Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Some positively solid releases from Posi-Tone Records (2009, 2010)
by Pico

One of the newer jazz labels that’s been on a roll lately is Marc Free’s outfit, Posi-Tone Records. Started up in 1994, Posi-Tone is a rare independent label that’s done a remarkable job in balancing its roster with top shelf veterans and some of the more promising young talent, specializing in mainstream, soul and even a little bit of whack jazz. What’s more, the production quality of their releases are on par with some of the larger labels like Concord and even ECM.

Already, five P-T releases have been picked apart in this space since the beginning of the year; just click on the “Posi-Tone Records” tag to see what we’ve covered already . Lately, though, these guys have been churning out records at a faster pace than what I can keep up with, which probably wouldn’t be an issue if they were crappy records. Instead, this is an issue where both quality and quantity are both plentiful. And that’s when it’s time for a Quickies.

The three releases presented here are just a sample of what I’ve been digging from the label lately, but are representative of the level of new talent who flock to this label. If you hadn’t heard of these cats before, well, it’s time you did…