album docu ...

'' * 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 ''Chicago Solo'' is an album by the British jazz saxophonist Evan Parker, recorded in 1995 and released on Okka Disk. After eight records of solo soprano saxophone, it was his first unaccompanied tenor sax record.

'' * 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 Chica ...

/Georg Gräwe – '' Duo (Amsterdam) 1991'' * OD120019 FJF – '' Blow Horn'' * OD120022

– ''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

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

/Georg Gräwe – '' Unity Variations'' * OD120029

– ''Jeb Bishop Trio'' * OD120030 DKV Trio – '' Live in Wels & Chicago, 1998'' * OD120032 Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet – ''Stone/Water'' * OD120033

– '' 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

– '' Bull Fiddle'' * OD120039 Jeb Bishop – ''Afternoons'' * OD120040 Territory Band 1 – ''Transatlantic Bridge'' * OD120041 School Days – ''In Our Times'' * OD120042 DKV Trio – ''Trigonometry'' * OD120043

Chicago Tentet + 2 – ''Broken English'' * OD120044 Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet + 2 – ''Short Visit to Nowhere'' * OD120045 Triage – ''Twenty Minute Cliff'' * OD120046

– ''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 hig ...

– ''Extraordinary Popular Delusions'' * OD120057

/ 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 Pandelis Karayorgis (born 1962) is a Greek-born and Boston-based pianist, composer and educator. Life and career Karayorgis was born in Athens, Greece in 1962. He began classical piano lessons at the age of 9, but by the end of high school he wa ...

– ''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 /

- ''One to (Two)...'' * ODL10003

/ Mats Gustafsson - ''For Don Cherry'' * ODL10005

/ Hamid Drake /

- ''

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 St ...

- ''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 ...

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 firs ...

- ''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