New Music Distribution Catalog 1986, cover painted by Keith Haring

Working for the New Music Distribution Service
New York City 1974-1975

My time working for Carla Bley and Michael Mantler was one of the clear highlights of my early working life. From crashing one of Carla’s earliest recording sessions to working at the New Music Distribution Service to being the sole road crew member for Carla’s first touring bands, there couldn’t have been a better set of experiences for a young, music obsessed, media obsessed young person.

Given that I’d started a record company that recorded some jazz, NMDS was distributing one of our albums, so I would hang at their first office, at the time run by one of my former WKCR-FM mates (KCR was to be a through line for the joint for several years, proven by the 1986 dedication to the late Taylor Storer another radio station alum). When he left, he suggested I might be a replacement, and lucky for me, Mike and Carla agreed.

There was nothing, before or after, like NMDS. Initially, it was a desperate, brilliant lifeline for two distinctly unique, non-mainstream composers (non-mainstream for virtually any or every genre; Carla and Mike might have been seemed like they belonged to “jazz,” but their music only tangentially touched upon it, due to many of the musicians they performed/recorded with). Their first two multi-LP albums had a really rough time finding retailers willing to stock them next to rock, even classical and jazz records clogging their racks, so their audacious plan to co-distribute with 10 other misfit labels in Europe (Incus, FMP, ECM, Futura, Virgin, among others) seemed like the only hope. 

By the time I came aboard around 1974, the service had already expanded enough that we were carrying not only independent jazz, but classical, electronic, even the beginning of what could be avant-rock. The Philip Glass Chatham Square Production LPs would be among the most well known, but it was Manfred Eicher’s ECM from Munich which would lead to the most consequential philosophies of the non-profit, and ultimately for Carla’s and Mike’s personal productions.

As I arrived, ECM was already the most popular label we stocked. Everything from their first album (Mal Waldron’s “Free at Last”) were finding airplay, and subsequent sales, but it was the double whammy of Keith Jarrett and Chick Corea that almost literally blew the doors off. They each had solo albums that were taking off, but against the grain of the free jazz 1970s, Chick’s first “Return to Forever” LP, a light, beautiful, bossa nova flavored confection (as opposed to his heavy fusion version that it would morph into) had become, in indie jazz terms, a massive hit. From my first day, enormous amounts of time and energy of the two of us, the only NMDS full time employees, was spent taking orders, boxing them up, invoicing, and getting paid for those records. Too much time, it turned out.

“Stop!” cried Carla.

Because, in addition to ECM, NMDS was also handling tiny, artist produced labels –our raison d’etre, after all– some of which only sold one LP a year. WE were suggesting dropping to low selling items, we could only handle so much with ECM volume just increasing day after day.

Carla then made a decree. She and Mike would call Manfred and tell him it was time he found another, larger distributor (he did, with enough success that 50 years later, ECM still commands major company record distribution). And, we would positively, absolutely not, never, no way, drop any label that sold at least one album a year. NMDS was in the business of supporting artists that no one else would.

“No one would ever take our [Carla’s and Mike’s] records. That’s why we started NMDS to begin with, it’s why we exist!” And, that was that.

Not for nothing, when NMDS folded in 1990, Manfred Eicher, who had for decades proven his loyalty to his artists, proved it once again to his most devoted American based friends. Carla Bley’s entire discography, and Michael Mantler’s life’s work, continues to be distributed worldwide by ECM.

Anyhow, working at NMDS and with Mike and Carla proved to be more than a merely formative experience for me. It gave me a grounding in everything from record production to the record business to, eventually, the media business. I had a great time learning from and working beside two world class artists, and world class people.

…..

As to this particular catalog, one of two visual artists who mean the most to me is Keith Haring. I’ve been on a jag of searching about him lately, and I had completely forgotten that our paths crossed virtually at NMDS.

More importantly, flip through the catalog, and you’ll see proof of what Greg Tate says in his notes: “I tend to think of each year’s New Music Distribution Service catalogue as a kind of musical version of the hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy, with every entry registering like a report from some far flung orbital station.“

…..

[Transciption of the notes from the 1986 New Music Distribution Catalog]

TAYLOR STORER 1956-1985 This catalog is dedicated in loving memory of Taylor Storer, who was not only a co-worker but a fine friend to all of us and, perhaps more importantly, to the music.

FOREWORDS by Gregory Tate 

Some folk probably just think of the New Music Distribution Service catalogue as this encyclopedic warehouse stocked with mostly independently recorded jazz and contemporary Euro- American classical music. The more savvy perhaps see it as a networking resource for producers, performers and composers of experimental music. 

But for reasons that will probably perplex no one I tend to think of each year’s New Music Distribution Service catalogue as a kind of musical version of the hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy, with every entry registering like a report from some far flung orbital station. Flipping through its pages can provoke goose pimples of the order of those brought to flesh when Carl Sagan drones on about how many billions upon billions of star systems there are out there and that no, we are not alone.

If you’re a music lover of eclectic and exotic listening habits you’ll find consolation in this catalogue and a kind of communion with others the Master Programmer also gave extrater- restrial ear lobes to. 

For the most part much of the music in the NMDS catalogue defies ready categorization, tending to be defined by the genre rubrics they subvert rather than those they deploy. (It is of course for this reason that the recording of much of this music would only have been under- taken by independent labels run by guerilla-minded entrepreneurs—though the independents who rely on NMDS as an outlet actually function as some of the last spokesmen for free- enterprise late modern capitalism will see.) This is not to say that there’s not also a whole lot of sound contained within that could not be easily filed under such headings as neo-post-bop, maximal minimalism, punk-funk, post-modern opera or even that perennial favorite, classical fusion boogie. What it is to say is that since my own musical tastes run to the polymorphous, most of my choice selections from NMDS catalogues past and present run likewise. Take for example Cecil Taylor’s Garden or really any of his solo recordings where he bridges the gap between Brahms and the blues in but a few lyrical strokes and defies anyone to delimit him to a free-jazz gunslinger type. Or take a listen to Jeffrey Lohn’s “Dirge” a requiem for assassinated South African activist Steve Biko, which is not only of the most aptly horrific pieces of program- matic music ever recorded but one which parodies rock’s roots in African ritual in the same bars it lampoons heavy metals kinship with the music of fascist rallies. 

Taking an opposing tack would be the pan-ethnic confabs of Kip Hanrahan whose directorial flair for making collaborators out of as disparate as those of Cuban Yoruba drummers and Manhattan art-rockers creates a new definition of the term ‘cosmopolitan’. By the same token you will hear in a piece like Daniel Lentz’ “Lascaux” scored for and performed on 24 wine glasses of varying liquid constituency, a playfully minimal evocation of a host of ambient musics old and new, meaning just about everything from Tibetan bells to Brian Eno. 

Even if you never hear more than a fraction of the music available in this catalogue take it for what it is on its own merits: a trans-dimensional road map to the alternative music of the spheres. Not to mention, one of the funniest documents late post-modernism has yet produced. If not a source of sonic salvation as yet untapped by any known evangelical order. Get it while it’s heretical. 

Published by the Jazz Composer’s Orchestra Association, Inc. 500 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10012. Telephone (212) 925-2121 

Original cover art by Keith Haring 

INTRODUCTION TO THE NEW MUSIC DISTRIBUTION SERVICE 

The New Music Distribution Service (NMDS) distributes all independently produced recordings of new music, regardless of commercial potential or personal taste. A wealth of new music is being created in the areas of jazz, classical, and rock, as well as outside of any clearly delineated experimental categories. Because of its generally uncommercial nature, this music has had minimal representation in the music industry. Independent record production and distribution may be the only way for musicians to maintain artistic and economic control of their work. In addition to the sale and promotion of their music, we advise musicians and producers about the recording and manufacturing phases of record-making. We deal with everyone equally, regard- less how much or how little the records sell. The music in this catalog is intended to be successful on its own musical merit, rather than on strictly commercial terms. 

The New Music Distribution Service is a division of the Jazz Composer’s Orchestra Association, Inc., a not-for-profit organization chartered in New York in 1966. The Jazz Composer’s Orchestra began producing its own JCOA recordings as early as 1968. As an increasing number of musicians and composers in all fields started to explore independent record production, the problem of inadequate distribution became acutely apparent. In order to deal with the need for a distribution outlet for its own records, as well as for all new jazz and new music, the New Music Distribution Service was established in 1972. Initially, 98 records on 17 small labels from. the United States and Europe were handled, with services being exchanged on an international basis. However, during the next few years the unprecedented growth of domestic independent record companies necessitated exclusive concentration on the problem as a national one, and ties with foreign labels were dropped. Now, the demand for service is such that over 2000 records on 360 labels are being distributed. This growth does not appear to be slowing down. It continually becomes more obvious that independent record production is the only way for most of these musicians and composers to issue their music. As the only organization in the field, NMDS continues to provide and improve this vital and unique service to the creators and the audience of new music. 

NMDS sells records to individuals by mail order and to record stores across the country. We regard the mail order portion of our business as the most vital, because this allows you to select what you want from the entire catalog. By doing so you directly support our efforts to keep this creative music available. Our aim is to provide you with a rich variety of music. For those of you to whom this music is totally unfamiliar, we have provided an introduction to NMDS record- ings, which may help you become acquainted with these new sounds. For the record store this catalog represents a strong alternative to the monopolistic practices of the commercial ‘music industry’. These records may give the store the edge that distinguishes it from just another record store. 

The descriptions in this catalog are not intended to be definitive, but rather to guide you. Each of our catalogs is larger and more diverse than the previous one, reflecting the continuing commitment of the music community to independent record production. Beginning with this edition, we have also instituted an attempt, however futile and elusive it may seem, of listing artists by style of music. Because of the inherent problems of trying to categorize them, many of our artists can be found in more than one category. We hope that this will enable you not only to find the composers and musicians you are looking for, but also to discover others working in the same genre. 

As a non-profit organization, we are counting on your support. You can help ensure the survival of creative new music on records not only through your purchases, but also through your tax-deductible contributions. You may now become a Friend of NMDS for $25.00 per year, for which you will automatically receive our quarterly New Release Listings, and we will also ship your orders at our expense. This offer applies only to orders of more than one record shipped in the continental U.S. If you are able to contribute more, you will receive the above privileges, plus a signed copy of Laurie Anderson’s first Single (for $75), or a signed and numbered copy of a boxed three-record set of the John Cage Town Hall 25-Year Retrospective Concert (for $150). 

This catalog has been prepared with significant support and encouragement from the New York State Council on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, and many generous individuals.