05/12/2024
New 3CD box set worked on by our Designer Michael Clunkie, producing all the artwork.
Looks an important encapsulation of a breakthrough period for British Jazz. Some of the tracks we brought in, and indeed bought in, for Cherry Red when RPM sprang the Turtle Records sub imprint.
The history is I'd worked with 60s hit writer Geoff Stephens on a couple of projects, The New Vaudeville Band being one for RPM release. Then through Geoff an introduction to his business partner from that period, Peter Eden. 'That period' of course being when they discovered Donovan and produced his first singles and LP. There were in fact three other LPs from that partnership under a deal with EMI, which we reissued as the EVE Folk Recordings (housing Mick Softley , Bob Davenport, Vernon Haddock). Then visiting Eden at his home near Southend our conversation strayed into all his other work from that period onwards, and as many know he became a prime mover, through his production work, in the emerging Jazz scene, and later the cross pollenation with Prog. The Dawn and Deram labels were the beneficiaries. But not before Eden had tried his hand running a jazz label with three LPs on on his own Turtle Records - Mike Osborne , Howard Riley, John Taylor. Cutting edge stuff. As Eden still had the master tapes I bought these for Cherry Red and we reissued as a box set. With the expert assistance of Colin Harper we then added to the original cast of three with releases by Mike Westbrook, Gordon Beck, Michael Gibbs, Fat John Sextet (previously unreleased and has the first recordings of Danny Thompson).
Now Cherry Red have expanded on the theme and will be telling the whole story of that important period of development.
