It was no coincidence that Europe’s oldest extant independent jazz label was named after the first home of jazz. The spirit of the Storyville district of New Orleans was a guiding light for the 23-year old Karl Emil Knudsen when he released his first Storyville record in 1952.

It was a Louis and Lil’ Armstrong 1924 recording with the Red Onion Jazz Babies and it ushered in a steady flow of rare recordings by American jazz and blues artists to his native Denmark and the European market. From then until his death in 2003 Knudsen remained devoted to the label and in the process became one of the world’s most respected jazz producers, to such an extent that his renowned musical integrity and the empathetic relationships he formed with some of the jazz greats carried over after their passing to their heirs and estates, enabling him to issue many previously unreleased or less well known works.

The late 1950s saw the beginning of an influx of American jazz musicians visiting and sometimes taking up residence in Europe. Disillusioned by endemic racism and a jazz scene withering under the inexorable rise of rock and roll and soporific pop in their homeland, a string of top stars found a real appreciation of their music on the other side of the Atlantic. Denmark was a particularly popular destination and Copenhagen became a compulsory venue on virtually every musician’s itinerary, and at various times home to the likes of Dexter Gordon, Stuff Smith and Ben Webster. Knudsen was perfectly placed to expand his label’s catalogue by recording visiting stars both live in concert and in studio sessions, often backed by highly accomplished Danish jazz musicians, thereby introducing domestic stars to the Storyville roster and to the world-wide jazz community. The freedom of being away from the constraints of American management, performing in a new and invigorating environment and with the guidance of Knudsen and his team was frequently reflected in the Storyville recordings being some of the best of the musician’s career.

Over the years Storyville established a unique and prominent place for itself on the jazz landscape, adding books and video projects to its 4000 strong audio catalogue, much of which is yet to be exposed to modern audiences. Earlier this year the company was purchased by Edition Wilhelm Hanson, Denmark’s oldest music publisher, which is itself part of The Music Sales Group, Europe’s largest sheet music publisher. The synergy between the companies was already in place with Music Sales owning the publishing rights for hundreds of Storyville standards and the future bodes well for the label, with ambitions to digitise all of the massive catalogue and for increasing distribution.

To mark the relaunch of the label Storyville are releasing six albums from The Masters Of Jazz series in June, together with a Masters Of Jazz sampler CD, followed by a further six to be released in September. As with all Storyville original recordings, mastering and production is of the highest quality.The tracks are mostly of European sessions from the 1960s with earlier dates recorded in the States. Comprehensive new liner notes from such notable critics as Mike Hennessy, Arnold Laubich, Anthony Barnett and Chris Albertson are well written and include both astute comments on the music and short biographies of these little known but key periods in the artists’ lives.

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