Contemporary Records
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Contemporary Records was started by Lester Koenig in 1951. Based in Los Angeles, Contemporary was primarily known as a jazz label that concentrated on the "cool" west coast sound. Contemporary recorded such artists as Sonny Rollins, Ornette Coleman, the Curtis Counce Group (featuring Harold Land, Jack Sheldon, Carl Perkins and Frank Butler, Ben Webster, Art Pepper, Shelly Manne, Hampton Hawes, Barney Kessel and Leroy Vinnegar.
Koenig was known for extremely high audio standards. He hired Roy DuNann from Capitol Records in 1956, who, out of the label's shipping room turned studio, turned out some of the best sounding records of the 50's and 60's.
In the mid 1960s the company fell in to relative limbo, and Koenig died in 1977, but limited new recordings were made in the late 1970s including a series of albums by Art Pepper recorded at the Village Vanguard club in New York.
Contemporary was purchased by Fantasy Records in 1984, who used the label name themselves for a short time.
