441 Records Launches New Label

Independent record label 441 Records is set to launch a new label that focuses on great music of the past. Test of Time Records will release at least 30 rare titles from the East Wind Masterpiece Collection from Japan.

The first four releases on Test of Time, to be released in late March and early April, are Hommage by Andrew Hill, At the Village Vanguard by The Great Jazz Trio, Yesterday’s Thoughts by Art Farmer and Confirmation by Sheila Jordan.

Harry Rosen, president of 441 Records, said he isn’t worried about the records’ ability to appeal to music lovers years after their original recordings. “Even after 30 years, those titles definitely stand on their own,” he said in a press release. “They have clearly withstood the test of time.”

Each of the four first releases holds a place in music history. Hommage was the first solo piano effort ever by Andrew Hill, while Yesterday’s Thoughts is a ballad effort by Art Farmer and Confirmation is Sheila Jordan’s second album recorded after Portrait of Sheila Jordan (Blue Note). At the Village Vanguard is a live recording that documents the performance by Hank Jones, Ron Carter and Tony Williams-a group who later became known as the Great Jazz Trio.

The East Wind Masterpiece Collection, formed in 1975, released and recorded 72 albums in its five-year life span. The majority of the albums on East Wind were engineered by the late David Baker who had more than 2,000 recordings to his name when he died. All of the albums from East Wind now being released by Test of Time have been upgraded and digitally remastered using a process called Direct Stream Digital, or DSD, which refines the original recordings for better audio quality.

For more information on the Test of Time project, visit their website www.testoftimerecords.com.

Originally Published March 2, 2005