www.storyvillerecords.com The story of Storyville 1952-2012
Once upon a time…
In 1952 the late Karl Emil Knudsen started his record company Storyville Records named after the legerndary district in New Orleans. The recordings with Chris Barber, Ken Colyer & Papa Bue’s Viking Jazzband sold very well – some of these became big hits and this really started the company off.
Late in the 80s and the early 90s, Storyville released some ambitious series. The Masters of Jazz-series was issued on both CD and LP, and included big stars like Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Jack Teagarden, Duke Ellington, Ben Webster and Art Tatum. The Blues Masters-series included Storyville’s own recordings from the 50s and 60s. These two series each included 12 CDs, while series The Sounds of New Orleans consisted of 10 CDs.
In 1991 Karl Emil Knudsen was once again the sole owner of Storyville, and the label’s administration and production was consolidated under one roof in Copenhagen. This sparked activity once again, and the repertoire was expanding. Releases now included not only music, but also video recordings of concerts, documentary fi lms and photo books. A deal was also made with Duke Ellington’s estate, giving Storyville access to a great deal of his recordings.
Times of change
As the label celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2002, it was with acknowledgement that the music business was changing. Tough economic times forced Knudsen to consider selling the label. Some potential buyers showed interest, but a sale did not happen. In 2003, the label was faced with a big change, when founder Karl Emil Knudsen died. After some time with uncertainty, Storyville was bought by Music Sales Ltd. – one of the world’s leading music publishers.
Since 2003 the label has been in the hands of Mona Granager, with An- ders Stefansen on board as producer. Granager has been with the la- bel for 36 years. Stefansen was fi rst with the label in the 50s, and re- turned in 1991 after a successful career as a concert promoter.
Following the takeover the label released a string of box-sets that were warmly received. Among these was The Duke Box, an 8-CD set with Duke Ellington’s orchestra and a great box set with Ben Webster, Dig Ben, also an 8-CD set. The latest addition to the series is The Armstrong Box, which showcases the legacy of Louis Armstrong through 7 CDs as well as a DVD. Beyond this, Storyville has also focused on their Danish artists, releasing works by Carsten Dahl, Cathrine Legardh, Alex Riel and also international artists like Jure Pukl, Andrea Marcelli amongst others.
In addition to this, the label’s large back catalogue has been digitalized, mak- ing it widely available.
The future
Storyville Records has made it through 60 years in the tough music business. Today it is the oldest independent jazz label in Europe. As if this wasn’t reason enough to celebrate, the label continues to present new and exciting releases.
Some of the upcoming releases are:
Ben Webster in Norway – not previously released The King Jazz Story – 4-CD box The Chicago Blues – 8-CD box Bill Sharpe & Jah Wobble Billy Strayhorn 3-CD George Lewis – 8-CD box Cathrine Legardh & Brian Kellock – duo Sigurdur Flosason & Kjeld Lauritsen Haxholm/Kresiberg/Hoenig/Menzies Carsten Dahl - Dreamchild
As we celebrate 60 years of Storyville, the label continues to honour its lega- cy, all the while adapting to new circumstances and welcoming the future.