Riverside Records

US label which appears as "Riverside" only on most of the releases.
Label Code: LC 0325 / LC 00325

Riverside was established on a shoestring budget in 1953 by traditional jazz enthusiasts Bill Grauer and Orrin Keepnews as an outlet for reissues of jazz and blues recordings from the 1920s by King Oliver, Jelly Roll Morton, Ma Rainey, Blind Lemon Jefferson and others. Beginning with new recording led by modern jazz pianist Randy Weston, the company expanded its activities and placed such major figures as Thelonious Monk, Bill Evans, Cannonball Adderley and Wes Montgomery under contract. Riverside soon became one of the leading independent jazz labels based in New York. Keepnews produced the sessions and wrote the album's liner notes, although some recordings of traditional jazz musicians in New Orleans were produced by Chris Albertson (the "Living Legends" series) and Adderley acted as a talent scout and producer.

It also distributed Wonderland Records, a children's music label created by Grauer, until selling it in 1962 to A.A. Records.

The company, which also recorded albums by Sonny Rollins, Abbey Lincoln, Art Blakey, Blue Mitchell, Clark Terry, Jimmy Heath, Johnny Griffin, and Charlie Byrd among others, filed for bankruptcy on July 20, 1964. Grauer had died on December 15, 1963 after a heart attack.

Orpheum Productions, Inc. ran operations from May 10, 1965 through August 1967 when ABC Records leased the catalog from Keepnews, who retained the rights to the Riverside name and master tapes. ABC Records reissued Riverside recordings sporadically from 1967 until 1971.

The Riverside catalog (including the Jazzland Recordings subsidiary and much of the Battle (2) catalog, which Riverside distributed prior to 1964) was acquired by Fantasy, Inc. in 1972.

It has been part of the Concord Music Group, Inc. since 2004 and distributed by Universal Music since early 2006.