Prestige Records was a record label founded in 1949 by Bob Weinstock (October 2, 1928–January 14, 2006). The label's name was initially New Jazz, but changing to Prestige Records the next year. The label's catalog contains a significant number of jazz classics, including renowned works by Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Thelonious Monk and many other giants of the idiom. Weinstock was known for encouraging the performances to be unrehearsed for a more authentic, exciting sound. To this effect, Prestige Records, unlike Blue Note Records, would not pay musicians for rehearsals. Another Weinstock practice, of rewinding the tapes after "bad" takes, has resulted in very few alternate takes from the classic Prestige years surfacing. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1949 calendar). ... October 2 is the 275th day (276th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 90 days remaining. ... 1928 (MCMXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... January 14 is the 14th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Miles Davis, 1952 Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926 – September 28, 1991) was one of the most influential and innovative musicians of the 20th century. ... John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967), often known as Trane, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. ... An early Rollins picture graces the cover of Volume One Theodore Walter (Sonny) Rollins (born September 7, 1930 in New York City) is an American jazz tenor saxophonist. ... Thelonious Monk, as featured on the cover of his 1956 album, Brilliant Corners (1958 reissue cover shown) Thelonious Sphere Monk (October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was a jazz pianist and composer. ... Blue Note Records is a jazz record label, established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff. ...

For most of the 1950s and 1960s, the recording engineer Rudy Van Gelder was responsible for recording the company's releases and Ira Gitler occasionally fulfilled the role of producer in the early 1950s. Around 1958, Prestige began to diversify, reviving the New Jazz name, usually for recordings by emerging musicians, and introduced the Swingsville and Moodsville lines, though these were relatively shortlived, many albums being re-released later in the 1960s on Prestige itself. Bluesville was also a subsidiary label of Prestige. The 1950s was the decade spanning the years 1950 to 1959. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1960 to 1969, inclusive. ... Rudy Van Gelder (born November 2, 1924 in Jersey City, New Jersey) is a recording engineer specialising in jazz. ... 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

During this period, Weinstock ceased supervising recording sessions directly, employing Chris Albertson, Ozzie Cadena, Esmond Edwardes Don Schlitten, and producer/music supervisor Bob Porter, among others, to fulfil this function. Musicians recording for the label at this time, including Jaki Byard and Booker Ervin, were perhaps less celebrated than their predecessors in the labels existence, but Prestige remained commercially viable by recording a number of soul jazz artists like Charles Earland. Chris Albertson (born Christiern Gunnar Albertson in Reykjavík, Iceland on October 18, 1931) is a New York City-based jazz journalist, writer and record producer. ... Jaki Byard (June 15, 1922 - February 11, 1999) was a jazz piano player. ... Booker Telleferro Ervin II (1930 – 1970) was an American jazz tenor saxophone player perhaps best known for his association with Charles Mingus, with whom he played and recorded from 1956 to 1962. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ...

Bob Weinstock has been criticized over the years for allegedly sharp business practices. Jackie McLean in A.B. Spellman's Four Lives in the Bebop Business (1966) is particularly outspoken, but others, including Albertson and Miles Davis in his autobiography, have defended him. The "junkies label" tag has also been applied to Prestige, although the problem of drug addiction was so widespread in the jazz world that this reputation may not be justified. John Lenwood (Jackie) McLean (born May 17, 1932) is an American jazz alto saxophonist and educator, born in New York City. ... A junkie (or junky) is a heroin addict. ... Drug addiction, or dependency is the compulsive use of drugs, to the point where the user has no effective choice but to continue use. ...

The company was purchased in 1971 by Fantasy Records, and original releases on the label have formed a significant proportion of their Original Jazz Classics line. 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1971 calendar). ... Fantasy Records is a United States based record label, which was founded by Max and Sol Weiss in 1949 in San Francisco, California. ... Original Jazz Classics (or OJC), begun in 1983, is a record label of Fantasy Records. ...

Trademarks

• Prestige albums often had five tracks (three on side A, two on side B) and were almost always under forty minutes.
• They tended to consist mostly of Great American Songbook standards and very little original material (because there wouldn't have been any time to rehearse new tunes).
• They often contained a ten-to-fifteen minute basic blues on the second side (e.g., Saxophone Colossus; Kenny Burrell & John Coltrane). Sometimes an equally long version of a standard was used instead (e.g., Coltrane's Lush Life). Weinstock has admitted that this was a means of filling out records that might have otherwise not had enough material to go to print.

The Great American Songbook is an informal term referring to a period of American popular music songwriting that took place between the 1930s and 1960s. ... Jazz standard refers to a tune that is widely known, performed, and recorded among jazz musicians. ... Saxophone Colossus is one of Sonny Rollins most acclaimed albums. ...

See also

• List of record labels