Jazz reissue label Mosaic delves into '70s, '80s

By Dan Ouellette

NEW YORK (Billboard) - For Mosaic Records, the key to success is filling a gap in the marketplace, according to Michael Cuscuna, co-founder and president of the Stamford, Conn.-based boutique jazz reissue label.

"That's been Mosaic's one consistency since we started in 1983," he says. "The void major labels create opens up opportunities for indies to do the right thing, all in the service of the music."

Already heralded as a champion of definitive remastered collections of acoustic jazz in its series of limited-edition boxed sets, three-CD compilations and classic jazz single discs, Mosaic will on March 20 launch a new imprint, Mosaic Contemporary, dedicated to compiling and reissuing contemporary jazz from the '70s and '80s (read: electric, fusion, soul-jazz, pop-jazz). It will be piloted by label director Matt Pierson, formerly an executive at Warner Bros.' jazz division.

"With so much shrinkage at the majors, not only with jazz in general, but also in jazz reissues, we recognized the need to highlight true individuals in contemporary improvised music," Pierson says. "A major won't reissue an album if it will only sell 15,000 copies. Our business model as an independent allows us to be profitable at 6,000."

The first Mosaic Contemporary titles will be two best-of-the-best collections, "Ultimate Jaco Pastorius" and "Ultimate Earl Klugh," with music licensed from each artist's major-label associations. "These albums traverse their careers and create full portraits," Cuscuna says.

There also will be reissues of two contemporary jazz hits, Freddie Hubbard's "Super Blue" (originally released in 1978 on Columbia) and Hubert Laws' "Afro-Classic" (released in 1970 on

CTI).

As for the new label's audience, Pierson says these musicians helped pave the way for smooth-jazz radio, which is still an active force.

"We'll be reissuing albums by people like David Sanborn and George Benson, who were the core of smooth jazz," Pierson says. "Also, most of these artists still tour, so we can get local press and sell CDs at their shows."

When these albums were first reissued as CDs, sound quality was poor and packaging minimal. In keeping with its reputation, Mosaic rectifies those problems with top-flight remastering as well as well-researched liner annotations and archival photographs.

The imprint represents a radical new approach for Mosaic, which historically sold its catalog exclusively by mail order. Titles from the new imprint will reach traditional retail markets through a distribution deal with Caroline.

"The audience for contemporary jazz still buys CDs," Pierson says. "Since the majors stopped serving retail with these kinds of albums, we felt we could reach that audience at places like Borders and Amazon.com."

Cuscuna says the imprint's goal is to release 30 albums each year.

Reuters/Billboard