Sending out echoes of jazz, electronica, ambient music and minimalism, Mercury Prize nominated Portico Quartet have created their own singular, cinematic sound over the course of five lauded studio albums and one EP.

From the band’s 2007 breakthrough Knee-Deep in the North Sea, and the John Leckie produced Isla in 2010, to the self-titled recording Portico Quartet in 2012, the heralded Art In The Age Of Automation in 2017 and the critically acclaimed Memory Streams in 2019, each album has seen the band expand its palate or explore new trajectories. 

"Portico Quartet continue to plough their own furrow on their gorgeous new album Memory Streams" Bleep

Jensen grew up in eastern Washington, raised on the likes of Grand Ole Opry greats Hank Williams, Patsy Kline, and Charley Pride. Soon enough he and his cousins were performing for the family, which led naturally enough into forming bands of his own. A trip to the iconic Seattle studio The Dutchman to track a pop-punk record with producer Gary Mula (Damien Jurado) in 2000 marked his first step into the world of professional recording. 

Eventually pop-punk gave way to a broader palette of personal listening, which is very much reflected in his song writing. The guitar became his main instrument, and he explored all of its secrets broadly; from fingerpicking and folk styles to 90s grunge and alternative rock. In college, Jensen formed the funk-prog group Cadre, with whom he released the 2007 LP We Are The Media. A contingent of the group would go on to form the premier Bellingham funk band Sweet Beets. In 2012, Jensen once again teamed with Mula to record his debut solo album, Unravel the Wire, at the iconic Columbia City Theater. 

During the Covid shutdown, Jensen spent late nights writing and recording music in his basement, building what would eventually become his second solo album release Moon Time. Moon Time was released in 2022 and mixed and mastered by producer Luke Rain. The album features guest appearances by Matthew O’Toole on mandolin and Jensen’s then 3-year-old daughter, Coralie, on the closing track.

Official SoundCloud account for Blue Note Records
www.bluenote.com

Klassik und Jazz erfreuen sich immer größerer Beliebtheit. UNIVERSAL MUSIC Stars wie etwa Anna Netrebko oder Till Brönner unterstreichen diesen Trend und sind beste Beispiele für den Erfolg des umfassenden Engagements auf diesem Gebiet. 

Neben der intensiven Arbeit sowohl mit jungen Talenten als auch mit etablierten Künstlern entwickelt UNIVERSAL MUSIC CLASSICS & JAZZ als Marktführer in den jeweiligen Genres kontinuierlich neue, innovative Marketing- und Promotion-Strategien, um alternative und zeitgemäße Zugänge zur facettenreichen und spannenden Welt von Klassik und Jazz anzubieten. Die Unit baut hierfür nicht nur junge Künstlerinnen und Künstler auf und begleitet sorgfältig und verantwortungsvoll ihre musikalische Entwicklung, sondern sorgt vor allem auch kontinuierlich für die Erschließung und Pflege neuer Zielgruppen. Mit grenzüberschreitenden Projekten wie der „Yellow Lounge“, die Klassik an ungewöhnlichen Orten präsentiert, oder auch dem „Verve Club“, der die ganze Vielfalt des Jazz präsentiert, leistet UNIVERSAL MUSIC CLASSICS & JAZZ hier und auf manch anderem Gebiet seit langem wertvolle Pionierarbeit. Diese und weitere Aktivitäten bringen die unendliche Vielfalt der Genres einem stetig wachsenden Publikum näher, das musikalische Entdeckungen als Bereicherung seines Lebens zu schätzen weiß.

Established 1999. Releasing newfangled and archival sounds. 

OKeh short history: 

OKeh was founded by Otto K. E. Heinemann when he set up his own recording studio and gramophone record pressing plant in New York City in September 1918. Heinemann formed the name of the record label "OKeh", from his initials.  OKeh began by issuing popular songs, dance numbers, and vaudeville skits similar to the fare of other labels, but Heineman also wished to experiment with music for audiences neglected by the larger record companies. OKeh produced lines of recordings in German, Czech, Polish, Swedish, and Yiddish for the USA's immigrant communities. In 1920, Ralph Peer's recordings by African-American blues singer Mamie Smith were a surprise smash hit for Okeh. The company perceived the significant, little-tapped market for blues and jazz by African American artists. Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Bix Beiderbecke are only a few names of jazz greats that have recorded for the label. By 1926 Columbia Records bought the label and kept it running into the 60's with jazz and R&B recordings. 

In 1994, Sony Music reactivated the OKeh label as a new-age Blues label. Okeh's first new signings included Keb' Mo, Popa Chubby, and Little Axe. By 2000, the Okeh label was again retired, but in 2013 it will see its re-launch as a jazz label once again.

<b>Gary Clark Jr </b>
Warner Records
Austin TX

Vanguard Records, part of Concord Bicycle Music’s Fantasy Label Group, is one of the world’s leading independent record labels. Its eclectic roster of quality artists includes Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness, Switchfoot, O.A.R., Flogging Molly, Parachute, Sallie Ford, Matt Nathanson, Chris Isaak, Barenaked Ladies, Greg Laswell, Trevor Hall, Indigo Girls, and more. It’s rich history of catalog artists features Levon Helm, Merle Haggard, Joan Baez, Mindy Smith, Buddy Guy, Big Mama Thornton, Junior Wells, John Fahey, to name a few.

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